Hours after declaring his intention to remain Tshwane executive mayor, beleaguered Murunwa Makwarela resigned on Friday– and ceased being a COPE councillor – when it emerged that the High Court had no record of the insolvency certificate he had handed in to save his job.
COPE said it would be initiating its own legal action against Makwarela, according to EWN, while the DA-led multiparty coalition opened a case against the former mayor.
Makwarela’s about-turn followed an announcement by Gauteng High Court Division chief registrar Tumelo Ledwaba that no rehabilitation order had ever been issued by the courts regarding Makwarela’s insolvency.
Earlier, Makwarela told journalists that he welcomed an investigation into the rehabilitation certificate he had given to the city manager, Johann Mettler.
Makwarela was voted into the mayoralty by the ANC, the EFF and 8 defectors from ActionSA and/or the DA. The motion was conducted by secret ballot.
The DA informed city manager Johann Mettler of Makwarela’s disqualification from his position because it discovered that he was an unrehabilitated insolvent.
He was required to produce a rehabilitation certificate by 7 March; Makwarela’s request that it be delayed until 10 March was denied.
The law prohibits people who have been declared insolvent from holding public office.
Makwarela submitted a rehabilitation certificate to the city manager on Thursday 9 March to clear the way for his return as mayor.
Mettler requested the city’s legal department to investigate certain aspects of the rehabilitation notice, which had been brought to his attention.
The certificate was reportedly headed: ‘Rehabilitation in the North Court of South Africa’. There is no such court in South Africa.