'I cleaned up Tshwane,' says Solly Msimanga in resignation letter

Outgoing Tshwane executive mayor Solly Msimanga has described himself as Mr Fix It, claiming in his resignation letter that he cleaned up the mess created by the previous ANC administration.

In his letter submitted to Tshwane council speaker Katlego Mathebe, Msimanga lambasted the ANC saying they "squandered" the city's coffers and that he had to clean up their mess.

Msimanga's resignation is effective from February 11.

He say in the letter that his two and a half years in office were a success. One success was uncovering more than R1.5bn was squandered by the previous ANC government.

Moreover, he sold the "mayoral mention previously used by the ANC government" for R5m and used the money to build 40 RDP houses.

"After inheriting R2bn operating deficit municipality, the DA-led government tried its best to serve the people of this capital city," wrote Msimanga.

"The list of the work we have done is endless, however the true test of our term is the impact we have made to the lives of our VIPs, the residents of Tshwane."

Msimanga urged residents of Gauteng to rally behind him in the race for the province's premiership ahead of the upcoming general elections, saying his Tshwane track record proved that he can run "a clean government".

The ANC caucus chief whip Aaron Maluleka said Msimanga's resignation did not follow the proper process as he first announced it to the media two weeks ago.

"The executive mayor cannot resign in a press conference. He disrespected council," said Maluleka.

"The mayor must follow process in a form of a report. If Msimanga did not know about that, we will teach him," said Maluleke.