South Africa

Unravelling the puzzle involving councillors JP Smith, Xanthea Limberg and axed DA councillor Malusi Booi's upcoming court appearance

30 Jan 2025

Since last Friday, news of raids on the offices of Cape Town city councillors JP Smith and Xanthea Limberg has caused a flurry of information, misinformation and disinformation. Comparisons have been made with summarily axed councillor Malusi Booi. What do we know so far?

Over the next two days in Cape Town, the spotlight will be on current and former mayoral committee members – two will face a planned disruption in council and one who has been axed will return to court. It all revolves around policing and police raids.

Tomorrow on Friday, 31 January, axed Democratic Alliance (DA) city councillor Malusi Booi will return to the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court to face charges related to allegations of eight unlawfully awarded tenders involving more than R1-billion. As Daily Maverick has reported, Booi received bail of R250,000 after spending a week in custody.

Read more: Malusi Booi granted R250,000 bail in R1bn Cape Town tender case

In September 2024, Booi – the axed mayoral committee member for human settlements – was arrested with nine others on a range of charges including fraud, corruption, money laundering and racketeering. These relate to accusations of involvement in a tender-for-cash enterprise allegedly headed by suspected 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson.

Why has Booi’s name come up?

Booi’s name resurfaced after a raid by the Western Cape Commercial Crimes Unit on Friday, 24 January at the Civic Centre offices of councillors JP Smith and Xanthea Limberg. Smith is the long-serving mayoral committee member for safety and security while Limberg serves as the mayoral committee member for energy. The raid caused a flurry of condemnation from city council opposition parties who wanted the pair to be suspended immediately, as had happened to Booi.

Booi’s office was raided on 15 March 2024 and he was suspended the next day. He was then fired from the mayoral committee for human settlements on 23 March.

As Daily Maverick reported, many parties within the city council wanted the pair suspended immediately – with the official opposition African National Congress (ANC) and the Good party leading the calls.

Why were Smith and Limberg raided?

According to SAPS Western Cape spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut on Friday, the raids were about “tender fraud in the construction sector within the City of Cape Town municipality”. This formed part of “forensic investigations” which stemmed from “a case that is running before courts,” said Traut. “Several municipal officials and business owners are facing a myriad of charges that relate to the same investigation.”

“Speculation about who the investigation is directed at, seizure of items and possible arrests would be premature at this point,” said Traut. “It would be out of norm for SAPS investigators to discuss pertinent details of their investigations.”

But he was clear that no one had been arrested and the investigating team required space to conduct its investigation.

However, a council staff member was arrested for defeating the ends of justice, but charges were withdrawn due to insufficient evidence.

What do Smith/Limberg say?

Smith has maintained that this is a “politically motivated” campaign against him. Limberg says she was targeted because of her proximity to Smith. She described this as a “well-orchestrated attempt to diminish my reputation and political standing”.

The Good party’s Brett Herron – a former DA colleague of the pair – said “the personal relationship between Smith and Limberg only adds more fuel and speculation to an unexplained fire”.

A relationship between Smith and Limberg was alluded to in public during the dramatic split between former Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille and the DA in 2018 after Limberg revealed messages about De Lille’s influence in the decision to appoint Achmat Ebrahim as city manager. This, De Lille claimed, stemmed from “under the pillowcase” according to the Cape Argus.

The DA said at the time that the claim had been sexist and racist.

Condemnation and charges: political reaction

The raid on the two councillors has caused a flurry of claims against the DA governance of the city. As Daily Maverick reported, leader of the National Coloured Congress Fadiel Adams laid charges of defeating the ends of justice against DA Federal Council chair Helen Zille after she told journalists she had been aware of the investigation into Smith since late last year.

Zille, also a former mayor of Cape Town, told Daily Maverick: “I just cannot believe that anyone takes this seriously. It is clearly absurd.” She said that Adams – a former city councillor himself – had been posting on social media “since last year about the imminent arrest of JP Smith”.

Anger has now also been directed at council speaker Felicity Purchase after she decided to switch today's (Thursday, 30 January) council sitting to a virtual one rather than the planned physical sitting. Opposition parties say this was to shield Smith from accountability.

Adams had called on “progressive thinking parties” to make sure that Smith was unable to address the council. The ANC is also planning a picket outside the civic centre on Thursday.

Read more: Smith, Limberg row — Opposition parties fume after Cape Town City Council meeting shifted online

What does the DA leadership say?

DA Western Cape deputy leader and Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis issued a joint statement with DA Western Cape leader Tertuis Simmers, announcing that they would issue a “comprehensive” statement only once more facts and investigations occurred.

DA leader John Steenhuisen told journalists in Cape Town that once briefed by Hill-Lewis about the nature of the raid and the investigations, the party would be in a position to make a clearer statement on the matter.

“I will, however, say this. Wherever instances of wrongdoing [involving] DA public representatives have been raised – once it has reached the substantive phase and there is prima facie evidence of wrongdoing, the DA has moved in all cases to suspend and in many cases remove those public representatives. I want to assure you that within this matter, 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,” said Steenhuisen.

He said that “at the moment, it remains speculation.”

Is this authentic?

As Daily Maverick investigative journalist Caryn Dolley reported, there has been a nexus of politicians and alleged wrongdoing involving criminals and criminal enterprises. As she explains, the raid also highlights issues around potential police leaks and cop skirmishes.

Read more: Smear campaign or justice? Behind the police raid on DA’s Xanthea Limberg and JP Smith

What does the mayor say?

Initially, Hill-Lewis said he would wait until he met the SAPS to verify the facts of the matter. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, he said the police “could not provide any indication of whether substantive evidence of wrong-doing exists”.

“In the circumstances, and unless such substantive evidence is forthcoming, there is no basis to suspend either of them from the mayoral committee. I have further sought and since received a legal opinion from senior counsel affirming my view that this is the correct course of action in the current circumstance,” said Hill-Lewis.

“Should substantive evidence of alleged wrongdoing come to light at any stage, I will assess what action is required to defend and uphold the integrity of our government in the city,” he said.

In response to allegations that he protected Smith and Limberg, Hill-Lewis said: “It should be pointed out that there are crucial differences between this and the earlier matter relating to Malusi Booi, which has since proceeded to trial.

“In the Malusi Booi matter, SAPS gave me insight into substantive evidence of alleged corruption and advised me of their intention to make an arrest. This enabled me to act based on credible and substantive evidence, which is absent at this stage in this matter.” DM

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