The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape has written to the expelled Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Malusi Booi, saying he must give reasons why he shouldn’t be suspended from the party. This follows a police raid on Booi’s office amid allegations of fraud and tender irregularities within his portfolio.
Booi has since been fired as the Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlement.
Last week police from the Commercial Crimes Unit swopped on Booi’s offices in the City of Cape Town. This was part of an investigation into allegations of fraud and tender irregularities in the Human Settlement portfolio.
Police removed electronic devices, phones of staff members, and documents. At the time, mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said he had no information until he was briefed by the police.
Hill-Lewis has now fired Booi as part of his Mayoral Committee following a briefing.
“I’ve received an updated briefing from the SAPS regarding the investigation into allegations of fraud and corruption and on this basis, I have decided to remove councilor Malusi Booi from his position on the mayoral committee with immediate effect while councilor Booi has not been charged, the matter is under investigation and onto my mind serious enough to warrant immediate action to protect the integrity of our government,” says Hill-Lewis.
Hill-Lewis has pledged full support to the police during the investigation. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the Western Cape has welcomed the removal of Booi. But it has also urged the city to go a step further and conduct a lifestyle audit on Booi. Regional Secretary of the EFF, Banzi Dambuza, says housing projects have stalled because of the long-standing fraud allegations in that department.
“The portfolio has not been delivering to our people, there are projects that have been standing still for years like the one in Nyanga and Gugulethu and Delft, not long ago an official was shot dead in a project in Delft, the killing of the official is based on the fact that gangsters are being given tenders in the city of cape town through this directorate,” says Dambuza.
The DA in the province says it takes the allegations against Booi very seriously. DA Chairperson in the Western Cape, Jaco Londt says they intend to suspend him from the party.
“The DA’s Western Cape provincial committee at a meeting held on the 23rd of March resolved to write to councilor Malusi Booi stating their intention to suspend him from party activities, Councilor Booi will be given an opportunity to provide reasons why he shouldn’t be suspended, after which a final decision will be taken after consideration of his input,” says Londt.
Police in Cape Town have confirmed an investigation into fraud and corruption by the Commercial Crime Investigation Unit.
