Post by @CilliersB
62% credible (75% factual, 35% presentation). The factual claims regarding increased power outages and tariff hikes in the 2025 budget are verified, but the presentation omits progress in water supply improvements and relies on partisan allegations of fund misuse without new evidence. The analysis identified significant omission framing and bias in the portrayal of the Tshwane coalition's governance.
Analysis Summary
The post claims significant deterioration in Tshwane's services under the ANC/EFF/ActionSA coalition, including water issues in Hammanskraal, increased power outages, higher tariffs, and misuse of public funds. Verification shows partial accuracy: water supply improvements exist but ongoing challenges persist, power outages have increased, tariffs rose in the 2025 budget, and allegations of fund misuse align with political critiques. Presentation is biased and omissive, emphasizing negatives while ignoring positive developments like budget approvals and service praises.
Original Content
The Facts
Partially accurate but exaggerated; factual elements like outages and tariffs hold, but water crisis shows progress omitted, and misuse claims are partisan allegations without new evidence. Overall verdict: Mixed credibility with strong bias.
Benefit of the Doubt
The author's intent is to advance a pro-DA agenda by portraying the coalition as a failure to undermine rivals and highlight DA's prior governance. Emphasized: Negative service declines and personal jabs at the mayor; omitted: Positive aspects like Hammanskraal water restoration phases, resident praises for improved delivery, and successful 2025/26 budget adoption that addressed pro-poor initiatives. This selective presentation shapes reader perception toward viewing the coalition as wholly incompetent, ignoring multi-faceted progress and framing issues as solely causal to the coalition despite pre-existing challenges.
How Is This Framed?
Biases, omissions, and misleading presentation techniques detected
Presents coalition as causing total decline by omitting progress like water treatment phases and budget successes, creating a one-sided narrative of failure.
Problematic phrases:
"Tshwane is worse off""No clean water in Hammanskraal"What's actually there:
Partial restoration achieved in 2025 phases; resident praises for improvements
What's implied:
Complete failure with no progress
Impact: Misleads readers into believing no advancements occurred, inflating perceived incompetence and urgency for change.
Implies all issues (water, outages, tariffs) directly result from the one-year coalition without evidence, ignoring pre-coalition roots.
Problematic phrases:
"One year under the ANC/EFF/ActionSA coalition - and Tshwane is worse off"What's actually there:
Outages increased but linked to budget cuts; tariffs rose in approved 2025 budget with pro-poor elements
What's implied:
Solely due to coalition mismanagement
Impact: Creates false cause-effect, leading readers to attribute systemic issues to recent governance only.
Uses absolute terms like 'more power outages' without quantifying scale or comparing to prior years, exaggerating impact.
Problematic phrases:
"More power outages""Higher tariffs"What's actually there:
Outages reported in Feb 2025; tariffs part of R52.2B budget
What's implied:
Dramatic worsening without baseline
Impact: Amplifies perception of crisis by neglecting comparative data.
Sources & References
External sources consulted for this analysis
https://dagauteng.org.za/2025/02/anc-coalition-wants-tshwane-residents-to-pay-for-more-water-tankers-and-security-companies
https://www.biznews.com/leadership/2025/01/12/jordan-griffiths-hammanskraal-water
https://www.ewn.co.za/2024/11/13/politricking-we-must-be-able-to-drink-that-water-ourselves-tshwane-mayor-nasiphi-moya-talks-hammanskraal-and-coalitions
https://www.actionsa.org.za/actionsa-congratulates-the-tshwane-municipality-for-restoring-clean-water-supply-to-hammanskraal/
https://iol.co.za/pretoria-news/opinion/2024-09-10-why-actionsa-is-bringing-down-the-city-of-tshwane-coalition/
https://www.actionsa.org.za/tshwane-leadership-delivers-justice-with-hammanskraal-water-bill-write-off/
https://www.actionsa.org.za/hammanskraal-water-crisis-deepens-actionsa-announces-own-public-hearings/
https://www.news24.com/citypress/tshwane-coalition-on-brink-of-collapse-as-anc-and-eff-plan-to-oust-actionsa-mayor-20250804-0385
https://iol.co.za/news/politics/2025-05-16-tshwane-coalition-approves-r52-2-billion-draft-budget-for-202526/
https://www.actionsa.org.za/coalition-partners-congratulate-tshwane-on-passing-of-pro-poor-2025-26-budget/
https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/residents-praise-actionsa-eff-and-anc-coalition-for-improved-service-delivery-in-tshwane-e852642f-a006-4386-a27f-7a5944e3d472
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-08-06-water-is-life-commission-of-inquirys-report-reveals-damning-review-of-water-crisis-inertia-in-hammanskraal/
https://www.ewn.co.za/2024/08/15/actionsa-welcomes-city-of-tshwane-scrapping-historical-water-bills-for-hammanskraal-residents
https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/power-outages-and-water-shortages-plague-city-of-tshwane-8468d27c-eebd-450b-9b6a-a21e1482f436
https://x.com/CilliersB/status/1889317523859890476
https://x.com/CilliersB/status/1908743549278879830
https://x.com/CilliersB/status/1852035530835320954
https://x.com/CilliersB/status/1889566054323724343
https://x.com/CilliersB/status/1910304730175136044
https://x.com/CilliersB/status/1939641820289409193
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