Tshwane  Mayor Nasiphi Moya says she will begin repaying the R270,000 she was overpaid during her time as an official in the City of Tshwane in 2019.

Moya, who then served as head of the chief whip’s office and later as chief of staff to former mayor Stevens Mokgalapa, is one of 78 senior officials who received benchmarking-related salary adjustments that were later found to be inconsistent with final approved salary bands.

In a statement, Moya said, “On 5 July 2019, while serving as Chief of Staff in the Office of the Executive Mayor, I received a once-off payment of R268,975.51.

”This formed part of a benchmarking-related salary adjustment applied to 78 senior officials across the City, following a change in the City’s municipal category and the associated salary bands.”

She clarified that the overpayment only became apparent after the benchmarking process concluded in July 2020, by which point she had already resigned, having left the City on 31 May 2020.

“Any discrepancy between the amount paid in July 2019 and the final salary grading thus only became apparent after my departure, and I was not informed of the issue at the time,” she said.

Responding to criticism from the Democratic Alliance, Moya said, “Your recent interest in this matter is surprising. During your tenure as Executive Mayor from March 2023 to September 2024, no steps were taken to address the issue or implement any corrective measures. This remained the case after I raised the matter directly with you in July 2024, when I served as your Deputy Mayor.”

She also pointed out that former Executive Mayor Randall Williams issued a directive in February 2021 instructing that cases involving officials no longer employed by the City be handled through the Mayoral Committee under the Municipal Finance Management Act. According to Moya, this directive “was never implemented.”

Moya added that after receiving an SMS in July 2024 referencing the debt, she took immediate steps to clarify the matter with the City.

“I have nothing to hide and remain committed to full transparency,” she said. While no wrongdoing has been found against officials who received the payments in good faith, she has voluntarily authorised monthly repayments “in recognition that the office I hold demands a standard of leadership that is beyond reproach.”

”Notwithstanding that no liability has been established against me, and that I remain confident in the integrity of my conduct, I have voluntarily authorised a monthly repayment to the City of Tshwane.

“I have taken this step in recognition that the office I hold demands a standard of leadership that is beyond reproach. We remain committed to concluding the matter and will communicate any further developments,” said Moya.

Democratic Alliance Tshwane finance spokesperson Jacqui Uys said the party had been raising the issue with Moya since January 2025.

“In June, she committed to providing the information, but has since ignored correspondence from the DA on the matter,” Uys said.

“Yesterday, the DA issued a press statement on the matter, and today we received a letter from Mayor Moya confirming that she is one of the officials who haven’t yet paid back undue salary payments from the City.”

Uys criticised Moya’s delayed action, saying: “It is unfortunate that Mayor Moya had to be prompted publicly to do what is right, instead of setting an example of her own accord.”

She also noted that this is not the first repayment Moya has made to the City, referencing a prior R10,000 refund for an international trip Moya did not undertake. “The DA will continue to monitor the matter to ensure that payments are made,” Uys said.

ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont came to Moya’s defence, accusing the DA of political opportunism.

“The DA in Tshwane continues to demonstrate its insecurity regarding the progress being made by ActionSA Tshwane Mayor, Dr Nasiphi Moya, and the multi-party coalition,” Beaumont said.

He referred to the payments as increases “determined by the DA-governed City of Tshwane” and noted that a 2021 directive by then-DA Mayor Randall Williams found they could not be recovered from former employees like Moya.

“Despite this, and despite knowing of this matter for 6 years now, the desperate DA has sought now to make this matter an issue in order to try and discredit Dr Moya’s progress in turning around the considerable backlogs that were inherited after 8 years of DA misgovernance of the City of Tshwane,” Beaumont said.

”The DA continues to project unsubstantiated allegations of financial impropriety against ActionSA leaders like Herman Mashaba and Dr Moya as part of an insidious attempt to undermine the credibility of strong, effective black leadership.” 

hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za

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