“We apologise to the people of Tshwane, the people of South Africa ... for the wrongdoing of Dr Murunwa Makwarela,” said Cope deputy president Willie Madisha on Friday afternoon.
Madisha was speaking outside Tshwane House alongside Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem following the drama that unfolded linked to the fake insolvency rehabilitation court order submitted by Makwarela to city manager Johann Mettler on Thursday.
Since then, Makwarela has resigned from council, had the Gauteng High Court declare his rehabilitation certificate as fake and had criminal charges against him referred to the Hawks.
Bloem also announced Makwarela had not only resigned from council but Cope as well.
Madisha placed the blame at the door of Cope’s Gauteng provincial leaders, saying they failed to do proper vetting.
“We’ve read what came to us a few hours ago from the registrar of the high court. This shows us there were extreme levels of forgery and Cope doesn’t believe in that. When we formed Cope we said we’re not happy with corruption and liars.
“In our own opinion, he stole money from the public from the time he became a councillor, speaker and mayor. How much has he received? That money belongs to the people of South Africa and not his pocket.
“He must bring back that money because what he did was wrong,” Madisha said.
Madisha added they did not know this kind of “thievery” took place under their nose.
In his letter addressed to Mettler earlier, Makwarela said his resignation was not an admission of guilt but rather to allow Tshwane to focus on service delivery.
To protect the image of the mayor's office and the name of the city, he said he has decided to “remove himself” from the position of mayor.
“This is in no form or the other an admission of guilt on the prevailing public allegations but a desire to let the city focus on service delivery and other critical business,” he said.
“I have instructed my lawyers to initiate proceedings to adequately deal with this matter and all involved in this 'decampaign' initiative by the DA and its coalition partners.”
Cope apologises to South Africans over Makwarela's drama
Image: Freddy Mavunda
“We apologise to the people of Tshwane, the people of South Africa ... for the wrongdoing of Dr Murunwa Makwarela,” said Cope deputy president Willie Madisha on Friday afternoon.
Madisha was speaking outside Tshwane House alongside Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem following the drama that unfolded linked to the fake insolvency rehabilitation court order submitted by Makwarela to city manager Johann Mettler on Thursday.
Since then, Makwarela has resigned from council, had the Gauteng High Court declare his rehabilitation certificate as fake and had criminal charges against him referred to the Hawks.
Bloem also announced Makwarela had not only resigned from council but Cope as well.
Madisha placed the blame at the door of Cope’s Gauteng provincial leaders, saying they failed to do proper vetting.
“We’ve read what came to us a few hours ago from the registrar of the high court. This shows us there were extreme levels of forgery and Cope doesn’t believe in that. When we formed Cope we said we’re not happy with corruption and liars.
“In our own opinion, he stole money from the public from the time he became a councillor, speaker and mayor. How much has he received? That money belongs to the people of South Africa and not his pocket.
“He must bring back that money because what he did was wrong,” Madisha said.
Madisha added they did not know this kind of “thievery” took place under their nose.
In his letter addressed to Mettler earlier, Makwarela said his resignation was not an admission of guilt but rather to allow Tshwane to focus on service delivery.
To protect the image of the mayor's office and the name of the city, he said he has decided to “remove himself” from the position of mayor.
“This is in no form or the other an admission of guilt on the prevailing public allegations but a desire to let the city focus on service delivery and other critical business,” he said.
“I have instructed my lawyers to initiate proceedings to adequately deal with this matter and all involved in this 'decampaign' initiative by the DA and its coalition partners.”
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