One week later – and not Tshwane mayor anymore

The ANC and EFF have disputed the sudden axing of their preferred candidate, Dr Murunwa Makwarela, as mayor of Tshwane.

Makwarela held the position for a week.

He was disqualified from the position after it was revealed that he declared insolvency in 2016 and couldn’t provide proof of any subsequent rehabilitation.

This means the Tshwane metro needs to fill his vacancy within 14 days.

Metro spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the metro learnt of Makwarela’s 2016 sequestration after he failed to answer some key questions by the city manager, Johann Mettler.

Bokaba said the lacklustre answers by Makwarela prompted Mettler to write to the Gauteng provincial officer of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on Tuesday morning that Makwarela was disqualified in terms of the South African Constitution.

“This disqualification is also in terms of Schedule 1 Section 19 (c) (d) of the Municipal Structures Act (Act 117 of 1998).”

Rekord learnt that Makwarela, however, disputed that he was removed.

“The city manager must follow the process. Only the council can remove me,” he has reportedly said.

IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said that candidates must comply with the municipal electoral act by declaring on his or her acceptance of the nomination form that he or she was not “disqualified”.

“The party makes the same declaration on its party list for PR councillors.”

She said Cope, of which Makwarela is a member, had up to 21 days to consider amending its candidate list.

“As soon as the party did this, the chief electoral officer has 14 days within which to declare the candidate at the top of the list elected as the elected councillor.”

Bapela said should the party fail to amend its list, the CEO would declare a candidate from the top of the list elected after the 21-day period has expired.

Ward councillor Jacqui Uys said the DA learnt last week that Makwarela was sequestrated and informed Mettler.

“Last week, shortly after Makwarela’s election as the ANC-EFF candidate for Tshwane mayor, a member of the public informed the multi-party coalition that Makwarela had been sequestrated by the Gauteng High Court in August 2016.

“We were unable to find evidence of a rehabilitation order in the matter. Thus, we wrote to the city manager and the IEC to ask that Makwarela be requested to produce evidence of his rehabilitation,” Uys said.

“This meant he misled the public when he accepted his nomination as councillor of Tshwane on November 1, 2021.

“By failing to disclose his insolvency status, he further misled the public by accepting his nomination as Speaker of the council and later as mayor,” Uys added.

“He must be held to full account for his actions.”

EFF chairperson Obakeng Ramabodu said it was “odd” for DA to report the matter once Makwarela was disqualified.

“For the DA it is acceptable to have Makwarela as a Speaker under the alleged insolvency, but not as mayor. This means decisions taken by Makwarela as Speaker are invalid, including Mettler’s appointment as municipal manager.”

He urged council members to establish a committee to investigate the allegations consistent with the Code of Conduct for councillors in the Municipal Structures Act.

“All forms of alleged misconduct are referred to the Ethics Committee for investigation. These allegations must be referred to accordingly.”

Ramabodu said that the city manager also provide evidence to support the allegations to the IEC.

“Verification with the Gauteng Electoral Commissioner Thabo Masemola office shows that Dr Makwarela is still a councillor in Tshwane municipality and that the removal of a councillor must follow due processes,” said Ramabodu.

ANC Tshwane Secretary George Matjila believed that the city manager acted “in haste”.

“We call on the city manager to follow local government statutes and on the council to investigate the matter. Once the investigation has been concluded, the MEC for Cogta must be informed for further action – if any is required.”

ALSO READ: Week-old Tshwane mayor disqualified

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to [email protected] or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram