Former Tshwane mayor Makwarela granted bail for fraud rap

Former Tshwane mayor Murunwa Makwarela faces two counts of fraud and was granted R10,000 bail after appearing before the Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court on Monday.

Makwarela’s first charge relates to him submitting a fake rehabilitation court certificate that 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 a total of more than R1.4m.

Despite handing himself over to the Brooklyn police station on Monday morning, Makwarela told the court that he intends to plead not guilty.

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

“As the state, we have no grounds to oppose bail. He is not a flight risk and his address was confirmed and he met all the requirements warranting the granting of bail. These are, however, serious charges and these are schedule 5 offences,” she said.

Hawks spokesperson Col 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. This is a serious offence which resulted in people having jobs not due to them because of handing over fraudulent certificates,” Mogale said.

The matter has been postponed to May 2 for disclosure of the docket and instructions from legal representatives. 

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Makwarela’s position was revoked the next day after the DA exposed that the former speaker became insolvent in 2016. 

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

This allowed for him to be reinstated, but TimesLIVE revealed that such a certificate was fake after the registrar of the office of the chief justice confirmed it was not issued.

Shortly after , Makwarela resigned as the mayor, councillor and as the regional chairperson of COPE.

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

TimesLIVE