Newly elected City of Tshwane mayor Murunwa Makwarela has been disqualified as a PR councillor due to insolvency.
Makwarela was allegedly declared insolvent by a court of law in 2016 and was concomitantly disqualified from holding public office.
It was also reported last week that the embattled mayor was in a financial mess, however, he has not come out clean about his insolvency status.
Mwakwarela has been disqualified in terms of section 47(1)(c) of the constitution, which stipulates that people who are “unrehabilitated insolvents” cannot hold public office.
This after city manager Johann Mettler wrote to Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) provincial officer on Tuesday and pushed for Makwarela’s demise on the basis of insolvency.
City of Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba confirmed: “The disqualification is in terms of section 158[1][c] of the constitution 1996, also read with section 47[1][c] of the constitution.
“Furthermore, this disqualification is also in terms of schedule 1 section 19[c][d] of the Municipal Structures Act [act 117 of 1998].
“Item 18 of part three of schedule one of the Local Government Structures Act [act 117 of 1998] stipulates that if a councillor elected from a party list ceases to hold office, the chief electoral officer of the IEC must declare in writing the person whose name is at the top of the applicable party list to be elected in the vacancy.
“In terms of the said act, a party may supplement, change, or increase its list at any time, provided that if a councillor elected according to party list ceases to hold office. The vacancy must be filled within 14 days after 21 days period.”
Makwarela’s rise to the mayorship rattled some of his colleagues in the council, especially the multi-party coalition, which has been vocal about its disapproval of the mayor.
The DA-led coalition comprising the FF Plus, ActionSA, IFP, and African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) previously concluded to vote for the DA’s Cilliers Brink.
However, there was a change of heart among some councillors who were “captured by the ANC-EFF alliance” fighting to dismantle the multi-party coalition.
Out of 213 votes cast during a special council sitting on Tuesday last week, 112 voted in favour of Makwarela while 101 wanted Brink to wear the mayoral chain.
The results indicated that some of the councillors in the coalition, which holds a majority in the city, defied an instruction to vote for Brink in an attempt to keep the DA in power.
Since the election of Makwarela as the mayor of Tshwane, the DA and its coalition partners have expressed their disappointment, saying councillors were induced to defy a directive and subjected them to lie detector tests.
However, the EFF forcefully confiscated the equipment and handed it over to the Midrand police station. It is still not clear who, with the coalition, voted for Makwarela.
The city has, however, failed through the cracks of its own divided government.
On Monday, a meeting which was scheduled for the election of a new speaker to replace Makwarela collapsed after it failed to reach a quorum.
Sunday World understands that councillors from the DA and its coalition partners were allegedly instructed by the DA to take “group leave” to break up the quorum.
As a result, 108 councillors were absent from council chambers.
Meanwhile, as Makwarela is expected to fight his sudden removal in the high court, the city remains without a mayor and speaker.
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