Mayco member for Safety and Security in Cape Town, JP Smith, says he is the subject of a political smear campaign. The Commercial Crimes Unit raided his offices and that of fellow Mayco member Xanthea Limberg earlier today.
Police say the raids form part of a wider probe into alleged tender fraud which is already before the courts.
Smith says in a statement that he will provide his full cooperation regarding the investigation.
He says he’s been tipped off that political actors, as he put it, have been working on a campaign and have mobilised a “hit squad” against him.
Smith further alleges that his phone was also pinged on behalf of alleged underworld figure, Nafiz Modack.
Modack is currently awaiting a ruling in the High Court in a discharge application for the murder of top-cop, Charl Kinnear.
Underworld Gang | “No evidence link Modack to Kinnear murder” – Lawyer
The former Mayco member for Housing in the City of Cape Town, Malusi Booi, is currently facing fraud charges linked to tenders worth over a billion rand in relation to another alleged gang boss, Ralph Stanfield.
Meanwhile, opposition parties in the Western Cape, the African National Congress (ANC) and GOOD Party, have welcomed the probe into Smith and Limberg.
Police say they are conducting further probes into housing tender fraud in the construction sector within the Cape Town Municipality.
No arrests have been made.
ANC’s Banele Majingo says, “The development is deeply troubling and raises serious concern about governance, accountability and ethical leadership within the city administration. It is worth noting that this is not the first time a raid has occurred within the corridors of power in the City of Cape Town.”
Secretary-General of the GOOD Party, Brett Herron says, “I think the most important thing right now is for the mayor to be transparent, to come clean with the people of Cape Town to tell the people of Cape Town what he knew, when he knew it and what he is going to do next. The most important thing for him to do next is to suspend Limberg and Smith if they don’t voluntarily step aside so that the investigation can go ahead unimpeded.”
