Build One South Africa’s (BOSA) Tshwane mayoral candidate, Martha Moshiga, has drawn a line in the sand, promising to fix 1,000 potholes in her first 100 days in office if elected, a commitment she says is non-negotiable.
Moshiga, who is gunning for the capital city’s top job ahead of the November 4 local government elections, says the metro is broken due to political instability and a failure of executive leadership.
In an interview with Africa Daily, Moshiga pulled no punches about the state of the City of Tshwane, currently run by a fragile DA-led coalition.
“The current coalition is in disarray, no stability in the council, the current executive has shortfalls when it comes to executive decisions and the examples are there for people to see,” she said.
Tshwane has been at the centre of coalition chaos since 2021, cycling through mayors, collapsing budgets and service delivery protests.
From Randfontein Road to Soshanguve, residents have complained about crumbling roads, prolonged water outages, sewage spillages and endless power cuts linked to load reduction.
Moshiga says her administration would have three clear non-negotiables in the first 100 days.
“To fix 1,000 potholes in 100 days, community safety, reliable service delivery on water and electricity,” she said.
The pothole pledge is at the heart of her campaign. While other mayoral hopefuls have focused on grand infrastructure promises, Moshiga says she wants to tackle the visible, daily frustrations that define life in Tshwane.
“It is non-negotiable,” she stressed. “Residents judge a city by what they drive on, what they drink and whether they feel safe.”
Asked how she would fund the rapid repairs, Moshiga said it would not require new borrowing or tariff hikes, but a shift in spending priorities.
“Through conscious allocation from the main budget,” she said.
According to BOSA, this would mean cutting wasteful expenditure, tightening supply chain management and redirecting funds from non-essential programmes to core service delivery. The party has previously criticised the City for spending millions on private security and legal disputes while basic services collapse.
On coalitions – the unavoidable reality of Tshwane politics – Moshiga said she was open to working with other parties, but not at any cost.
“Coalition government will be done through policy positions. We have to forge alliance with any political party that we share common values with,” she said.
BOSA, led by Mmusi Maimane, has positioned itself as a centrist alternative that can work with both the DA and opposition parties, provided there is alignment on clean governance and service delivery. Moshiga said ethical leadership would be the differentiator.
“We are bringing ethical and professional councillors,” she said.
She said if judged after a year in office, residents should hold her to a public progress report.
“Probably through progress report as we will be accounting for our work,” Moshiga said.
She identified the biggest crisis facing residents as water and sanitation.
“Currently residents are facing challenges of clean and consumable water, sewage running in the street, cleaning of illegal dumping that are found at any corner of our streets and load reduction,” she said.
Tshwane has in recent months been plagued by water supply interruptions linked to the failure of water systems and ageing municipal infrastructure, while communities in Hammanskraal continue to battle water quality concerns following the cholera outbreak in 2023 that claimed lives.
Illegal dumping, another major complaint, has left many townships and inner-city areas littered with waste due to inconsistent refuse collection.
Moshiga said if there is one commitment residents can hold her to, it is stability.
“Stable government and services always,” she said.
The 2026 local government elections are expected to be fiercely contested in Tshwane, with the ANC looking to reclaim the metro, the DA fighting to retain it, and ActionSA, EFF and BOSA all vying to be kingmakers.
But Moshiga says she is not running to be a deputy or a coalition partner – she wants the mayoral chain.
“We will be judged on what we fix, not what we promise. Fixing 1,000 potholes in 100 days is where we start. It is doable, it is measurable, and it is non-negotiable,” she said.
