City of Tshwane mayor Randal Williams is not shaken by a possible motion of no confidence to oust him from the mayorship following damning findings made by auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke in her audit report.
Maluleke found that Tshwane has been fraught with maladministration and corruption in the 2021/22 financial year, saying the city had been manipulating its financial statements to filter irregularities.
Among others, Maluleke revealed records of irregular expenditure amounting to R10-billion and unauthorised expenditure of more than R600-million.
Reacting to the findings, the multi-party coalition comprising the DA, ActionSA, the Congress of the People, Freedom Front Plus, the IFP, and the African Christian Democratic Party expressed disappointment, noting that it expects “urgent remedial action, deep reform, and real accountability”.
However, it shifted the blame to the ANC, which governed the city over six years ago.
The coalition hinted that the city is on a brink of collapse, as a result of the ANC, which left it in an abysmal state because of corruption.
In a joint statement on Sunday, the coalition said: “From the outset, the multi-party coalition is unequivocal in expressing its disappointment with the audit findings and expects urgent remedial action, deep reform, and real accountability. Our efforts to displace failed ANC governance can never see regressions in the standards of good governance.
“While it can be noted that the current multi-party government took over the reins at the metro five months after the 2021/2022 financial year commenced and there are deep historical problems underpinning the report pre-dating even that financial year, the multi-party government is, nonetheless, committed to address the historical root causes of adverse findings and hold those responsible accountable.
“South Africans are looking to a grouping of political parties to provide an alternative to the failed ANC legacy of collapsing service delivery and rampant corruption.
“This is why the governing multi-party coalition in the City of Tshwane will respond to the auditor-general’s report decisively with remedial action, consequence management, and transparency.”
On Friday, Williams acknowledged the findings and admitted that the city has seen a decline in good governance in the last two years.
“In my last two years as executive mayor, the city has continuously received unqualified audits. The decline in the city’s audit performance is unacceptable and, as the political leadership, it is critical that we step up, take responsibility and ensure that we immediately plot a path towards achieving better audit outcomes,” he said.
Despite his owning up and taking responsibility after the city’s dirty laundry was hanged in public, the ANC in Gauteng has indicated that it would file a motion of no confidence against Williams, while the EFF expressed its disappointment at the coalition government and called for its removal.
Sipho Stuurman, spokesperson to the embattled mayor, hinted on Thursday that Williams is not moved by the calls for his removal.
Stuurman, who was replying to Sunday World’s questions on behalf of Williams, said both the EFF and the ANC stand no chance of claiming power in Tshwane, noting that the coalition government holds the majority in the council and is united.
“The ANC has not officially filed a motion of no confidence against the mayor, the speaker has not received such communication or application … the executive mayor leads within the coalition and the coalition in the City of Tshwane has a majority,” Stuurman said.
“While the coalition is in place and together, there is no chance of a party such as the ANC or the EFF coming on board [and] taking power, if the coalition remains together.”
But this is not an issue of the number of votes that could poll if the motion is tabled, according to ANC greater Tshwane caucus spokesperson, Joel Kgomotso Masilela, who said the issue of numbers is “one dimensional”.
According to Masilela, Williams should actually be shaken, not by the possibility of a motion of no confidence, but by the actual issue of maladministration and corruption in the city.
Masilela said the ANC has two cards to play in this matter, one being the obvious motion against the mayor and the application of section 139(5) of the constitution, where they would not be looking at dissolving the council but invoking the constitution to look after the interests of the city and its citizens.
Masilela explained that section 139(5) can be applied after interventions “conclude that a municipality has failed to fulfill an executive obligation in terms of the constitution and the obligation”.
“This is where an administrator would be appointed to turn around the city,” Masilela said.
Reacting to the coalition shifting blame on the ANC, Masilela argued that the ANC only received clean audits during the time when it governed Tshwane, saying the DA cannot compare.
He said if there was an appalling record of corruption left by the ANC in Tshwane as suggested by the coalition, the DA has been in power for too long to say it is still battling scandals from the ANC’s tenure.
“Seven years is a long time to blame anyone. They cannot blame the ANC for their failures,” said Masilela, who feels the coalition is resisting accountability.
Also read: ANC appalled by silence of ActionSA, FF Plus in Tshwane
For 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.
