Pretoria - The provincial executive committee (PEC) of the ANC in Gauteng has welcomed the resignation of the “disgraced” Tshwane mayor, Dr Murunwa Makwarela after he “unashamedly misrepresented himself” and later produced a fake insolvency rehabilitation certificate.
However, the ANC in Gauteng insists parties in the DA-led council knew of Makwarela’s insolvency but backed him when he assumed the position of Speaker in the City of Tshwane council.
“It is evidently clear that the DA and its overflow facility for black leaders ActionSA and Freedom Front Plus were aware of the sequestration of Makwarela from the onset. They elected him as the speaker of the city of Tshwane and used this as leverage to suspend him on their strings as a puppet and used him as a speaker in council for their nefarious agendas,” said ANC Gauteng provincial secretary Thembinkosi “TK” Nciza.
“Trouble started when he accepted to be elected as mayor and his puppet masters who are complicit in this scandal exposed him.
“Since coming into office in 2016, the DA-led multiparty government introduced to the City of Tshwane shady and dubious characters such as their senior leader and disgraced longest serving DA councillor in the City of Tshwane, Marietta Aucump who was exposed to not having any post matric qualification after she was corruptly appointed as a senior manager earning millions in the City of Tshwane.
“In her application she claimed to have a B-Tech which she never produced and through corrupt officials of the DA in Tshwane she was appointed and later fled the city after she was exposed,” he said.
Nciza said the DA-led administration further employed Stephen de Villiers who only possessed a bodybuilder’s certificate and used it to be appointed as a senior manager in the office of “another disgraced former mayor Solly Msimanga who fled the city after the 12 billion corruption scandal” that still haunts the city to this day.
“The DA went on to appoint Samkelo Mgobozi as the mayoral spokesperson who was exposed by the ANC and later the office of the Public Protector found his appointment to be irregular. Mr Mgobozi is now spokesperson of ActionSA. In what continued as a pattern of corrupt and irregular appointments by the DA, the appointment of Mr Previn Govender (became) a furore after he was exposed by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) for having falsified his qualifications after he was appointed as Tshwane’s head of Emergency Services,” said Nciza.
“The list goes on and Dr Murunwa Makwarela is one of those propelled and voted in by the DA and fired when he worked against them,” he added.
The ANC in Gauteng said what is concerning is that service delivery has taken a plunge across Tshwane ever since the multiparty coalition led by the DA took the reins.
“Under the DA-led multiparty government, the municipality has not only regressed for the worse, but has experienced unprecedented instability in governance after changing five mayors in less than five years and reshuffling the mayoral committee numerous times. This has had devastating consequences for the provision of services to rate payers and effected the economic growth and development objectives of the municipality.
“All our gains since the days of Dr Sputla Ramokgopa, Dr Gwen Ramokgopa and Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa who were ANC mayors, have been reversed and our people have been left in limbo.
“The ANC will continue to work with all parties to remove the DA and its coalition partners so that we may restore basic services,” he said.
Speaking to Talk Radio 702 on Friday, the ANC’s Tshwane regional secretary George Matjila, said Makwarela had thrown them under the bus after he presented the fraudulent certificate to them this week and although they had their doubt, they gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Matjila said ANC members who had seen the letter raised issue with the letter referring to a “North Court” whereas they only knew of the North Gauteng High Court and the South Gauteng High Court.
“We are shocked that a person of his calibre, who has been the Speaker for over a year can do this kind of thing. We now have to ask ourselves how many documents which went through him have been faked.
“We are very concerned as the ANC,” he said.
The Hawks are now investigating Makwarela for alleged fraud.
Chief registrar of the High Court in Pretoria has disputed claims that Makwarela was issued with an insolvency rehabilitation certificate.
According to the letter, the chief registrar submitted a letter to the office of the Chief Justice, saying the notice was never issued.
This is what we know so far:
Makwarela was elected as the new executive mayor of Tshwane last month, following the resignation of the DA’s Randall Williams on February 13. However, the metro was leaderless days later after Makwarela was disqualified.
At the time, IOL reported that due to his insolvency status Makwarela was barred by the Constitution from holding public office. According to the DA, it was informed by a member of the public that Makwarela had been sequestrated in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria in 2016.
Pretoria News reported that the declaration of his insolvency status by a court of law meant he was ineligible to hold a public office as a councillor in terms of Section 158(1) of the Constitution.
Earlier this week, Makwarela was reinstated after submitting a certificate of solvency rehabilitation.
On Friday, the chief registrar of the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria Tumelo Ledwaba then denied issuing the certificate.
When Makwarela submitted his certificate of rehabilitation, Tshwane’s multiparty coalition partners the DA, ActionSA, FF+, ACDP, and IFP had cast doubt on the validity of the certificate and had vowed to take legal steps to verify its legal standing.
IOL