ZILLE SAL SIEN
DEMOCRATIC Alliance (DA) dik ding Helen Zille and National Coloured Congress (NCC) leader Fadiel Adams got into a hewige bekgeveg over the City of Cape Town’s last scandal.
The police raids at the offices of the DA Cape Town Mayoral Committee (Mayco) members JP Smith and Xanthea Limberg have sparked heavy criticism from the opposition parties.
Smith is the Mayco member for Public Safety and Security and Limberg is Energy MCC (both DA).
The SAPS performed the operation as an ongoing investigation into the construction mafia case, which led to the arrest of former MMC for Human Settlements Malusi Booi in September 2024.
He and nine others face charges relating to fraud, money laundering, and racketeering after he allegedly unlawfully awarded eight tenders involving more than R1 billion.
He was charged alongside alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson.
In an interview with a news outlet, Zille claimed that she had prior knowledge of the raids, saying that JP Smith “has many enemies”.
Zille said Smith informed her of the investigation and the raids late last year but thought it was a hoax.
She later replied to an X user: “We do not even know whether he will be charged, what the charge might be, or whether there is any evidence to back it up.
“When a man has made such enemies of crooks, gangsters, and some senior SAPS members, we exercise judgement and get the facts. That is what we are now doing.”
But NCC leader Adams said over the weekend that he will now lay criminal charges concerning Zille’s information.
He says: “On Monday at 8am, we are going to Central police station. It’s a crime for a police officer to tell someone they are being investigated. That is a criminal act.
“She must tell the court who told her about this.”
Zille said Adams could go ahead with the charge, saying: “They can go ahead. He’s completely clueless.”
Meanwhile, the GOOD Party secretary-general Brett Herron also took aim at Zille.
He adds: “Smith and Zille appear to claim that the raids were some intricate and elaborate ‘komplot’ orchestrated by the SAPS, the NPA and unnamed opponents within the DA and opposition politicians.
“What they’ve failed to address is that these raids could only lawfully take place after a warrant was issued by a judicial officer being either a judge or a magistrate.
“The judicial officer has to be persuaded, under oath by an investigating officer, that there is good reason to issue such a warrant.
“Zille and Smith’s komplot theory is not impossible but it is highly unlikely to include the courts.
“If Zille was aware last year, then there’s a potential obstruction of justice, or travesty of justice, case to be answered for because there’s been months or weeks for any evidence to have been eliminated or moved.”