The African National Congress (ANC) in Johannesburg on Monday accused City of Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba of using Helen Zille’s recent election as the chairperson of the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) federal council as an excuse to step down as Mayor.

The ANC said it was not shocked by Mashaba’s resignation, calling him a “sore loser” and accusing him of not being a democrat.

“Mashaba's resignation has very little to do with the election of Helen Zille as the DA's Chairperson. His resignation is informed by the dire financial crisis that he has plunged the City of Johannesburg into. He has over time been able to get away with lies about the financial affairs of the City,” said the ANC.

The party said the City of Johannesburg was broke and would soon not be able to pay its staff or provide water and electricity to residents.

“Mashaba has always said he is there through the will of the people but he resigns due to party political matters that have nothing to do with the city. Mashaba is an attention seeker who was going down anyway. He needed an ‘honourable’ exit and Zille's election is a perfect excuse,” said the ANC.

Meanwhile, the Gauteng ANC issued a statement saying the party was vindicated by Mashaba’s resignation.

“For the longest of time, we have argued that in both the Cities of Joburg and Tshwane the residents of these municipalities have had to endure deteriorating service standards as the DA cower under the pressure of sustaining unworkable coalition arrangements, primarily with the EFF [Economic Freedom Fighters], which were never based on principle. The resignation by the Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, today has vindicated our long-held position,” the party said.

It said Mashaba had given the country a frank assessment of the DA’s character and was abandoning a sinking ship.

“Mashaba, despite his desperate PR *campaign*, has failed to take *the* City, that was once regarded as a world class African city, to another level.  His departure is by no means a principled one as he would like many to believe,” said the Gauteng ANC.