GOOD councillor , Felicity Klazen, hs been suspended.
Cape Town: A year after a sex scandal rocked the sleepy town of Witzenberg, the GOOD party suspended its deputy mayor from all party political activities.
Felicity Klazen's suspension comes after a Weekend Argus exclusive, detailing how a costly campaign for its Witzenberg by-election went terribly wrong after it was reportedly marred by booze, skinny-dipping, and sex parties.
Soon after Weekend Argus' report the party launched an external probe, saying it relied on the information in our report.
Klazen's sanction does not affect her day-to-day activities in the Witzenberg council, but questions are rife as to how much longer the deputy mayoral chain will hang around her neck.
Volunteers, who were part of the campaign, wrote various detailed statements describing how MPL and national campaign organiser Shaun August and Klazen, both married, spent their time “sexing” and “partying too much” instead of rallying for votes. Volunteers also described acts of “gehoerdery” (acts of fornication).
The campaign was described as a “disaster of note” after GOOD received only 10% of the votes – a 2% drop compared to 2021’s municipal elections result in that same ward.
The allegations were apparently so shocking, Weekend Argus' initial probe revealed, that party leader Patricia de Lille intervened by summoning members to the Pepperclub Hotel in the CBD halfway through the campaign in an attempt to address the issues at hand.
Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of Parliament, released a statement stating that the GOOD party’s National Management Committee (NMC) had on March 31 resolved to suspend GOOD councillor Felicity Klazen, who serves as deputy mayor in the Witzenberg Municipality coalition, from all party activities pending the finalisation of the party’s internal disciplinary processes against her.
“This follows an independent investigation and the recent finding of a disciplinary hearing that she was guilty of breaching the party’s Constitution and Code of Conduct. This is a suspension pending the finalisation of the internal disciplinary processes which have not yet concluded. Klazen’s rights, in terms of the GOOD Constitution and our disciplinary processes, are not affected by this suspension.”
The suspension is from all party activities which includes, but is not limited to, the following - contacting any GOOD member for any purposes whatsoever, attending GOOD meetings or events, arranging any GOOD activities, meetings or events, representing GOOD at any event or activity, posting of any comment or post on social media or keeping any social media site or group active during the suspension period.
Klazen will continue to represent GOOD in the Witzenberg Council and her suspension from GOOD activities does not affect her official council duties.
Attempts to reach Klazen were unsuccessful.
Weekend Argus