DA Western Cape intends to suspend Malusi Booi from party activities

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape intends to suspend Malusi Booi from all party political activities.

Malusi Booi fired

This after Booi was fired by Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis on Thursday as the metro’s member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for human settlements.

ALSO READ: Cape Town mayor fires MMC Malusi Booi amid fraud, corruption probe

Booi was dismissed from office following his suspension last week, after a police raid at City offices, including his office, related to an investigation into allegations of fraud and corruption within the housing department.

Members of the commercial crimes unit seized electronic equipment and documents during their operation, but no arrests were made.

RELATED: Police raid City of Cape Town office in fraud and corruption probe

Booi remains a DA councillor in the City of Cape Town.

Urgent DA meeting

The DA’s provincial executive committee (PEC) in the Western Cape held an urgent meeting on Thursday evening to deliberate on Booi’s political future.

The PEC resolved to write to the councillor stating its intention to suspend him from all party political activities pending the outcome of the criminal investigation by police.

DA Western Cape leader Tertuis Simmers said, in a terse statement, Booi “will be given an opportunity to provide reasons why he shouldn’t be suspended” and “a final decision will be taken after consideration of his inputs”.

Even if Booi is suspended, Simmers said he would remain a DA councillor.

Police brief mayor

Hill-Lewis said he removed Booi from the mayoral committee, after receiving an updated briefing from police on their ongoing fraud and corruption investigation.

While the councillor has not been formally charged, the mayor said the matters under investigation “are to my mind serious enough to warrant immediate action to protect the integrity of our government”.

Hill-Lewis said he assured police of the metro’s full support in the ongoing investigation. He said the municipality has a “zero tolerance approach to fraud and corruption and will not hesitate to act in the interests of good governance”.

GOOD calls on Hill-Lewis to provide clarity

Meanwhile, the GOOD party welcomed the dismissal of Booi from the mayoral committee.

The party’s caucus chairperson in council, Suzette Little, called on Hill-Lewis to provide clarity on what police told him about their fraud and corruption investigation into the City’s housing department.

She said the investigation into these allegations had been ongoing for some time, with officials raising the alarm as far back as 2020.

“Moreover, the mayor has had access to a City funded forensic investigation into housing corruption, and unless that investigation was selective, the mayor must have been aware of information that implicated Booi long before the raid. The mayor needs to explain why he waited until now to act.

“While it’s encouraging to see the City taking swift steps in this regard, GOOD is concerned about the ongoing secrecy around these allegations and investigation when this case involves public funds,” Little said in a statement.

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