Randall Williams, the Democratic Alliance executive mayor of Tshwane, has resigned from the post he has held since October 2020 with effect from midnight on Monday.
Williams has been under fire from partners in the multi-party coalition running the nation’s capital — including ActionSA — over an adverse audit opinion for the 2021-2022 financial year during which the city racked up R1.2 billion in irregular, fruitless or wasteful expenditure.
Williams, who was re-elected in November 2021, survived a no-confidence motion last year, but has been under renewed pressure to step down over his administration’s performance in handling the city’s finances.
In a statement released on Monday morning, Williams said he had resigned “to ensure the stability of the multi-party coalition in Tshwane without which service delivery suffers”.
Williams added that he did not want the “political instability that has taken place in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni to spill over into Tshwane”.
“I resign today because I believe it is in the best interest for continued stability for the coalition in the city,” he said. “I resign today not in frustration, resentment or anger but in peace knowing that I have been given an incredible opportunity and I have fulfilled my duties to the best of my abilities.”
Williams’ resignation will trigger a fresh mayoral election in a city, which has been governed by a series of unstable minority-led coalitions since 2016 when the DA first took control of the city from the ANC.
The ANC, along with an alliance of smaller parties and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), is likely to make a bid to take back control of Tshwane from the DA-led coalition, as they have successfully done in Johannesburg. A similar strategy has been adopted in Ekurhuleni, where mayor Tania Campbell and her team are under pressure to resign.
The EFF and the governing party have also struck deals at local government level in KwaZulu-Natal, which have helped the ANC retain eThekwini and which are likely to trigger fresh mayoral elections in eight hung municipalities in the province, governed thus far by the Inkatha Freedom Party, (IFP) with the support of the red berets.
The DA “noted” the resignation of WIlliams and thanked him for his service as Tshwane mayor, saying he and his team had inherited a R4 billion deficit from the ANC and had worked to prioritise core service delivery and ensure the city’s continued financial stability.
“At times the challenges seemed insurmountable, but he never took his hands off the wheels. That is the embodiment of the DA promise to those who live in metros and municipalities where the DA governs,” party leader John Steenhuisen said.
