The DA is holding Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi responsible for the unsuccessful and brief tenure of former Tshwane mayor Murunwa Makwarela, stating that Lesufi should take accountability for the debacle.
According to Jacqui Uys, DA Tshwane ward councillor, Lesufi played a key role in convincing ANC and EFF councillors to support Makwarela’s bid for the mayorship.
She said the premier also helped broker the talks that resulted in the appointment of Johannesburg mayor Thapelo Ahmed, who is viewed by some as being under the control of the ANC and EFF alliance.
“The failure of the Makwarela mayoralty is yet another failed intervention by the ANC’s provincial leadership in Gauteng in the affairs of the capital city, and one for which premier Panzaya Lesufi must accept personal responsibility,” said Uys.
“Mr Lesufi, more eager to act as provincial chairperson of the ANC than premier of the province, was instrumental in persuading ANC and EFF councillors to back Makwarela’s candidacy.
“He also facilitated the negotiations that led to the election of Johannesburg’s ANC-EFF puppet mayor Thapelo Ahmed.”
Makwarela, who ascended to the mayorship last week, was on Tuesday disqualified as a PR councillor due to insolvency.
He was 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, in his defence Makwarela told the media that he is still awaiting his “rehabilitated insolvent” certificate.
He was 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 Tshwane city manager Johann Mettler wrote to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on Tuesday and pushed for Makwarela’s demise on the basis of insolvency.
On Wednesday the election regulator confirmed that it had officially disqualified the embattled mayor, and noted that it is the duty of either the municipal manager, cooperative governance MEC, or speaker to verify whether councillors meet all constitutional requirements to serve in public office.
IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said the IEC has given the Congress of the People 21 days to appoint a new PR councillor in the City of Tshwane to replace Makwarela.
“The declaration of a vacancy by a municipal manager triggers the obligations of the electoral commission. The process of filling a vacancy is prescribed in the Local Government Municipal Structures Act [Structures Act],” Bapela said.
“Once a vacancy is declared by a municipal manager, the electoral commission has an obligation to fill the vacancy within the time frames prescribed in the Structures Act.
“In the present case, the party that had nominated the councillor has 21 days from the date of the vacancy to amend its party list and to indicate to the electoral commission a candidate to be elected to the vacant seat.
“In the event the party fails to amend its list, the chief electoral officer will declare the candidate at the top of the existing list elected after the expiry of the 21-day period afforded to the party.”
Uys confirmed that the DA reported Makwarela to the municipal manager after it received a tip-off that he was insolvent. However, it could not prove the veracity of the claim.
“Last week, shortly after councillor Makwarela’s election as the ANC-EFF candidate for mayoral [position] of Tshwane, a member of the public informed the multi-party coalition that councillor Makwarela had been sequestrated by the Gauteng High Court in August 2016,” said Uys.
“We were unable to find evidence of a rehabilitation order in the matter, and so we wrote to the city manager and the IEC to ask that councillor Makwarela be requested to produce evidence of his rehabilitation.”
Makwarela should be held accountable for deceiving the city, according to Uys, who said the election of a new mayor is imminent to put the interests of the people of Tshwane first before politics.
Uys explained further: “It is now clear that councillor Makwarela cannot produce such evidence, which means he misled the public when he accepted his nomination as councillor of the City of Tshwane on November 1 2021.
“By failing to disclose his insolvency status, he further misled the public by accepting nomination as speaker of council and later as mayor of the ANC-EFF coalition in Tshwane. He must be held to full account for his actions.
“What is important now is that the City of Tshwane holds an election for a new executive mayor as soon as possible, and preferably next week, and for parties in the council to place the city’s stability above self-interested political games and schemes.”
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