Councillors in the City of Tshwane are expected to elect a new mayor to replace Cope’s Murunwa Makwarela, who resigned under a cloud of fraud last week.
Makwarela’s resignation came after it was confirmed that his insolvency rehabilitation certificate was fake.
Vanessa de Sousa, spokesperson for the speaker in Tshwane, has confirmed that the council will convene for a special meeting on Friday.
Meanwhile, the ANC is going ahead with its march to Tshwane House where councillors will gather for the election of a mayor.
“African National Congress secretary-general Fikile Mbalula will tomorrow [Friday] lead the
#BuyaTshwane People’s March,” said ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu on Thursday.
“The People’s March is necessitated by continuing mismanagement and worrying service delivery failures in the capital city.
“These performance failures are on an increase since the DA-led coalition started governing the municipality from eight years ago.”
However, DA’s Jacqui Uys said it is dangerous for the election to be scheduled on the same day that the ANC plans to protest, stating that the speaker’s decision in this regard seems like a calculated move to enable the ANC-EFF alliance.
Uys confirmed that DA’s Cilliers Brink has written to the speaker’s office requesting a postponement of the election until the chaos has died down.
“Holding a mayoral election at the same time and scene as the anti-DA march of the ANC is not conducive to a free and fair election environment,” said Uys.
“The DA caucus leader in Tshwane, councillor Cilliers Brink, has written to the office of the speaker to ask that the election of a mayor be postponed to a suitable day next week.
“We will also be lodging criminal charges of assault against ANC councillor [Joel] Masilela, and briefing attorneys to ensure that this time the matter is properly investigated.”
Also read: Weekend special Tshwane Mayor resigns, ending week of drama
Accusations, court threats add drama to Tshwane metro politics
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