COPE’s Murunwa Makwarela, currently serving as council speaker, has been elected new mayor of Tshwane following Randall Williams’ resignation over a week ago.
Makwarela was up against DA MP Cilliers Brink, who was chosen by the multi-party coalition government to take over the mayorship.
Out of 213 votes cast during a special council sitting on Tuesday, 112 voted in favour of Makwarela while 101 wanted Brink to wear the mayoral chain.
Makwarela’s appointment came as shock after he said last week that he would support Brink when the coalition government accused him of eyeing the top job.
It is said that confusion struck the city when Williams submitted two controversial resignation letters a week ago.
In the first letter on February 13, Williams noted that he was resigning to ensure stability in the city, adding that he did not want the political instability in the cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane to spill over to Tshwane.
He said his resignation took effect from midnight, however, a few hours later the former mayor tendered an amended resignation letter.
In the amended letter, he said he would only vacate the office by February 28, contending that his extended stay would ensure that the “core work” of the city continued interrupted.
Makwarela had postponed the council sitting where a new mayor was to be elected to allow for the council to deliberate on the issue of an amended annual report.
At the time, the coalition government accused Makwarela of delaying the election, saying he was himself gunning for the mayorship.
However, he affirmed that he was not chasing after the mayoral chain, but instead looking after the best interests of the city.
Makwarela told Sunday World last week that he cancelled the meeting to prioritise the amended annual report after it landed on his desk on Friday.
He said at the time that it was crucial to consider the report while the city still had executive leadership – the mayor and members of the mayoral committee.
According to Makwarela, there was confusion after Williams resigned, saying the mayor’s resignation technically collapsed his mayoral committee, meaning there was no longer an executive leadership to retable the correct report, which surfaced recently.
He said: “There was confusion in the city regarding the issue of the mayoral committee after Williams tendered his resignation letter.
“There was no executive leadership to retable the correct annual report, hence I called a special meeting to notify the council of his resignation.”
He explained that when a mayor resigns, the mayoral committee collapses to allow for the formation of a new committee.
But since Williams decided to extend his stay and appointed an acting mayor, the mayoral committee remained in place until a new mayor was appointed on Tuesday.
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