In news just in, Tshwane Mayor Dr Murunwa Makwarela has resigned.
Patricia Visagie confirms Makwarela’s resignation:
This after the City of Tshwane, the Office of the Chief Justice confirmed that the re-instated mayor’s insolvency rehabilitation certificate is fake.
Makwarela, who was re-instated as the city’s mayor after furnishing the Tshwane City manager with what he presented as proof that he had been rehabilitated and was in a good standing to assume the position, had his documents widely questioned for what seemed to be mistakes on his document.
These, included the document being attributed to the North Court of South Africa, which doesn’t exist, which is believed to have been an attempt to refer to the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
The only rehabilitation order that Murunwa Makwarela is going to know about will be at a correctional services facility. pic.twitter.com/YCfHvV2Wp7
— Dean Macpherson MP (@DeanMacpherson) March 10, 2023
Chief Registrar of the High Court of South Africa, Tumelo Ledwaba confirmed the document that was submitted to the Tshwane City Manager had not been issued by the court. Ledwaba also confirmed that “no rehabilitation has ever been regarding the parties named in the said document”.
Ledwaba further confirmed that the matter will now be referred to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations, which is expected to result in Makwarela facing criminal charges.
The city’s Multiparty Coalition had also questioned the authenticity of the certificate and vowed to get to the bottom of the issue.
Makwarela, who’s a COPE and PR councillor, was elected a mayor last week following the resignation of the DA’s Randall Williams three weeks ago.
Earlier, COPE’s National Spokesperson Dennis Bloem said they were going to have meeting with Makwarela as they view the allegations against him faking court documents in serious light.
”We, as COPE, are going to meet with him. We will issue a statement after that meeting. We view this as a very serious issue.”
This was after DA’s Solly Msimanga had said Makwarela’s documents were not adding up.
“In his own declaration of the 2021 LGE submission from Congress of The People (COPE) to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), he says that he is not solvent. Now, how did you then declare that you are not solvent in 2021, yet in 2018 you have a court order that says you are then solvent? So, things don’t add up here. This is why we are going to be asking for a copy from the registrar of the court of this particular court order. If it is found that it is not there then he will be in a heap of trouble for having forged a court document,” says Msimanga.
Following his reinstatement, he briefly addressed the media at the city’s headquarters in Pretoria.
“So, I’m here. I know that there’s a whole lot of noise, as to whether the letter is authentication or not. But be that as it may, the matter is under investigation. My lawyers are also on it and they will communicate in as far as that is concerned. However, I’m here. I have a lot of work as you would know this was a rude interruption,” said Makwarela at the time.
Tshwane Mayor Makwarela on his reinstatement:
