JP Smith: ANC calls for suspension of fraud-accused Cape Town MMC

The African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape has called for the immediate suspension of tender fraud-accused Cape Town MMC of safety and security JP Smith.

The call comes as the Police Commercial Crimes Unit raided Smith and another MMC Xanthea Limberg’s offices on Friday. The raid is reportedly linked to cases former Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor and MMC for housing Malusi Booi was fired over.

SHOULD JP SMITH BE SUSPENDED?

The ANC said the tender fraud allegations highlight a pattern of corruption within the Democratic Alliance-led City of Cape Town and other municipalities across the province.

The former ruling party the DA’s national and provincial leadership including Helen Zille and John Steenhuisen must explain how they will address these serious allegations.

“The ANC calls for the immediate suspension of JP Smith and Xanthea Limberg pending the outcome of the investigation. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis’s demand for a briefing from SAPS on this matter risks political interference and further damages the credibility of the investigation.

“This is unacceptable in a province already struggling with governance failures, illegal evictions and the neglect of marginalised communities. We urge the national Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure to ensure transparency in this case and to clarify any links to ongoing efforts to address corruption in the consruction sector,” ANC Western Cape spokesperson Khalid Sayed said.

Meanwhile, DA leader John Steenhuisen said theu would deal with the matter once facts have emerged.

“Once the facts have emerged, once the prima facie evidence is on the table, we will have a more determined way about how we proceed moving forward. At the moment, it remains speculation, but it is the matter which I’m certainly watching closely, and it’s a matter which the party will deal with credibly, seriously, intelligently, as we have always done,” he said.

‘A SMEAR CAMPAIGN’

Following the raid, JP Smith said he had been tipped off that some political actors had been working on a smear campaign and had mobilised a political ‘hit squad’ against him.

“I was alerted to this some months back, and some of you will have noticed from posts on social media that some politicians appear to be receiving ‘briefings’ or are involving themselves in what should clearly be a protected police investigation.

“Apart from these tell-tale warning signs, I have been reliably informed that members within SAPS have briefed senior ANC politicians,” he said. 

In addition, the DA chairperson in Western Cape said a concerned person him recordings of conversations that, even just at face value, revealed a political conspiracy against him by political office bearers, a private security company, and possibly that of members within SAPS, yet undetermined at this stage if these are past employees or still serving within SAPS today. 

“One of the sources in these recordings indicated that they obtained them from members of the police who are concerned about evidence being manufactured and actions taken by some persons featured in the recordings. 

“While some of these persons have already been identified, and in what the source called a ‘frame-up,’ an individual featured on the recording described the reason for me being targeted simply because I ‘stood in the way of too much’.”

DO YOU AGREE THAT JP SMITH SHOULD BE SUSPENDED AMID THE TENDER FRAUD PROBE?

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