A week after he was elected Tshwane mayor, Murunwa Makwarela was removed from the position because he couldn't prove that he wasn't insolvent. 

A letter written by Tshwane City manager Johann Mettler, directed to the IEC in Gauteng, confirms that a vacancy has been created for the mayoral position after Congress of the People (Cope) councillor Makwarela was disqualified because of insolvency status. 

Mettler's letter stated: "Dr Makwarela was elected to the position of executive mayor of Tshwane on 28 February. The disqualification is in terms of Section 158 (1) (c) of the Constitution, also read with Section 47 (1) (c) of the Constitution. The disqualification is also in terms of Schedule 1 of the Municipal Structures Act." 

City of Tshwane's head of communications, Selby Bokaba, said there had been engagements between Mettler and Makwarela on the status of his insolvency. 

Makwarela was required to produce evidence that a court had cleared him, but it seemed he could not do so. 

This means for a second time, Tshwane has no mayor.

Mettler's letter also indicated that the law allowed the represented party, Cope, to show which person is "at the top of the applicable party list to be elected in the vacancy". 

However, Makwarela is the only councillor representing Cope in the Tshwane council. 

Makwarela was elected with the support of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EF). His election was also supported by eight councillors from the Democratic Alliance-led coalition, which holds the majority in the Tshwane council. 

The DA candidate, Cilliers Brink, lost to Makwarela, an outcome which angered the party and its coalition partners, ActionSA, African Christian Democratic Party, Freedom Front Plus and the Inkatha Freedom Party.

The coalition partners suggested the ANC and the EFF had bribed the eight councillors to break party ranks and support Makwarela's election.

EFF Tshwane regional chairperson Obakeng Ramabodu told News24 that removing Makwarela was a speed bump but not the end of the road. He said that even if a new mayoral election was called "tomorrow", the EFF had a plan.

"We are not worried, and we have a plan B. We still have our numbers intact. Whatever the DA wants to do, it's too late," Ramabodu said.

Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem said the party would hold an urgent meeting to deal with Makwarela's removal. He declined to outline a way forward. 

Makwarela was not available for comment despite numerous attempts by News24 to reach him.