WHERE WE GOVERNBuilding trust in Nelson Mandela Bay MetroIn 2018, the then DA-led Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality was the only city in the country that managed to improve its score on the South African Customer Satisfaction Index, increasing from59% to almost 62%. This makes it the second most trusted city government in South Africa after theCity of Cape Town, another DA-led municipality. Fighting corruption in the City of JohannesburgTo address corruption, the mayor created an enhanced forensic internal investigation unit. The number of cases received by the Group Forensic and Investigation Services (GFIS) for the financial year 16/17 amounted to 1920 and, for 17/18 amounted to 3415. These cases related to fraud and corruption, theft of city assets and maladministration, as well as hijacked properties. To date, the total value of investigations amounts to R23.6 billion. During the 2017/18 financial year, of the 3415 cases reported 2455 were investigated resulting in 92 criminal cases being registered, 362 arrests, 15 suspensions and 27 dismissals; bid adjudication processes are now held in rooms open to the public and the media; and our government initiated a skills audit to ensure that every manager in the City is in their position because of what they know, instead of who they know. Our DA-led government audited the housing list, with the final number coming to 152 000, and made that list available to the public for transparency, while detailing over 3000 housing units that required work to enable people to take occupation. And 25 hijacked properties have been returned to their owners. City of Tshwane and GladAfrica: Fighting against the odds for transparent, accountable governmentThe City of Tshwane procured project and contract management consultation services from a company called GladAfrica using Municipal Supply Chain Management (SCM) regulation 32 in 2017. The mayor was first made aware that a service provider, or service providers (unnamed at the time), had been appointed to assist the City’s Project Management Unit in November 2017. The three-year tender was supposed to help with the roll-out of infrastructure projects valued at up R12 billion. In March 2018, the mayor, after receiving accounts from whistle-blowers, asked his legal adviser to investigate how the tender was awarded. By the time these allegations also surfaced in the SundayTimes in August 2018, the mayor had already issued the city manager with a set of detailed questions, as part of his investigation, about the procurement process and the legal and financial risks posed by the contract. When it became apparent that there was sufficient reason to believe that something had been irregular in the awarding of the tender, the mayor then brought the issue to Council asking for a forensic investigation into the matter. He also asked for a precautionary suspension of the city manager to prevent him from interfering in the investigation. The investigation was approved, the law firm, Bowmans, was appointed but the ANC and EFF worked together to prevent the precautionary suspension. When Bowman’s finished their preliminary report at the end of 2018, the city manager approached the Labour Court to prevent it from being tabled in Council. At the same time, the mayor again approached Council to call for the suspension of the city manager for violating the Code of Conduct of Municipal Staff. The ANC and EFF again protected the city manager by refusing to suspend him. The ANC and EFF caucuses also worked together and passed a resolution to prevent the independent Bowmans investigation from continuing. In the mean-time the auditor general had also been investigating the GladAfrica contract. Their investigations confirmed that the awarding of the tender was indeed irregular. The main points the auditor general noted were that the conclusion of the contract is in violation of the Constitution, the Public Audit Act and numerous other pieces of legislation. The report further noted that it is highly irregular that the city manager was the initiator, evaluator and approver of the GladAfrica contract. Despite the attempts by the ANC and EFF to block the mayor from carrying out his oversight duties the GladAfrica contract has now officially been taken on review. The mayor took the matter to the Mayoral Committee who agreed that there is more than sufficient evidence to have the contract reviewed. This shows that the DA in government will always work tirelessly to make sure government is accountable and no corruption or irregular activity is allowed to go unchecked, even against seemingly insurmountable odds.