Political parties in Tshwane have weighed in on the recent public utterances by former mayor Randall Williams, who made shocking claims that the DA is prioritising service delivery to white residents.
Williams made the claims during a media briefing at his Pretoria home, where he didn’t renew his membership because he lost confidence in the DA, his former political party.
He resigned as a DA PR councillor earlier this year after he was demoted to a backbencher position for almost a year and six months and replaced with the former mayor Cilliers Brink.
Brink was removed from office with a motion of no confidence recently tabled by the ANC with the support of EFF and ActionSA.
A new mayor is expected to be elected in a few days.
ActionSA’s caucus leader, Jackie Mathabathe, said the allegation DA is prioritising service delivery to white residents was recently confirmed in a market research conducted as part of his party’s review.
The outcome of the review showed that in suburban communities, 64% of respondents indicated an improvement in service delivery over the past 18 months, while in townships this number was as low as 24%.
Mathabathe said: “ActionSA Tshwane caucus has persistently called for equitable service provision for all Tshwane residents, regardless of skin colour, but the DA has chosen to turn a blind eye to racial disparities.”
He said Williams’ comments served as a vindication of our stance as ActionSA.
“Our decision to withdraw from the coalition government in the City of Tshwane was rooted in our refusal to be complicit in their discriminatory practices and maladministration,”he said.
On the other hand, the ANC in Tshwane stated that it was firmly vindicated by its assertion that the DA utilises black faces solely as instruments to promote a white agenda.
Regional ANC secretary George Matjila said: “The recent remarks by former City of Tshwane Mayor, Mr Randall Williams, underscore this truth: once these individuals no longer serve the DA's interests, they are cast aside without a second thought. This pattern reveals the party's fundamental disregard for the very communities they claim to represent.”
He said under the DA-led coalition, townships have suffered from chronic under-service.
“While affluent and white dominated neighbourhoods receive consistent prioritisation and resources, the black majority has been relegated to the margins, enduring little to no service delivery. This blatant neglect is a testament to the DA's racist and fascist tendencies, as they pander to the interests of a privileged few at the expense of the majority,”he said.
During the media interview Williams also disclosed that he was fired as a mayor by the DA federal executive and didn’t resign out of his own volition.
The DA is yet to respond to Williams’ criticisms against the political party.
Pretoria News