The ANC in the greater Johannesburg region on Monday said Herman Mashaba's resignation as mayor of Johannesburg and from the Democratic Alliance had very little to do with the weekend election of Helen Zille as the DA’s federal council chairperson.
"His resignation is informed by the dire financial crisis that he has plunged the city of Johannesburg into. He has over time been able to get away with lies about the financial affairs of the city," said ANC regional spokesperson Jolidee Matongo.
Matongo claimed Mashaba was running away from a "soon to be exposed truth" that the city is broke and may not be able to finance the day-to-day basic costs of paying staff salaries and providing water and electricity to Johannesburg residents.
Matongo labelled the outgoing mayor a sore loser, saying he was not a democrat.
"Just because he lost a battle in the party, he throws his toys out of the cot."