New DA Tshwane Mayor Randall Williams Urges Parties to Simply 'Bury the Hatchet'

• The Democratic Alliance (DA)'s Randall Williams was re-elected as the Tshwane mayor unopposed
• As he takes the reins, Williams is urging parties to put their differences aside in the interest of citizens
• Williams said talks for a coalition are ongoing as his party are yet to finalise several agreements

TSHWANE - As the reality of the African National Congress (ANC)'s astonishing tumble from power sinks in, the Democratic Alliance (DA) is gearing up for five years of governance in the Tshwane metro.

This has seen the City of Tshwane's newly elected executive mayor Randall Williams putting forward some solemn pleas to those who would care to listen.

Briefly News understands Williams was re-elected unopposed, while the DA’s Katlego Mathebe, who was also unopposed, retained his office as speaker.

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The former has called for political parties to put their differences aside to ensure adequate services are rendered to citizens.

SABC News reported that the ANC wavered its option to submit its candidate for the mayoral position, with Tshwane having been among the many hung municipalities across the country.

In the days following the polls, parties scrambled to form coalition governments while stressing the importance of cooperating.

Talks for coalition not ended

However, as in the case of the eThekwini municipality, which was plunged into chaos during a council meeting to elect a speaker on Monday, sticking to coalition agreements may not always be as cut and dry as it appears.

With Williams and his party now assuming the keys to the city for the next five years, the incumbent said talks for a coalition government are ongoing.

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This is despite the DA previously abandoning coalition engagements with other parties and declaring it was willing to take up opposition seats instead, EWN reported.

“Negotiations are continuing [since] we haven’t finalised the agreements. There must be a coalition agreement, and these coalition agreements must be made public. So, we must continue to pursue,” said Williams.

DA rejects coalition decision to back Mashaba in Joburg

Meanwhile, Briefly News reported that smaller parties were unimpressed with the DA following its decision to put forward opposition mayoral candidates in the City of Johannesburg.

This was after the DA announced it would consider a coalition government in the municipality, backing ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba.

Speaking on the matter, ACDP leader Kenneth Meshoe said the DA's decision put the success of the coalition in jeopardy.

"They announced that they are going to have their own mayoral candidate so the whole political arrangement now is on shaky ground because of what they have done," he told EWN.

Source: Briefly News