New Tshwane mayor Murunwa Makwarela says while there could be some truth to suggestions Johannesburg mayor Thapelo Amad is an ANC puppet, the same cannot be said about him.
Makwarela became mayor of the capital city after he, as the sole COPE councillor, ditched the DA-led coalition to join the ANC/EFF grouping that took control of the council in a dramatic voting process this week.
Since then he has been accused of being a traitor and an ANC/EFF puppet.
But Makwarela told the Sunday Times during a sit-down interview at his office that these accusation were not true.
“This is not Joburg; this is Tshwane. Maybe it's true that they have a proxy mayor that side, but I am here, I have capacity. My qualifications speak for themselves. Do I look like a proxy?
The objective of local government is to render services and be preoccupied with essential service delivery
— Tshwane mayor Murunwa Makwarela
“We have a lot at stake here. We are going to 2024, and if my party, which is on a downward spiral, doesn’t perform we will die. I’m worried about my party, I’m worried about service delivery,” he said.
Makwarela spoke frankly about the fallout that led to the collapse of the DA-led coalition — saying disagreements were personal rather than political.
“At the time of the coalition arrangement there was a constant serious disagreement with DA and Action SA. They are cousins — [John] Steenhuizen and [Michael] Beaumont.
One took the other’s wife, so we get abused in meetings when one raises something and the other one responds. You ask yourself: 'Why is this person so aggressive and negatively touched when the other one speaks?' It's clear that there’s anger and underlying issues which have nothing to do with us,” said the mayor.
Makwarela says the two parties systematically undermined his office as speaker of the Tshwane city council for eight months.
The cracks in Makwarela’s previous administration came to light recently, with parties lambasting his handling of ex-mayor Randall Williams’s resignation and his refusal to call a council meeting at the behest of the DA-led coalition, which would have allowed them to pass the adjustment budget required before the cut-off date of February 28.
“With Williams, I followed the law. You can’t hand in two letters of resignation with two different dates and expect me not to consult legal opinion before I make a ruling. And you can’t call a meeting for the 28th when I’ve already fixed one just because you want to hurry to do your own funny things.
"Amending the resignation had legal effects. I subjected the letter issue to the law. A speaker is the custodian of the law. I play by the book and it irks a lot of people," said Makwarela.
The mayor defended his decision to switch camps and go into government with the ANC, EFF and minority parties, saying he was a leader of a political party and did not want to be stuck with a non-performing coalition.
“When I was campaigning in Hammanskraal I was jumping over sewage in the street. Tomorrow when I go back there what am I going to tell the constituency?” Makwarela asked.
Makwarela is an ordained bishop and runs a church with his wife pastor Melica Makwarela. He is an engineer with a PhD from Wits University. He has spent time as a researcher and academic and became chair of the Johannesburg Development Agency in 2020. He later took over as chair of the Joburg Market.
Makwarela promised to fix Tshwane by prioritising the delivery of services to residents. “The objective of local government is to render services and be preoccupied with essential service delivery. Removal of waste, water provision, electricity, cutting grass, maintaining open spaces and parks ...” He said his experience as a technocrat will come handy.
“I’ve worked in the city before and it used to be very clean. I used to win competitions like cleanest host city in the 2010 Soccer World Cup. I know how to work; I’m not your normal politician.
"My default setting is that I’m a technocrat. I’ve chaired boards of companies. I have qualifications in good governance. I’ve been a CEO of multinational companies, where you can’t work if you don’t perform. Me and performance are friends, and as a genetic engineer there is a level of precision required — I pay attention to the most minute details.”
I’ve worked in the city before and it used to be very clean. I used to win competitions like cleanest host city in the 2010 Soccer World Cup. I know how to work; I’m not your normal politician
— New Tshwane mayor Murunwa Makwarela
He said he couldn’t perform to his full potential under the DA, adding that whenever he took a decision that was not favourable to the party, he was threatened with a vote of no confidence.
“They did not want me here in the first place. I should have failed from day one.
“You can’t jilt someone and turn around and call them a traitor when they have been courted by someone else and their things look rosy. Were you expecting the person to languish alone while you get another partner? You are crazy,” said Makwarela.
Makwarela alleged that the DA courted him with offers of any position he wanted, provided he renounced his COPE membership and joined the DA.
“I refused. I have an obligation to resurrect COPE. I’m principled that way,” said the mayor.
The administration’s adverse audit finding, questioned by Makwarela, contributed to the falling out of the coalition.
“As speaker I was responsible for oversight, to make the executive accounted and to report to the public.
"The DA made consistent schoolboy errors. They hid the AG report. We found out in the media that the mayor was sitting on the report. I’m sure he was advised to hide it from his coalition partners because it’s embarrassing. They scapegoated the poor CFO.
“Those statements according to the Municipal Finance Management Act are submitted monthly to the MEC. If this guy was submitting the wrong things why didn’t they see it?
“It means they were stupid enough not to see it or they wilfully did not see it. They woke up in December to blame the CFO for lying. It means they had been aware that he had been lying the whole year without questioning it,” said the mayor.
“Corruption is white collar. It is perjury and cooking of numbers. But the AG has nice goggles to spot these things.
“As a matter of principle, I did not go out to expose these lies because when you are in bed with someone you protect each other and raise issues privately. But we found that smaller parties get abused in the process,” said the mayor.
Makwarela’s ascension to being Tshwane’s number one resident would not have been possible without the assistance of eight councillors from the multiparty coalition who defied their caucus mandate and backed him over the DA’s Celliers Brink.
The DA vowed it would investigate and sniff out the traitors while Action SA announced it would be subjecting councillors to polygraph tests to seek out the rebellious members.
“I detest this criminality. This was a schedule three process of the constitution; now why do you want to [upset] a secret ballot process? That is intimidation and doing anything that is at variance with the Electoral Act is a criminal offence.”
Asked whether his new alliance was stable, Makwarela said it was too early to tell.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.