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Former Tshwane Mayor Murunwa Makwarela surrenders to police
Murunwa Makwarela faces charges over fraudulent insolvency certificate submitted to City of Tshwane to remain mayor.
Former City of Tshwane mayor Dr Murunwa Makwarela at Tshwane House on 1 March 2022. Photo: The Citize/Neil McCartney
Former Tshwane mayor, Murunwa Makwarela, voluntarily surrendered himself to the police in the early hours of Monday morning.
According to reports, he is currently being processed at the Brooklyn Police Station in Tshwane.
The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA)Lumka Mahanjane confirmed to The Citizen that Makwarela was expected to appear in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria on Monday.
Charges
The embattled mayor is facing charges related to a fraudulent insolvency rehabilitation certificate he submitted to the City to stay on as mayor of the City of Tshwane.
Makwarela resigned last month after a chaotic campaign in which he maintained his innocence despite the allegations.
Makwarela, who was mayor for less than two weeks, was disqualified from holding office after it was revealed the mayor had been declared insolvent in 2016.
However, Makwarela was reinstated as Tshwane mayor after he handed a notice of insolvency rehabilitation document to City Manager Johann Mettler.
The notice was meant to prove he had been rehabilitated from his debt.
ALSO READ: Authenticity of Tshwane Mayor Makwarela’s clearance certificate to be investigated
Fake certificate
There were concerns about the authenticity of the certificate.
Some of the issues raised include spelling errors, the case number cited, a missing high court stamp, and the certificate referring to an “Honourable Mr Justice Moosa” who was not presiding on 7 February 2018, when the document was issued.
The document also stated that it came from the “North Court of South Africa Gauteng division Pretoria”. The correct name for the court is the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng division, Pretoria.
New mayor
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor Cilliers Brink was elected the new executive mayor of the City of Tshwane last week.
Brink beat newly sworn-in Congress of the People (Cope) councillor Ofenste Moalusi by 109 to 102 votes.
The metropolitan municipality convened a special meeting in the Tshwane House to vote for a new mayor after failing to do so on two previous occasions.
