BREAKING: Tshwane mayor Randall Williams resigns ahead of motion of no confidence against him

Tshwane mayor Randall Williams has resigned.

"Today, I am formally resigning as the executive mayor of the City of Tshwane . To have served in this role has been one of the greatest honours of my life. There is no greater privilege than to have been chosen to public office to represent my fellow citizens," Williams said in a statement on Monday morning.

Williams, a DA councillor, steps down ahead of a motion of no confidence against him , which  party leaders expected him to lose because he had lost the confidence of his own caucus.

The vote of no confidence was to be held via a secret ballot.

DA coalition partner in Tshwane, ActionSA, has long called for Williams' head. Previously, ActionSA said:  "We don't have a DA problem in Tshwane, we have a Randall problem."

"One of my core goals as executive mayor has always been to ensure the stability of the multi-party coalition in Tshwane without which service delivery suffers. I do not want the political instability that has taken place in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni to spill over into Tshwane. To keep the multi-party coalition together required continuous communication and engagement to ensure unity in our city to achieve our goals.

"I resign today because I believe it is in the best interest for continued stability of the coalition in the city. Being executive mayor of the capital city has not been without its difficulties, but I have embraced every challenge that has come my way in the execution of my duties, all of which have allowed my own personal development.

"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. When I was first elected executive mayor of Tshwane at the end of October 2020, the city was in an incredibly challenging position. We had just removed the ANC administrators who had mismanaged the city and our country was still in a state of Covid-19 lockdown. Having inherited a R4bn deficit at the time, my immediate goal was to stabilise the city’s finances," Williams said in the statement.