David Terence Foley

Attendance

Present

62

Leave of absence

2

Absent without leave

0

Arrived late

0

Left early

1

Reasons given for leave: Other (1), Party business (1).

"Absent without leave" means the signed minutes of a meeting held while they were on council neither list them as present nor excuse them, and no similar name appears that day, so misspellings in the minutes don't count against anyone. Each square links to the minutes.

In the chamber

From the 10 sittings transcribed so far in their term. Times are approximate, to the nearest transcript line.

Not present when called

0

Times given the floor

4

Average wait to start

5 s

Average greetings first

2 s

Warned or stopped by the chair (1)

• 27 Aug 2026 · 01:50:36Chair interrupted his speech on item 39. sitting

In their words

Every time the chair gave them the floor in a transcribed sitting (4), newest first. The words are the AI transcript of that stretch of the livestream (Argon), so they can include the chair or an interjection; the time link is the place to check.

• 27 Aug 2026 · 01:58:27Item 41: recruitment of Group Head, Group Strategy · 2 min 17 s

  Read what they said (326 words)

  Should I continue, Speaker?

  Yes, you can continue, Councillor. It wasn't meant for you.

  Speaker, I rise on item 41, the commencement of recruitment process for the position of Group Head: Group Strategy, Policy Coordination and Relations. Um the position of Group Head: Group Strategy, Policy Coordination and Relations reporting directly to the City Manager will become vacant on the 1st of October 2026, following the resignation of the incumbent on the 12th of August 2026. The incumbent is serving a notice period until the 30th of September 2026. So, I just have a couple of questions.

  Why is this pe- person leaving the city? What is the problem? Is this purging in any way? For a person that has been adding value according to his colleagues, has he found it impossible to work under this administration? There seems to be a plethora of new vacancies. Is this because you know that this administration is coming to an end? For the Democratic Alliance a fit-for-purpose capable person needs to be chosen with all the relevant credentials. When Helen Zille becomes the mayor of after the me-

  Councillor Foley, just hold on. Colleagues at the back, please. And those that are moving out, you move out on your feet. I've never seen someone move out on his mouth. Uh-uh, no.

  Thank you Councillor Foley.

  No problem Speaker. So as I was saying when Helen Zille becomes the Mayor after the municipal elections on the 4th of November 2026 and this administration fades into the sunset a new dawn of professionalism will become the norm for the City of Joburg and then and only then will it become a world-class African city that works for all in it. Most particularly the ratepayers. Speaker, the Democratic Alliance notes this report that recommends that no recruitment appointment should be made until after the elections mid-November,

  when there will be a new DA government and administration in place. So thank you.

• 27 Aug 2026 · 01:49:29Item 39: secondment for vacant senior management posts · 2 min 20 s

  Read what they said (298 words)

  Thank you, Speaker. I rise on item 39, the secondment request for vacant senior management positions. Right. The Democratic Alliance requests that the persons chosen for the HODs Public Safety and Executive Director Human Resource Settlements Human Settlements, sorry, are based on merit, capability, experience and qualifications, and not on the buddy-cader system that seems to be the norm in the City of Joburg,

  jailed that even if a person is under such scrutiny and a risk to the City of Joburg, even after the Premier suspended him is now going to be appointed as the Head of Department of Public Safety. The councillors that voted yes for this item to be passed will be held accountable accordingly. A Public Safety Head of Department should be an experienced leader with a strong background in law enforcement, emergency management or public administration. Key

  Key qualities are: crisis management, must handle emergencies, natural disasters and public threats.

  Councillor Mathebula, sorry Councillor Foley, please. Thank you, Councillor Foley.

  Uh okay. And public threats calmly and quickly. Community trust, needs strong communication skills to build positive relationships with diverse neighbourhoods. Administrative skill, must manage large budgets, staffing and complex city or regional operations. Collaboration, should work well with local government, health agencies, provincial and national government. Some of his core responsibilities should be:

  overseeing services, managing the Metro Police, Fire Departments, Emergency Medical Services, EMS, and disaster response. Policy making, create rules that keep communities safe while protecting civil rights. Resource planning, make sure that first responders have proper training, equipment and mental health support. Speaker, the Democratic Alliance notes the report, but recommends that no recruitment appointments should be made until after the elections mid-November 2026

  when there will be a new DA government and administration in place. I thank you.

• 26 Aug 2026 · 04:38:47Item 38 · 2 min 52 s

  Read what they said (466 words)

  Thank you, Speaker. I Councillor Foley rise on item 38, recruitment and a appointment process of the Head of Department Public Safety position. All protocol observed. Speaker, in my speech to council on the 30th of March, 2026 on item 63, recruitment and appointment process of the Executive Head Social Development, I said the following, that the Democratic Alliance rejects the selection process and the app- appointment outright.

  We base this on the following: The panel interview that was held on the 19th 19th of December, the third panel member was listed as the external expert was Mr. Malotana, who is now ranked one as the candidate. Uh which with a questionable 93 total score. In a press statement on the 29th of July, the Democratic Alliance, member of pa- uh Provincial Legislature, Jack Bloom Jack Bloom who's now Deputy Minister wrote to the Public Protector

  requesting an urgent investigation in the suspicious appointment of Mr. Lesiba. On the 14th of October 2025, the Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi, suspended Mr. Malotana with immediate effect, and the Democratic Alliance in Gauteng called for his axing. This is approximately 2 months before he was part of the selection panel. How can this happen in the City of Joburg, a world-class African city? This is certainly not world-class in any way.

  As part of today's item 38, the report states in a second PSC, I'm sorry about the repetition, personal suitability check report, GFIS further conducted an environmental scanning and found that the can- candidate was flagged as a high risk by the SIU. The second PSC report to uh was indicated there is a negative in- information which indicates potential security risk for the City of Joburg. Due to the PSC report and the high risk identified by the SIU, an external legal opinion was obtained

  uh around the suitability of the appointment which are attached to the item. I'm very concerned about the ability and the integrity of the panel members that approved this

  You have 59 seconds left.

  this candidate and ranked him number one. Just a reminder that all councillors that can that vote on this can be held personally liable for voting for an item that could have a serious impact on the City of Joburg. It was If ever there was a time to vote against party lines, this is it. The choice is yours. It will be recorded as such. When Helen Zille becomes the mayor after the municipal elections on the 4th of November, and the administration fades into the sunset,

  a new dawn of professionalism will become the norm for the City of Joburg, and then and only then will it become a world-class African city that works for all in it, most particularly the ratepayers. I thank you, Speaker.

• 25 Jun 2026 · 06:24:16Items 5 and 6 · 7 min 2 s

  Read what they said (1106 words)

  Madam Speaker, members of council, residents of Johannesburg, all protocol observed. Good day. I, Councillor Foley, rise to speak on Item 5: Performance Assessment for the Group Corporate and Shared Services Department. Madam Speaker, this report once again confirms what residents experience every day. Johannesburg is a city in deep distress. It is overstaffed in some areas, underperforming in critical functions, inefficient in execution

  and lacking the governance discipline required to turn the service delivery around. If the City of Johannesburg were a private business, it would have closed its doors many years ago. The reality is that the city currently carries 37,229 employees, including 130, 103 temporary workers, yet residents continue to receive poor service and unreliable service. When one reads the quarterly report, the first major concern

  is the reported decline, which a lot of the members have spoken about already. A total of 139 facilities across the city were assessed for compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act during the third quarter. The average system compliance was only 52%, while physical compliance was at 64. This raises a serious question: are we doing enough to protect our own employees? We cannot speak about service delivery while staff are expected to work in environments that are unsafe, poorly managed or non-compliant.

  Senior management must take direct responsibility for compliance, workplace safety and the dignity of employees. I have also been told by staff members that if the staff complement were reduced by 30%, it would not necessarily impact the work output. This is a very serious reflection on productivity, management and consequence management in the city. I am not saying that every employee is unproductive. There are many committed public servants,

  but the system itself is failing them, and effective management is required in every department. The question must be asked: are the right managers in place, and are they being held accountable for performance? The provision of fleet contract management services, particularly in relation to Pikitup, is clearly not working. Weekly collections are not being facilitated on time, and Johannesburg residents are suffering as a result. This problem started in November 2025, and collections have still not recovered.

  We see the same problems every week. Surely there must be a contractual recourse for non-delivery, and surely someone must be held accountable. On employment equity, after 32 years of democracy, we must be honest enough to say the city needs to attract and appoint the best people for the job. Policies must not become a barrier to appointing critical skills. Johannesburg should be the place where skilled, committed professionals want to work because they can make a real difference.

  Instead, many go elsewhere because the system is too restrictive, too slow and too political. Madam Speaker, some of the concerns we have raised in our Section 79 meetings include the following. There is still no meaningful progress on the updated Electronic Data Management System. Previous oversight reports have indicated that delays in finalizing a policy are partly to blame, but this cannot continue indefinitely. There are continued delays in the digitization of HR processes and the records management system by GICT.

  Performance assessments are still being done on paper, and during oversight visits we saw documents, including personal information, lying around in the Metro Centre in different departments. This creates a serious operational and POPIA-related risks. The skills audit was conducted in 2018, yet interventions remain delayed. The question now is whether those interventions are even still relevant to the current needs of the organization, given staff turnover and the changing skills required in a modern municipality.

  The MTN to Telkom contract change has resulted in litigation against the city, which may lead to further fruitless and wasteful expenditure. The report also lists many health challenges within departments, including depression, trauma, post-traumatic stress, bereavement, anxiety and exhaustion and panic attacks. I believe much more can be done to support staff well-being.

  Madam Speaker, I am pleased with the recent response from the Group Executive Director of GCSS to a question I posed regarding whether 1,550 permanent employees and 143 contractors would be appointed in 2026/2027, and where the funds would come from, given that the city is cash-strapped. His answer was clear: no, there is currently a moratorium on recruitment. Departments and entities must make an application to the Strategic Appointments Panel

  for any recruitment into the approved and funded positions. He further confirmed that the city would only make appointments for approved, funded and budgeted positions, and that it would be an offense to make an appointment where the position is not funded or budgeted for. The answer is welcomed. However, it should be, it would be useful if a DA council member could form part of the Strategic Appointments Panel to strengthen oversight and transparency.

  Madam Speaker, another concern is the expiry of contracts for essential services. This creates the risk of emergency procurement, where normal procurement processes may be bypassed. And the city must implement a proper contract management system and then ensure that suppliers are paid before services are interrupted. I just want to talk about two examples of the quality of service that residents experience from the City of Joburg. The first involves an 80-year-old

  pensioner who was accused of bypassing her water meter. Eventually, it was cleared of a R22,000 fine, but it's been 18 months later. There is also the example of, relates to face-value forms required for change of ownership, license disc renewals are in short supply or not available at all at many centres. This prevents businesses and residents from functioning efficiently and impacts the local economy. Yet residents are told that forms can suddenly be found if money changes hands.

  That is completely unacceptable and must be investigated. Madam Speaker, Joburg needs a monumental shake-up. That change is coming. After the next election, we look forward to welcoming Helen Zille as the Mayor of Joburg, together with a clear turnaround strategy for the City of Joburg. To those who have not been doing their jobs, the era of non-consequence management must come to an end. Johannesburg cannot afford another five years of excuses, failed systems and poor service delivery.

  In closing, I want to urge residents to ensure that they are correctly, correctly registered to vote. Check your details, update your voting district if necessary, and make sure you are ready for the 2026 government elections. The second weekend of registration will be the 1st and 2nd of August 2026. Johannesburg can be fixed, but it will require leadership, discipline, accountability and the political will to put residents first. I thank you, Speaker.

Spoke on

• 27 Aug 2026 · 01:49:09Item 39: Secondment for vacant senior management positions
• 27 Aug 2026 · 01:58:07Item 41: Recruitment for Group Head: Group Strategy
• 26 Aug 2026 · 04:31:05Item 38: Head of Department Public Safety debate (DA, GOOD, ActionSA, EFF)
• 25 Jun 2026 · 06:24:09DA and EFF on GCSS report