The DA is on the brink of losing its grip on the City of Tshwane as its main coalition partner, ActionSA, says it's not convinced by the candidates the party plans to field for mayor.
Opposition parties, including the ANC and the EFF, have made it clear they intend to vote for a non-DA mayor after the dramatic resignation of Randall Williams last week.
They are counting on cracks in the DA after it was alleged that Williams did not step down voluntarily but was pushed out.
Sources claim Williams was summoned to a meeting by the DA top brass where he was instructed to step down. DA federal council chair Helen Zille has denied this. Williams was not available for comment at the time of going to press.
If the DA fails to retain Tshwane it will be the second metro it has lost in Gauteng after the removal of Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse. The ANC/EFF alliance is also eyeing Ekurhuleni.
ActionSA national chair Michael Beaumont predicted that the DA’s handling of Williams's resignation would be messier than its mismanagement of the fallout over Phalatse and it was likely to lose control of the capital.
“There's no doubt that this wasn't an idea that wilfully arose from within Randall Williams,” said Beaumont.
DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga said Williams was not pushed out but had indicated his appetite to resign as early as last year owing to his frail health.
Msimanga said one of the reasons Williams resigned was because ActionSA was always using him as a scapegoat.
“There is an issue of one of our coalition partners who had said they were not happy with Randall,” Msimanga said.
“Therefore, he felt that even if we were to put the turnaround systems in place and do the financial recoveries for the city, he would always be seen as a scapegoat. That is one of the reasons he decided to step down.”
The ANC, EFF and ActionSA blame the DA for bringing the city to its knees with poor financial management, including an allegation that R10bn cannot be accounted for under the current administration.
There is an issue of one of our coalition partners who had said they were not happy with Randall.
— DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga
EFF regional chair Obakeng Ramabodu said Williams had “failed publicly” as a mayor and left the metro in “financial tatters”.
Msimanga said allegations of financial collapse directed at Williams were misguided.
He said DA mayors in the municipality since 2016 cannot be blamed for the city’s financial woes, which were inherited from the ANC.
With Williams gone, it is said the DA is planning to field either Msimanga or Cilliers Brink as his replacement, both of whom have a controversial history with the municipality.
Beaumont said this was a demonstration of the untenable position that the DA found itself in.
“The names we are hearing being mentioned more and more concern us greatly. Solly Msimanga and Cilliers Brink. Imagine a guy like Brink, who has been the point person from the DA attacking coalition partners, now being put in charge of leading a coalition. It spells disaster.”
Ramabodu said: “They are likely to field Brink as a candidate, who was the former group corporate and shared services MMC [and] was part of the GladAfrica scandal that happened in his department under mayor Solly Msimanga.”
The ANC said it was confident it stood a positive chance of wresting power from the DA, working with the EFF, smaller parties and a disgruntled DA coalition partner, ActionSA.
“There was insurmountable pressure on Randall Williams to resign because the city is bankrupt,” said ANC Tshwane regional secretary George Matjila.
“We are going to make sure that a smaller party in council fields a mayor of their own so that we are guaranteed the support of all small parties. Our numbers are looking good; we are only short of two.”
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