Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says there is a marked difference between the suspension of former Mayco Member for Human Settlements, Malusi Booi and a recent raid at the offices of Mayco Members, JP Smith and Xanthea Limberg.
Hill-Lewis says there is insufficient evidence at this stage to justify the removal of the councillors from the Mayoral Committee.
Police are probing tender fraud in the construction sector within the Cape Town municipality.
Hill-Lewis says Booi’s case which is before the courts compelled him to act. “In the previous case, on the day of the search warrant execution, I received a detailed briefing about the evidence that was in place already. It was the evidence around the school fees being paid, the transactions around Louis Vuitton – all the things that have now come out in court. All the things that were shown to me on that first day. And it was so shocking to me obviously. I had never seen or heard about that before but the big difference here is that there is a marked difference in the substantiation the corroboration of the evidence that has been put before me is the difference.”
Opposition parties in the City of Cape Town are calling for the immediate suspension of the two Mayoral Committee Members. Smith is the Mayco member for Safety and Security as well as the deputy Federal Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance (DA)’s national structure.
The Cape Town Mayor requested a SAPS briefing after the raid, but he said they provided no evidence of wrongdoing.
Police say they are conducting probes into housing tender fraud in the construction sector within the Cape Town municipality.
But opposition parties in the City are calling on the Mayor to take action. They say the two Mayco Members should be suspended immediately. Hill-Lewis says there is insufficient evidence at this stage to justify their suspension or removal.
“There is no evidence to justify the suspension of the two Mayco members,” says Hill-Lewis.
The DA in the Western Cape says it supports the mayor’s decision to not take action against Smith and Limberg.
DA’s Western Cape leader Tertuis Simmers says, “The DA in the Western Cape supports the mayor’s decision.”
Smith claims he is being targeted in a smear campaign. The DA has encouraged both Smith and Limberg to cooperate with police as they work to determine the truth behind the tender fraud allegations the two are facing.
CT mayor defends JP Smith, Xanthea Limberg:
