GOOD Press Statement by Sarah Mabotsa,
GOOD City of Tshwane Councillor
25 January 2024
GOOD calls on leaders in the Tshwane coalition to strip the newly elected Executive Deputy Mayor of her powers until an ongoing fraud investigation clears her name.
Deputy Mayor Nasiphi Moya is alleged to have kept a R10 000 travel allowance for herself in 2020 after a scheduled work trip to Saudi Arabia was shelved. She was then serving as the Mayor’s Chief of Staff.
Moya has confirmed the allegations surrounding her, telling press: “The trip was confirmed. I confirmed it.”
Her excuse for not returning the R10 000 is baffling. The city was experiencing “chaos” at the time – according to the Deputy Mayor – and she experienced a “lapse in judgement” by not paying the money back. The City didn’t inquire further about unused public funds, and four months later she left the municipality.
The story being told by the Deputy Mayor paints two scenarios – one implausible and one sinister. R10 000 is a sizeable amount of money. It is so sizeable that no person would forget the transfer into their account. Moya would like the public to believe that she received the money, experienced a busy time in council, and then simply forgot about the R10 000 that was collecting dust. GOOD finds this story scarcely credible.
It holds as much water as the insolvency certificate produced by Dr. Murunwa Makwarela during his record dash as Executive Mayor last year.
The more sinister alternative is that the Deputy Mayor received the funds, notified council that the trip was cancelled, and pocketed the money. A principled public servant doesn’t wait for a green light to refund the City – they make a plan.
ActionSA – the party Nasiphi Moya belongs to – has made restoring the ‘rule of law’ a campaign jingle in the run-up to this year’s elections. Now they must practice what they preach. The call for action shouldn’t just come from coalition partners, it should come from the ActionSA caucus. Deferring action means Mashaba’s calls for cutting corruption is partisan. In other words, “one rule for you, another for me”.
South Africans are tired of politicians who stretch the truth. We believe it would be inappropriate for Nasiphi Moya to hold the levers of power during a fraud investigation, and considering her doubtful telling of events.
Media Enquiries:
Sarah Mabotsa, GOOD City of Tshwane Councillor
Cell: 064 684 8640
Email: smabotsamuthivhi@gmail.com
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 073 367 1223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za