BL Premium reports that the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) has welcomed the resignation of DA councillor Randall Williams as Tshwane’s executive mayor, saying he presided over the collapse of the metro’s finances.

“In his resignation letter, Williams attempts to paint a rosy picture of his tenure. He, however, neglects to mention the fact that under his watch, the city’s finances deteriorated to a state that has never been seen before,” said Samwu Tshwane regional chair Nkhetheni Muthavhi. He added: “It was under his watch that for the first time in history, the city received an adverse audit finding. This is the same man who was protected by the coalition government when there was clear evidence that he tried to manipulate the city’s supply chain process by attempting to sneak through the backdoor and give his preferred company a tender worth R26bn.” Williams’s resignation comes months after the DA-led multiparty coalition – consisting of ActionSA, ACDP, IFP, COPE and Freedom Front Plus – issued a joint statement in August 2022, indicating that it had agreed to an independent investigation after allegations surfaced that Williams interfered in a R26bn energy investment proposal for the metro. In a statement on Monday, Williams said he was resigning with immediate effect as executive mayor, stressing that his untimely exit was in the best interests of the multiparty coalition. However, just hours later in another statement, Williams said that to ensure the continuity of the council’s work, he had amended his resignation to take effect from midnight on 28 February. Samwu called on all political parties represented in the council to put aside their political differences and elect a mayor “who cares for service delivery and workers alike”.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page