Patriotic Alliance (PA) member Liam Jacobs has slammed the Democratic Alliance (DA) for what he calls “so-called good governance,” following a sweeping police raid on 26 properties across Cape Town linked to suspected corruption and irregularities in municipal procurement.
He accused the party of misleading the public by shifting the narrative away from geographic accountability and downplaying the implications of the raids.
Jacobs, on X (formerly Twitter), said the raids were “not a routine check” but rather a response to credible suspicions of wrongdoing.
“This doesn’t occur without a reasonable suspicion that something horrible has happened,” he posted. He further pointed to the official statement by SAPS that the operation was part of a wider effort to “address corruption” and “safeguard public resources.”
On Tuesday, September 30, the South African Police Service (SAPS) conducted simultaneous search-and-seizure operations at 26 locations across Cape Town as part of a criminal investigation into alleged irregularities in municipal procurement.
The operation was carried out by the Commercial Crime Investigation (CCI) unit in the Western Cape, with assistance from other SAPS divisions and external partners.
Authorities confirmed that the investigation centres on a series of contracts, collectively worth around R1.6 billion, awarded to companies and individuals believed to be linked to the City of Cape Town’s municipal administration.
The sites raided include municipal offices, private homes, and business premises connected to those contracts.
According to Western Cape SAPS provincial spokesperson Colonel André Traut, the coordinated raids were prompted by a tip-off from a whistle-blower and further supported by early findings from both police detectives and internal investigations by the city itself.
Traut said the operation aimed to “secure evidence”, both documentary and digital, to assess whether fraud or corruption had taken place.
Jacobs criticised the DA’s public response to the raids, accusing the party of deflection. He said DA officials were quick to express support for the process but intentionally avoided acknowledging that the raids took place under their administration.
“They do not claim ownership on the location of these raids – rather focusing on the raid’s intention,” he said. “Ignoring the location serves the purpose of misguiding the public about where this took place.”
He added that the DA’s tone differed when corruption was alleged in municipalities outside their control.
“When it comes to their municipalities, they support processes. When corruption happens elsewhere, they’re quick to cry ‘Corruption everywhere but here!’” said Jacobs. “When it happens under their noses, they quickly shift the story from place to process.”
Framing this as a pattern of what he termed “selective governance,” Jacobs suggested the DA’s long-standing image as a model of good governance was crumbling.
“The DA is in the end stages of their myths about ‘good governance’,” he said.
Politics
