Safety and Security mayco member JP Smith has defended himself against claims by his former human settlements colleague Malusi Booi’s that he was central to a political witch-hunt, which led to his downfall including being arrested over charges that have been subsequently withdrawn.
The Cape Times reported this week that Booi had implicated two senior City officials as being behind the raid to his offices last year, leading to his arrest over alleged tender collusion.
The two officials he implicated are Smith and City manager Lungelo Mbandazayo.
“I know it’s the two of them. I’ve got it on record.”
He said Smith had made statements saying he was the one who gave police information while Mbandazayo made remarks in a CCMA case that “he wanted to deal with me harshly”.
Booi believed that his woes began when he did not support Mbandazayo’s reappointment amid social delivery concerns. He said Smith and the municipal manager were friends, which he believed could have motivated alleged moves against him.
Smith told the Cape Times on Tuesday that he reported any wrongdoing to relevant authorities as he was “ethically bound” to do. Mbandazayo did not respond to requests for comment.
“As stated previously, each time potential wrong doing within the City of Cape Town came to my attention, I reported the allegations to the relevant authorities for investigation as I am legally mandated and ethically bound to do. I am not privy to any details regarding the SAPS investigations into the allegations against Mr Booi. The public statement issued by the NPA makes it clear that the criminal charges against Mr Booi have only been provisionally withdrawn pending investigations into newly discovered evidence,” said Smith.
Smith is also part of a police investigation, having had his offices raided by the police earlier this year over alleged links to suspects arrested in connection with a criminal syndicate accused of targeting public contracts.
He has since turned to the Western Cape High Court in an application against the SAPS and a magistrate, accusing them of procedural dishonesty following the raid.
He claimed the search and seizure warrants used during the January 24 raid were “unlawfully obtained” and based on “falsehoods, errors, and critical omissions”.
According to Smith, the actions by the SAPS infringed on his constitutional rights and disrupted the operational effectiveness of his safety and security portfolio.
Cape Times
