By Cllr Ndithini Tyhido, ANC Leader of the Opposition, City of Cape Town, on behalf of the ANC Dullah Omar Region

Capetonians,

Let me speak to you like a neighbour. Like a parent. Like someone who has watched this City for years and knows what you already feel in your bones: Cape Town is run like a showroom, but too many of our people live in the storeroom.

And today I’m writing to you about one thing that might sound “technical,” but it is actually about power, dignity, and truth: The DA-run City of Cape Town is keeping Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) behind closed doors like a private elite money club.

And if you want to understand why housing stalls, why transport projects blow up, why contracts keep repeating, why some people always seem to benefit, and why poor communities keep being told to “wait,” MPAC is the place where the truth must come out.

But the DA doesn’t want that truth in public. So I’m asking you, Cape Town: Are we okay with that? Are we okay with a City that says “trust us” while locking the door when it’s time to account? Because democracy is not a brochure.

Democracy is not a PR campaign. Democracy is the people watching power being questioned.

1) MPAC: The people’s watchdog not the Mayor’s backroom MPAC exists for one reason: to protect the public from abuse and waste. It is meant to do locally what SCOPA does nationally: interrogate irregular spending, expose waste, demand consequences, and make sure public money serves the public.

National guidelines are clear. CoGTA’s MPAC Toolkit says it plainly- MPAC meetings must be open to the public by default. – Only matters of “extreme sensitivity” should be confidential. – Minutes and supporting documents should be accessible so the public can see what was asked, what was answered, and what consequences followed. [SOURCE: CoGTA MPAC Toolkit]

Even the City’s own MPAC Terms of Reference say the same thing in principle: MPAC meetings, except special and confidential meetings, are open to the public. [SOURCE: City of Cape Town MPAC Terms of Reference] So this is not an ANC “wish.” This is the democratic standard. And yet in Cape Town, the DA has normalised secrecy.

2) What they are hiding isn’t small: the most serious money questions go “confidential.”

Capetonians, I want you to hear this slowly: In the City’s own MPAC records, the Register of Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure is noted as being dealt with on a Confidential Agenda. [SOURCE: City MPAC minutes / Oversight report reference]

The Schedule of Monies Recovered, the list of what money was recovered, what was not recovered, and what was written off, is also noted as being dealt with on a Confidential Agenda. [SOURCE: City MPAC minutes / Oversight report reference]

Now let’s translate that into plain language: The list of irregular and wasteful spending is hidden. – The list of money recovered or not recovered is hidden. So you are told: “Good governance.” But when the time comes to show the receipts, suddenly it’s: closed door. That’s not transparency. That’s controlled information.

And when a governing party controls information, it controls accountability.

3) “Clean audit” is not the same as clean politics. The DA loves the phrase “clean audit.”

Let me be fair: compliance matters. Paperwork matters. But a clean audit is not the same as a clean city.

You can have good spreadsheets and still have:

– communities waiting years for housing and basic dignity,

– projects delayed and “rephased” until they die quietly,

– procurement disputes that end up in court,

– and systems that keep the poor in survival mode while privilege is protected.

A clean audit can exist while the City remains split: one Cape Town that works and another that waits. So when the DA says “clean audit” and then closes MPAC, it raises a simple question: If everything is clean, why close the window? If everything is honest, why fear public oversight?

4) Why MPAC matters: because this City has a record, and the record needs daylight.

Let’s talk about what Cape Town residents have lived through.

(a) Transport scandals and MyCiTi controversies: contracts, disputes, and trust. Over the years, there have been serious controversies tied to MyCiTi, including contracting disputes and litigation linked to fare systems and losses. [SOURCE: Court record/reporting references]

Now here’s the point: When transport becomes a web of deviations, disputes, extensions, and court action, MPAC must be where the public hears the truth. Not rumours. Not spin. Not a press statement. Truth.

(b) Construction disruptions, extortion, and “GANGS around projects.” Cape Town has faced disruptions to infrastructure projects because of intimidation and extortion attempts, including around transport infrastructure. [SOURCE: reporting reference]

This is exactly why we need transparency, because criminals love darkness, and so do corrupt networks. When the City responds by withholding key project information, the public loses the ability to separate genuine security constraints from convenient secrecy. And that is dangerous.

(c) Housing underspending: when money exists but dignity doesn’t. Capetonians know the housing pain. Backyarders know it. Informal settlements know it. Over time, major underspending concerns have been raised publicly, including the now widely discussed example of about R1.2 billion in housing funds not spent in a past period. [SOURCE: official financial reports/oversight references]

Let’s be disciplined: the exact figure must always be verified against official reports and that verification must happen publicly, not behind closed doors.

But the principle is simple: When housing money is not spent, the cost is paid in:

– overcrowding,

– fires,

– flooding,

– backyard shack collapses,-

and children growing up without space, safety, or hope.

So when MPAC is closed, people are not just excluded from a meeting, they are excluded from the truth about why dignity is delayed.

5) Why would the Mayor resist open MPAC? Because an open MPAC is politically dangerous not for ordinary residents, but for those who benefit from a controlled narrative.

An open MPAC means:

– residents can watch officials explain irregularities,

– journalists can track patterns over time,

– communities can see if money was recovered or written off,

– and councillors can’t be managed through selective briefings.

In other words, an open MPAC means the people can see the power sweating. And some politicians do not want that.

6) What we demand: simple, practical, no-excuses, accountable.

We are demanding five things that any honest government should accept immediately:

1) Open MPAC by default with a public schedule and public access.

2) Written reasons for every confidential item are narrow, justified, and limited.

3) Publication of MPAC minutes and key documents in a simple, searchable way.

4) A public UIFW register and recovery schedule readable, understandable, and trackable.

5) A consequence dashboard: – what was found, – what was recommended, – what action was taken, – who was disciplined,- what money was recovered, – what money was written off and why.

If the DA says, “We have nothing to hide,” then here is the response: Open MPAC.

7) The Capetonian truth: you pay, you suffer, you are kept out. Capetonians are told to accept rising costs. To accept tariff hikes. To accept “budget constraints.” To accept that dignity must wait.

But when we say, “Open the committee that checks how money was used,” suddenly it’s: “Confidential.” “Closed session.” “Not possible.No, man. Dis mos nou genoeg. Asikho apha ukudlalwa. (We are not here to be played.)

This City belongs to all of us, not only those who can afford comfort.

8) A direct message to the Mayor and the DA, you want the people’s trust?

Then answer these questions in public:

– Why are Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful (UIFW ) registers treated as confidential? [SOURCE]

– Why are money recovery schedules treated as confidential? [SOURCE]

– Why do you refuse to apply the CoGTA standard that MPAC must be open except for extreme sensitivity? [SOURCE]

– If Cape Town claims “best governance,” why fear the most basic democratic principle: public oversight? Capetonians, these are not ANC questions. These are your questions.

Closing: This is about dignity and the right to know.

We raise MPAC openness because we know what happens when accountability is weak:

– toilets break and stay broken,

– housing projects stall and die,

– contracts get extended and extended,

– service providers fail with no consequences,

– and money disappears into “process.”

And who pays? Not the wealthy suburbs. Not the well-connected. Not the insiders. It is the working class. The backyarders. The unemployed youth. The informal settlement residents. The pensioners. The squeezed middle class.

Capetonians: MPAC is your window into power. If the DA closes that window, they are telling you: “You don’t deserve to see how your money is handled.”

We reject that. So we say, clearly: Open MPAC. Publish the documents. Let the people see. Because sunlight is not an insult to honest governance. It is the proof of it.

Amandla. ALLE KRAG AAN DIE MENSE!!Khawuvuke, Kapa. SKRIK WAKKER (Wake up, Cape Town.)

 

Source link