Tshwane mayoral race: DA’s Randall Williams goes head-to-head with ANC’s Frans Boshielo

23 November 2021 - 12:19
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The DA's Randall Williams is in pole position to retain Tshwane's mayoral chain. File photo.
The DA's Randall Williams is in pole position to retain Tshwane's mayoral chain. File photo.
Image: Thapelo Morebudi

The City of Tshwane council meeting started off smoothly on Tuesday morning.

All eyes are on the first meeting where councillors are expected to elect a speaker, mayor and chief whip after the November 1 local government elections.

The DA is in pole position to retain the city’s mayoral chain after surprising developments in Gauteng in Monday.

Despite hostile relationships which led to a breakdown in coalition talks late last week, opposition parties opted to put the DA in power in both the cities of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni on Monday.

The EFF and Action SA banded together to elect Mpho Phalatse and Tania Campbell as mayors of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni respectively.

This result left both the ANC and DA shocked after ActionSA president Herman Mashaba had publicly said he would withdraw his support for the DA owing to it rejecting a proposal that would have seen him take over the reins in Johannesburg.

The DA had also made it clear that it does not want to work with the EFF.

In a statement on Monday, Mashaba made it clear that his party had made an about-turn on its decision not to support the DA in a bid to ensure the ANC stays out of power.

“ActionSA will not play Russian roulette with the lives of the residents of these municipalities who have trusted political parties to keep the ANC out of government.

“ActionSA made a commitment to all South Africans that, where we contest, we will unseat the ANC in these elections. We do not take this promise lightly. We cannot betray this commitment to South Africans because of the petty party-political personality issues that have played out over the past 72 hours,” said Mashaba.

He issued the statement shortly after he decided against standing as a candidate.

“We knew that if it came down to a choice between ActionSA and the ANC, the DA would choose the ANC, and we cannot allow the ANC to regain control when voters so clearly rejected them.

“The DA’s irresponsible actions created a crisis in coalition politics in SA. It threatened to hand municipalities back to the ANC and it threatened the long-term nature of these arrangements ahead of the 2024 national elections,” he said.

Monday’s developments have placed the DA’s Randall Williams in a strong position to return as the mayor of the capital city on Tuesday.

He took over the reins in 2020 from Stevens Mokgalapa, who was booted out of office after an alleged sex scandal involving a member of his executive.

Williams is expected to go head-to-head with the ANC’s Frans Boshielo.

TimesLIVE


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