Africa-Press – South-Africa. Murunwa Makwarela resigned as mayor of Tshwane on Friday, saying he’s not admitting any guilt but he’s leaving the position to protect its integrity.
Makwarela also resigned as a PR councillor for Cope.
His resignation letter addressed to city manager Johann Mettler stated: “To protect the image of the office I occupy and the good name of the city, I have decided to remove myself from the position of mayor in the City of Tshwane.
“This is no form or admission of guilt on the prevailing public allegations, but a desire to let the city focus on service delivery and other critical business,” Makwarela wrote in his letter on Friday afternoon.
His disclaimer denying guilt in his resignation is likely an attempt to protect himself from any possible criminal probes.
Just two hours before Makwarela’s resignation letter, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria said his insolvency rehabilitation certificate was fake.
The court said it had no record of a rehabilitation certificate ever being issued for Makwarela or his wife.
The revelation formed part of a letter the chief registrar of the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Tumelo Ledwaba, wrote to the Office of the Chief Justice on Friday.
Ledwaba’s letter rubbishes the claim that the certificate presented by Makwarela was an official court document.
“I, Tumelo Refilwe Ledwaba, the chief registrar of the High Court of South Africa division in Pretoria, hereby confirm that the document purporting to be an order issued by this court was never issued in our court,” Ledwaba said.
Ledwaba added that no rehabilitation certificate was ever issued for Makwarela or his wife.
Makwarela allegedly used the fake certificate to reverse his removal as Tshwane mayor.
He submitted the document to Mettler on Thursday, stating that he had been granted insolvency rehabilitation in 2018.
Mettler disqualified Makwarela as a councillor on Wednesday because of his sequestration.
At the time, the mayor could not provide proof that he had been rehabilitated. Instead, he asked for an extension until Friday to produce evidence of his insolvency clearance.
The law prohibits people who have been declared insolvent from holding public office. Therefore, Makwarela, a Cope councillor, should not have stood for a council seat in the 2021 municipal elections.
Later, he was elected Tshwane council Speaker, and, on 28 February, he was elected mayor.
On Friday, the City of Tshwane said it would investigate the certificate Makwarela submitted after questions were raised about its legitimacy.
The letter by the chief registrar was likely to lead to a criminal probe into Makwarela.
Hours before the chief registrar’s letter emerged, Makwarela told the media at the Tshwane House council office in central Pretoria that he was back in the office to fulfil his duties.
He said he could not understand “the noise and [the] interest in the financial pockets of an African man”.
The DA and its coalition partners, ActionSA, ACDP, IFP and Freedom Front Plus, laid criminal charges against Makwarela at Brooklyn police station on Friday afternoon.
“Residents have been dismayed and left in disbelief by the shameless and dishonest politicking that has seen the city’s governance destabilised and residents’ ability to receive service delivery disrupted,” the coalition partners said.
“Dr Makwarela’s integrity and questionable legitimacy as a duly elected city councillor have been at the nexus of these unfortunate events. Matters have now escalated to a point where criminal procedures against Dr Makwarela are necessary to defend the integrity of the Tshwane city council.”
Signing off in his resignation letter, Makwarela said he had “instructed his lawyers” to deal with what he perceives as a “de-campaign” initiative led by the DA and its coalition partners.
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