Zille calls defeating the ends of justice charge against her in JP Smith office raid ‘absurd’

National Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams said he had laid charges against DA Federal Council chair Helen Zille over claims she had been tipped off about the police investigation into City of Cape Town Mayco member JP Smith.

On Friday, news broke of a police raid at the offices of DA members Smith and Xanthea Limberg. Both veteran politicians occupy Mayco positions, with Smith responsible for safety and security and Limberg for energy. Smith is also the DA’s Cape Town metro chair. 

After the news of the raid broke, Zille told News24 that Smith had approached her at the end of last year about a “politically motivated investigation” against him. “He informed me at the time [about the investigation], though he wasn’t sure if it was a hoax,” Zille told the publication.

It is this statement that Adams – a former Cape Town city councillor – has taken issue with. 

Speaking outside the Cape Town Central Police Station on Monday, 27 January, Adams said “her party knew about the investigation… she has confessed that she had been tipped off [about] the investigation into the alleged criminality of Alderman JP Smith – that is a contravention of the law”. 

He told Daily Maverick he had laid a charge of defeating the ends of justice against Zille. “If this was the ANC, she would have been screaming from the rooftops,” he said. 

Zille had not responded to Daily Maverick’s questions by the time of publication. But she addressed the issue on social media platform X where she called it “absurd” as it was Smith himself who had tipped her off about the investigation.

1/4 I write this during a break in chairing the Federal Council of the DA in Johannesburg. Radio broadcasts are reporting the absurd claim that I should be charged with "Defeating the Ends of Justice" in relation to the police search of JP Smith's office.

— Helen Zille (@helenzille) January 27, 2025