Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya has rejected allegations that a company doing business with the city carried out renovations and other work at her private residence.
She insists that she paid for all work herself and has documentation to prove it.
Africa Daily understands that allegations centre on Tlopo Construction, a company which has reportedly conducted business with the City of Tshwane and which had been linked to claims that it constructed a swimming pool and carried out other improvements at her home.
However, Moya said the allegations were false and that Tlopo Construction had never undertaken any work at her residence.
“Tlopo Construction has not undertaken any work at my home. The allegations are based on a transaction that simply did not occur,” she said.
Moya said a swimming pool was constructed at her home in early 2025, while paving around the pool and elsewhere on the property was done more than a year later by a different company.
“These were separate projects, undertaken at different times by different service providers. Neither project was undertaken by Tlopo Construction,” she said.
According to Moya, all work at the property was commissioned in her private capacity and paid for using her own funds.
The mayor said she decided to address the allegations publicly after becoming aware that similar claims had been circulated to several journalists and media organisations.
She alleged that the claims formed part of a coordinated effort by her political opponents in Tshwane to damage her reputation ahead of the local government elections.
“Of particular concern is that the first version of these allegations brought to our attention purported to come from a journalist who, as far as we have been able to establish, does not exist,” Moya said.
She said her office had also become aware of attempts to interest journalists in further negative stories concerning her.
The allegations come less than three months before South Africans are due to vote in the local government elections on 4 November.
Moya said she accepted that her conduct as executive mayor should be subject to scrutiny but rejected what she described as an attempt to turn unsubstantiated allegations into a political scandal.
“I entered public office knowing that my conduct would rightly be subjected to scrutiny,” she said.
“As Executive Mayor, I recognise that I must be held to a higher standard and that I have a responsibility to account openly for my conduct.”
Moya said she had chosen to respond proactively because she believed she had nothing to hide and could substantiate her version with documentation.
“I have nothing to hide. The facts are clear, I have the documentation to substantiate them, and I am entirely comfortable standing behind them,” she said.
However, she rejected calls for what she described as an open-ended examination of her private life and finances based on allegations she maintains are factually incorrect.
“I will not submit my private life and personal finances to an open-ended
fishing expedition on the basis of allegations whose central factual premise is
demonstrably false,” she said.
“There is a difference between legitimate scrutiny and the deliberate manufacture of a scandal.”
“Accountability must be grounded in facts, not innuendo or politically motivated allegations circulated to journalists in the hope that repetition will give them credibility.”
The Democratic Alliance in Tshwane, however, has challenged Moya to provide evidence supporting her account, including invoices and proof of payment for the work carried out at her property.
DA Tshwane spokesperson on Roads and Transport Dikeledi Selowa said the party had noted Moya’s statement and questioned why the mayor had issued it before an anticipated media report.
“It is significant that the Mayor felt it necessary to issue a statement on the issue to preempt a Sunday news report,” Selowa said.
She said Moya’s position was that she had paid for the renovations herself and that the work was not carried out by a municipal contractor.
The DA also raised previous controversies involving Moya, allegedly including an overpayment she was required to repay while she was a City official and allegations that she had failed to pay municipal rates and charges on her home for more than a year.
Selowa said these issues raised broader questions about the mayor’s accountability.
“Neither is Moya the only member of her government who has come under scrutiny,” she said.
The party also pointed to the City’s MMC for Finance, Eugene Modise, whom it said had been found guilty of unlawfully benefiting from a municipal contract, questioning why Moya had retained him in her executive.
The DA further criticised Moya over the attempted suspension of City Manager Johann Mettler, saying it had gone to court to stop the process, which it claimed was initiated at the demand of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
Selowa said the latest allegations should be dealt with through transparency rather than political exchanges.
“For the sake of transparency, we encourage Moya to provide invoices and proof of payment for the renovations,” she said.
“If indeed there is nothing to the story, then producing these documents should not be a problem for her.”
Moya, meanwhile, said she would not allow the allegations to distract her from her responsibilities as mayor.
“I will not be intimidated or distracted by attempts to manufacture controversy around me ahead of an election,” she said.
“The residents of Tshwane entrusted me with the responsibility to lead this City and improve their lives. That remains my focus.”
