Cope Promises to Investigate How Disqualified Tshwane Mayor Murunwa Makwarela Slipped Through Vetting Process

• The disqualification of Murunwa Makwarela as Tswane mayor has left Cope putting out embarrassing fires
• Makwarela was disqualified after it was revealed that the former councillor was declared insolvent in 2016
• The minority party claimed to be puzzled about how Makwarela's status slipped through the cracks during the vetting process

JOHANNESBURG - The Congress of the People has vowed to investigate after an administrative fumble left the party red-faced.

Murunwa Makwarele was elected executive mayor of the City of Tshwane after the Democratic Alliance's Randall Williams abruptly gave up the reigns three weeks ago.

After less than a week at the city's helm, Makwarela was disqualified as a proportional representative councillor, stripping him of his mayoral title, EWN reported.

Why was Murunwa Makwarela disqualified as City of Tshwane councillor?

The former City of Tshwane councillor allegedly ran into money troubles and was declared insolvent in 2016.

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Insolvency occurs when someone cannot pay off their debts and their liabilities exceed their assets.

Makwarela was disqualified because the South African constitution has made it unlawful for an unrehabilitated insolvent to hold public office.

According to Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) chief electoral officer Mawethu Mosery, the commission had also de-registered Makwarela from their councillor database.

Cope says it was caught off-guard by Murunwa Makwarela's disqualification as Tshwane mayor

The minority party said it was surprised when confronted by news reports of Makwarela's insolvency and subsequent disqualification, SABC News reported.

Cope claimed to be puzzled about how the disqualified councillor slipped through its vetting processes.

The party's national spokesperson Dennis Bloem said that Cope was unaware of Makwarela's insolvency even though he declared that he was sequestrated before standing as a candidate.

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Bloem said:

“We are extremely concerned about this matter and we will leave no stone unturned before we know the truth. We are definitely going to investigate this matter to find out how was it possible for Dr Makwarela to slip through the vetting process.”

City of Tshwane without a mayor again as Murunwa Makwarela found to be insolvent, SA amused

In another story, Briefly News reported that the City of Tshwane is without a mayor again after COPE member Murunwa Makwarela was disqualified from holding office.

This comes after Makwarela’s insolvency declaration case in 2016. The Constitution states that individuals declared insolvent cannot hold public office.

However, Makwarela vowed to fight the insolvency claims against him. According to TimesLIVE, the recently unemployed mayor believes the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Freedom Front (FF) parties are using the old case to "teach him a lesson" for switching coalitions.

Source: Briefly News