Outgoing District Mayor Anthony Williams has taken off on yet another international excursion, this time to South Africa.
Williams, who leaves the mayor’s office Jan. 2, left Washington Friday for Johannesburg with a contingent of city leaders and private and public sector representatives. The seven day itinerary includes stops in Tshwane — formerly known as Pretoria — Cape Town and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and many others were held political prisoner under apartheid.
“That’ll be a moving experience,” the mayor said Wednesday.
This is the Williams’ second outing to Africa this year. An 11-day trade mission in May took him to Senegal and Ghana and was financed by private underwriters, including multiple companies with business before the D.C. government.
His current trip also is financed “by the people who went,” a mayoral spokeswoman said. The 32-member delegation includes the mayor’s wife and daughter, D.C. Council Members Marion Barry, Carol Schwartz, Jack Evans and Vincent Orange, Public Works Director Bill Howland, Deputy Mayor Stan Jackson and representatives with South African Airways and Altria — owner of cigarette producer Philip Morris.
The mayor returned from Paris only last week. He argues his many international missions will strengthen the District’s tourism industry and boost its reputation as a world-class destination.
Williams will travel to Reno, Nev., in December for the National League of Cities’ annual conference. But South Africa, he said, “is the last major trip outside this country.”
While Williams has a reputation as a frequent traveler, he expects to stay put once his term is up. He refuses, however, to discuss what his future might hold in terms of occupation.
“You’ll believe it when you see it,” he told reporters. “I will be here in the District. I’m not planning on leaving. I’ll still be around.”
