‘Cilliers Brink has no divine right to govern Tshwane,’ says ex-mayor Williams
Former Tshwane executive mayor Randall Williams has voiced his opinions after leaving the Democratic Alliance (DA).
Former Tshwane mayor Randall Williams has criticized the Democratic Alliance (DA), including the recently removed mayor of the capital, Cilliers Brink.
Speaking to the media at his Pretoria home, Williams recalled how he removed from his position DA national leader John Steenhuisen and party Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga.
“Since July 2022, there was a faction in my caucus consisting of a few white councillors, not the majority. They would attack me consistently with the support of Solly and some of his friends on the caucus WhatsApp group. One of them screenshot the attacks against him and sent it to Helen(Zille) and claimed that the whole caucus turned against me,” he said.
Randall Williams resigned as DA mayor in Tshwane in 2023 and was replaced by Cillier Brink. This week, the ex-mayor claimed that the party had planned to oust him in favour of Brink.
“Already, they got the support from Helen and John to oust me. At the same time, in July 2022, I saw the trouble coming. They suddenly appointed Cilliers Brink, to be in charge of white stakeholders in the City of Tshwane and all service delivery issues concerning white residents had to be referred to Cilliers Brink.
Randall Williams talks about his last months as DA mayor
“The instructions also implied that I as mayor, had to report to Cilliers Brink and I absolutely refused,” he said.
Last week, Brink was ousted as Tshwane mayor following a motion of no confidence. Williams criticised the DA for their fight-back strategy following the removal of Cilliers.
“I don’t know why the issues of motion of no confidence have suddenly become a problem. As the DA in the City of Tshwane we made extensive use of it,” Williams added.
” We brought them several times against (the late former Tshwane speaker and mayor) Murunwa Makwarela. We brought a motion of confidence to remove the current speaker,” he said.
“I don’t believe Cilliers Brink has a divine right to govern the City of Tshwane. The City of Tshwane has severe problems. Whether he is the right person to run the country [city], I can’t say but one thing I do know, he is definitely not the Messiah. The information given to the residents of Tshwane is misleading,” the former DA mayor Randall Williams said.