Tshwane mayor Randall Williams’ resignation ‘not surprising’

The position for mayor in the City of Tshwane is up for the taking after the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Randall Williams announced his resignation effective from the end of February.

Political lecturer at North West University Dr Benjamin Rapanyane said Williams had resigned because he had dismally failed to manage the finances of the metro.

“His resignation is not surprising as he has millions of rand that he failed to account for,” he said.

Rapanyane said Williams’ resignation follows a call from the ANC and Economic Freedom Fighters demanding he go, and a motion of no confidence in him.

Audit report reflected badly on Williams

Political analyst Piet Croucamp said for now the DA in Tshwane and its coalition partners were relatively safe, providing they kept the coalition together.

“The horrendous audit report the city got reflected badly on the mayor,” he said. “There are other issues, including how money was spent in the city.”

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Croucamp said it looked like the DA would suggest a new mayor within their ranks.

“It looks [from] speculation they may offer Cilliers Brink that position. He is almost in the mould of Helen Zille and John Steenhuisen when it comes to personality, and persistent on so-called liberal principles,” he said.

Croucamp said whether that appointment would be acceptable for the coalition partners was a different question.

“It hasn’t worked out well for them in Johannesburg, but they didn’t have the advantage of the numbers in terms of coalitions,” he said.

Williams came under increased pressure from the DA’s coalition partners to resign, following the poor audit outcomes under his watch.

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“I do not want the political instability that has taken place in Joburg and Ekurhuleni to spill over into Tshwane,” he said.

“I resign today because I believe it is in the best interest for the continued stability of the coalition in the city.”

Challenging position

Williams said when he was first elected mayor of Tshwane at the end of October 2020, the city had been in a challenging position.

“We had just removed the ANC administrators who had mismanaged the city and our country was still in Covid lockdown.

“My immediate goal was to stabilise the city’s finances after inheriting an R4-billion deficit.”

Williams was re-elected in November 2021 as mayor of Tshwane at the head of the city’s first multiparty coalition government.

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Alderman Peter Sutton, the DA’s MMC for finance and leader of executive business, has been asked to fill the role of acting mayor.