Tshwane to remain without mayor ‘until further notice’
Tshwane residents will have to wait a little longer for a new mayor after the special council sitting seized with electing the new first citizen was adjourned on Wednesday.
Last week council failed to elect a replacement for Murunwa Makwerela, who resigned after it was found he submitted a fake rehabilitation certificate amid an insolvency saga which made him ineligible to serve as a councillor.
Councillors from the DA-led multi-party coalition walked out of Friday’s special council sitting to elect a new mayor, arguing that two councillors who had been expelled from ActionSA should not be allowed to vote.
On Wednesday, speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana adjourned the meeting “until further notice”, citing the confusion over two letters submitted by the Congress of the People on who would fill the vacancy left by Makwarela.
“I’m going to continue seeking legal advice. So, in saying that, this meeting is adjourned until further notice,” announced Ndzwanana.
This followed two other earlier adjournments.
Factions within Cope are at loggerheads over who should fill the vacant council seat.
Cope national spokesperson Dennis Bloem believes Justice Sefanyetso remains the chosen representative after the questions around his eligibility were cleared.
“The IEC has corrected that thing [of the two ID numbers], it was a typo from them. We have proof that Justice doesn’t have two IDs. On the criminal record, Justice had a traffic offence in 2001 and he paid R5,000. There is no criminal record of Justice, he is clean and he is ready to take up his seat in council,” Bloem said.
He lambasted Cope member and City of Johannesburg speaker Colleen Makhubele, as well as party president Mosioua Lekota, for sowing confusion by submitting another letter with a second name to replace Makwarela.
He said what they did was illegal and will be challenged: “We are on our way to court to challenge this letter and these powers that Colleen Makhubele and Mr Lekota is all of a sudden having.”
Makhubele was seen at Tshwane House following the adjournment.
Cope’s regional spokesperson Brian Mkhono said they don’t know why Makhubele had abandoned her duties in the City of Johannesburg to attend to matters in Tshwane.
“She is here for her own agenda which we don’t know what she is up to. But be that as it may, this is not a romantic party. This is not ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’, if people want boyfriends/girlfriends it must happen elsewhere. Not here in the City of Tshwane.”
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