in the November 2021 local government elections. Tshwane council speaker Makwarela was elected speaker of the Tshwane City Council on 20 January 2022 as part of a coalition agreement COPE signed with the Democratic Alliance, ActionSA, the African Christian Democratic Party, the Inkatha Freedom Party, and the Freedom Front Plus to form a majority government in the council. In April 2022, the African National Congress and the Economic Freedom Fighters called for him to resign as council speaker amid allegations of graft and sexual assault levelled against him, which he responded to by saying: It"s all lies. As things stand, it's premature for me to resign. The ANC wants to use these untested allegations as a political plot and to be a law unto themselves." On 17 November 2022, Makwerela opened a criminal case at the Brooklyn Police Station after he was allegedly assaulted by ANC councillors during a council meeting two days earlier. On 13 February 2023, Randall Williams announced his resignation as Tshwane mayor, however, he soon after amended it, changing the date of his resignation to 28 February 2023, which caused confusion amongst councillors. Makwarela's office sought legal advice and Makwarela announced on 21 February 2023 that Williams' first resignation letter was valid and his second one not, which meant that the metro was now without a mayor. The DA, as per the coalition agreement signed between the parties, nominated MP Cilliers Brink as their candidate whom Makwarela initially pledged to support. COPE was soon removed from the coalition after Makwarela refused to schedule an urgent council meeting to elect a new mayor. Mayor of Tshwane During a council meeting on 28 February 2023, Makwarela was nominated for the position of mayor by the African Transformation Movement with the support of the EFF and ANC. Makwarela defeated Brink in the mayoral vote which saw a majority of 112 councillors voting for him and only 101 councillors voting for Brink. It is suspected that some of the DA's coalition partners voted for Makwarela. References 1972 births People from Pretoria University of the Witwatersrand alumni Congress of the People (South African political party) politicians South African academics 21st-century South African businesspeople Mayors of places in South Africa Living people