The City of Tshwane council speaker Murunwa Makwarela has cancelled a special sitting scheduled to discuss outgoing mayor Randall Williams’ resignation notice.
Makwarela told Sunday World that he cancelled the meeting to prioritise an amended annual report that landed on his desk on Friday, saying it is crucial to consider the report while the city still has executive leadership – the mayor and members of the mayoral committee.
In his resignation letter on Monday, Williams said he was resigning to ensure stability in the city, and noted that he did not want the political instability in the cities of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni to spill over to Tshwane.
He said his resignation took effect from midnight on Monday, however, a few hours later the mayor tendered an amended resignation letter in which he said he would only vacate the office by February 28, contending that his extended stay would ensure that the “core work” of the city continues uninterrupted.
According to Makwarela, there was confusion after Williams resigned, saying the mayor’s resignation technically collapsed his mayoral committee, meaning there was no longer an executive leadership to retable the correct report which surfaced recently.
“There was confusion in the city regarding the issue of the mayoral committee after Williams tendered his resignation letter. There was no executive leadership to retable the correct annual report, hence I called a special meeting to notify the council of his resignation,” said Makwarela.
The speaker explained that when a mayor resigns, the mayoral committee collapses to allow for the formation of a new committee, but since Williams decided to extend his stay and appointed an acting mayor, the mayoral committee remains in place until a new mayor is appointed.
The report
In January, auditor-general (AG) Tsakani Maluleke found that Tshwane did not perform well in the 2021/2022 financial year, stating that the city was fraught with maladministration and corruption.
Makwarela told Sunday World that the annual report that was initially submitted in that regard was incorrect, stating that he was notified a few weeks after Maluleke’s report was leaked and a new and “correct” report was delivered to his office last week.
He said the special sitting, which sought to consider this report, was deferred by Williams and his executive, who requested a postponement.
“The AG’s report said the city did not do well in terms of its performance … it has come to my light that the annual report that was tabled was wrong,” said Makwarela.
“There was a special meeting that I scheduled to correct that report because the chairperson of the independent audit committee had given me the correct report.
“Immediately when it came to my attention, I called the meeting because, according to the law, the report must go for public comment within 60 days, that is the law. The executive wrote to me and asked if I could postpone the meeting and I agreed. Just after that, the mayor resigned, meaning there was no longer a mayoral committee in the city.
“He [Williams] later on changed his mind and appointed someone to act on his behalf, that means he is now saying that the mayoral committee is still there. He still technically resigned, because he is not here. He is on leave until the 28th. But the report needs to be considered.”
Makwarela said the meeting that was scheduled for Wednesday was just to formally notify members of the council that the mayor has resigned and to allow them to prepare for the election of a new mayor.
“For today’s meeting, all I had to do was to formally notify council members and various parties that the mayor had resigned and that they need to prepare themselves to elect a new mayor.
“That is all I was going to do. But because the mayoral committee is still in place, we need to prioritise the report.”
Also read: Tshwane special sitting to decide on Williams’ U-turn on resignation
To read more political news and views, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here
