Ex-mayor Makwarela granted R10,000 bail in fraud case

Former Tshwane mayor Murunwa Makwarela who faces two counts of fraud was granted R10,000 bail after appearing before the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court yesterday.

Makwarela’s first charge relates to him submitting a fake rehabilitation court certificate that falsely indicated he was no longer insolvent.

The second charge stems from his time as a councillor and speaker of Tshwane without disclosing his insolvent status, thus earning more than R1.4m.

Despite handing himself over to the Brooklyn police station yesterday morning, Makwarela told the court that he intended pleading not guilty.

National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the state found no need to oppose bail, despite Makwarela facing a schedule 5 crime.

Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said investigations were ongoing and more arrests were possible.

“The investigation is under way to find out the origins of the fake certificate,” Mogale said.

“This is a serious offence which resulted in people having jobs not due to them.”

The matter was postponed to May 2.

Makwarela, from the Congress of the People (COPE), became mayor in February after the resignation of Randall Williams.

This after the EFF and ANC nominated and elected Makwarela, defeating and blindsiding DA candidate Cilliers Brink for the mayoral seat.

Makwarela’s position was revoked the next day after the DA showed that the former speaker had become insolvent in 2016.

To dismiss these claims, Makwarela presented a rehabilitation certificate in an attempt to prove the DA wrong.

This allowed him to be reinstated, but TimesLIVE revealed that the certificate was fake.

Shortly afterwards, Makwarela resigned as mayor, councillor and as regional chair of COPE.

In his resignation letter, he told the city manager that vacating the office was not an admission of guilt but a way for him to preserve the name of the municipality.

Makwarela studied ethnobotany and has a PhD in genetic engineering from Wits University.

He was appointed to work at the City of Tshwane in 2007, where he established the city’s gene bank, studied the city’s plants and was behind the landscaping idea at the Fountains Circle.

His contract with the city came to an end in 2012.

In 2013, he said he received a calling to become a pastor.

“I was trained properly and graduated as a minister of the gospel. I am ordained and my spiritual title is apostle,” Makwarela said.