Pretoria - Tshwane Mayor Dr Murunwa Makwarela, who was on Thursday reinstated into his position, resigned after the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria dispelled information that it issued him with an insolvency rehabilitation certificate in 2018.
Makwarela told the Pretoria News that he called it quits because he was “under a lot of pressure” since he was voted in as mayor.
On Thursday, Makwarela submitted his insolvency rehabilitation certificate to city manager Johann Mettler to prove he was not an unrehabilitated insolvent and was eligible to occupy a public office.
This was after Mettler on Tuesday disqualified him as a councillor after it surfaced that in 2016 the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria declared him insolvent.
According to the Constitution, he was ineligible to hold a public office as a councillor because of his insolvency status.
On Friday morning, Mettler indicated that he asked the City of Tshwane’s legal services to investigate Makwarela's solvency rehabilitation certificate after its authenticity came into question.
Tshwane multiparty coalition partners the DA, ActionSA, FF+, ACDP, and IFP cast doubt on the validity of the certificate and had vowed to take legal steps to verify its legal standing.
Chief registrar of the high court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Pretoria, Tumelo Refilwe Ledwaba, confirmed that “the document purporting to be an order issued by this Court was never issued in our courts. I also confirm that no rehabilitation order has ever been issued regarding the parties named in the said documents”.
Ledwaba indicated that he was referring the matter to the Hawks for investigations.
In reaction to the statement, representatives of the multi-party coalition in Tshwane proceeded to Brooklyn police station to press criminal charges against Makwarela.
They said charges related to allegations that Makwarela knowingly supplied falsified and fraudulent documentation to the City.
Speaking outside the police station, DA councillor Jacqui Uys, said the coalition was there to open a case of fraud against Makwarela because they disputed that the certificate was valid on the grounds that “the assets of Makwarela’s estate were still in the gazette in 2022”.
“There are also questions on the face value of the certificate referring to the north court and then the last matter that has recently surfaced is that the clerk of the court who said that the certificate is not the certificate from the court,” Uys said.
She said the coalition was calling on Makwarela to do the right thing and step down from his position as mayor and councillor.
“Residents have been dismayed and left in disbelief by the shameless and dishonest politicking that has seen the governance of the City destabilised and the ability of residents to receive service delivery disrupted.
“Makwarela’s integrity and questionable legitimacy as a duly elected City councillor have been at the nexus of these unfortunate events,” the coalition said in a statement.
Coalition partners were against Mawarela’s ascension to power after him and his political party Cope broke ranks with them by accepting a nomination to be elected Tshwane mayor on February 28.
Makwarela was backed by EFF and the ANC and won against the coalition's preferred candidate, former DA MP Cilliers Brink.
This week, Mettler sent a communique to the Gauteng provincial electoral officer, informing him of a casual vacancy which had occurred at the city following the disqualification of Cope's PR councillor, Makwarela.
The City said the disqualification was in terms of Section 158 (1) (c) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, also read with Section 47 (1) (c) of the Constitution. Furthermore, the disqualification was also in terms of Schedule 1 Section 19 (c) (d) of the Municipal Structures Act (Act 117 of 1998).
In the wake of his disqualification Makwarela threatened to take legal action against Mettler should he fail to retract a media statement regarding a decision to remove him as councillor.
EFF regional leader Obakeng Ramabodu said in a letter to Mettler: “In the event the certificate is fraudulently acquired, appropriate legal action must be taken. Furthermore, we recommend that the municipality must have an independent system of verification to ensure every councillor is properly vetted.”
Pretoria News