Critical water and electricity infrastructure in Tshwane could be vulnerable to criminal attack after security contracts covering city sites expired on 1 October, according to Democratic Alliance (DA) mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink.

Brink, who served as mayor of the capital from March 2023 until he was removed in a motion of no confidence in September 2024, said he had written to city manager Johann Mettler demanding urgent measures to protect the city’s infrastructure, including power stations. He said the contracts lapsed without replacement agreements or apparent contingency arrangements in place, and that letters confirming their termination were already circulating on WhatsApp, making the gap in security public knowledge.

The warning follows a week of prolonged power outages in Tshwane after damage to the Njala infeed station, one of the points at which the city receives its bulk electricity supply from Eskom.

“The expiry of a contract is a known date, not an unexpected event,” Brink said. He called on Mayor Nasiphi Moya to explain why her administration had not secured replacement arrangements before the contracts expired. Moya, of ActionSA, was Brink’s deputy before succeeding him in October 2024 with the backing of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

Brink said the DA did not oppose ending expired contracts, particularly those that had been irregularly extended, but objected to their being allowed to lapse with no alternative security arranged.

He also raised concerns about Triotic Protection Services, one of the city’s security contractors, which he said belongs to Deputy Mayor and Finance MMC Eugene Modise of the ANC. Brink alleged that the failure to establish a new procurement model for security, work he said began under his own administration, would place the city under pressure to extend contracts with existing providers, Triotic among them.

A forensic report commissioned by the city, and seen by The Common Sense last year, found that Modise’s failure to disclose his business arrangement with Triotic was a material breach of his duty to disclose his financial interests. The council later fined him two months’ salary. Modise has denied wrongdoing, saying he resigned from the company on becoming a councillor in 2023 and sold his shares.

Brink said the DA had asked private security companies and neighbourhood watches to patrol around critical installations, but argued that residents and volunteers could not carry a responsibility that rested with the municipality.

“The city manager must act immediately to secure these sites,” he said.

The dispute comes a month before the local government election on 4 November. Polling conducted in July by The Common Sense in conjunction with the Social Research Foundation put the DA on 43% of likely voters in Tshwane, with the ANC on 32%, the Freedom Front Plus on 8%, and ActionSA on 7%.