Williams resigns, somersaults and asks to stay on a bit longer as Tshwane mayor

Hardly three hours after he resigned, saying “I am formally resigning as the executive mayor of the City of Tshwane as of midnight this evening”, Randall Williams has changed his mind and wants to stay two more weeks.

“After consultation with various political parties in Tshwane and in order to ensure the continuity of the work of council, I have subsequently written to the speaker and the chief whip and amended my resignation to take effect from midnight on 28 February 2023.

He said this would ensure that the work of the city was not interrupted. The resignation of the mayor would have meant that the mayoral committee be dissolved, leaving the city under the governance of the council speaker – Cope’s lone councillor Murunwa Makwarela in Tshwane’s case.

Williams said he had asked the MMC for finance and leader of executive business Peter Sutton to act as mayor until his resignation is effected or council elects a new mayor.

Meanwhile, DA Gauteng provincial leader Solly Msimanga said the party is looking forward to welcoming Tshwane mayor Williams into whatever role comes next.

Msimanga praised Williams, who stepped down ahead of a motion of no confidence against him on Monday, 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.

Msimanga said after Williams was elected mayor in 2020 “in the wake of the ANC mismanagement that left the city with a R4bn deficit”, he set about stabilising the city’s finances.

“This he did as the head of a DA minority government until the 2021 local government elections. In November 2021 Randall Williams was once again elected as the executive mayor of Tshwane, this time as the head of the city’s first multi-party coalition government. Since then, he and his team worked to prioritise core service delivery in the city and ensure its continued financial stability.

“The DA federal leader, John Steenhuisen, thanked mayor Williams for the dedication and commitment to improving the levels of service delivery for all of Tshwane’s residents. At times the challenges seemed insurmountable, but he never took his hands off the wheel. That is the embodiment of the DA promise to those who live in metros and municipalities where the DA governs,” Msimanga said.

DA coalition partner in Tshwane, ActionSA, has long called for Williams’ head. Previously, ActionSA said the city had a “Randall Williams problem”.

On Monday, ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said he was surprised about Williams’s resignation.

“As a coalition partner, this news took us by surprise. There is a meeting of the multi-party coalition scheduled for 8pm this evening in which ActionSA will be seeking answers. We are aware that there has been an ongoing discussion about the political consequences required in the City of Tshwane as it relates to the auditor-general’s adverse findings, Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant as well as a number of important service delivery issues.

“As ActionSA we’ll go to that meeting to express our absolute commitment to ensuring this coalition succeeds for the residents of Tshwane and any leadership committed to improving the lives of residents,” Beaumont said.