The DA has filed papers in the Gauteng High Court seeking to overturn the sanction imposed on Tshwane Metro Deputy Mayor and Finance MMC Eugene Modise after he was found guilty of breaching the councillors’ Code of Conduct by concealing a prohibited financial interest.

The application challenges both the penalty imposed by the municipal council and the process that led to the decision, with the DA arguing that councillors were misdirected about the sanctions available under the law.

Addressing the media outside the Gauteng High Court on July 7, DA mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said the case was about more than a technical breach of council rules and raised fundamental questions about accountability in local government.

Brink said the company from which Modise allegedly continues to benefit remained in business with the metro while Modise had failed to declare his interest timeously or properly divest himself of that interest.

According to Brink, the matter stems from decisions taken after the ANC-led coalition assumed control of the metro in 2024.

He said the previous DA-led mayoral committee had commissioned a review of the city’s security model, which relied heavily on stationary guarding services.

Brink said the review was abandoned after the ANC-led coalition took office, resulting in the continued extension of contracts with existing security companies.

He said it later emerged that a member of the new mayoral committee had a financial interest in one of those security companies while simultaneously serving as deputy mayor, Finance MMC, and ANC regional chairperson in Tshwane. This person was Eugene Modise.

According to Brink, Modise became a councillor in 2023, but failed to disclose his financial benefit from a contract between Triotic Protection Services and the metro. “Not declaring interests is not a mere technicality like when you forget to fill in a form.”

The DA subsequently requested an investigation into Modise’s relationship with the company.

Brink said a forensic investigation found that Modise had breached the councillors’ Code of Conduct.

The councillors’ Code of Conduct requires councillors to declare their shareholding and financial interests and prohibits them from benefiting from agreements with the municipality.

Brink said Modise told forensic investigators that he had sold his shares in Triotic Protection Services to an employee through an instalment sale agreement.

However, according to Brink, Modise was unable to provide documentary proof of such an agreement.

He said Modise had been found guilty of breaching the Code of Conduct, stressing that the finding resulted from an official forensic investigation and council process rather than allegations or rumours.

Following that finding, the matter was placed before the municipal council to determine an appropriate sanction.

According to Brink, the Speaker advised councillors that only three sanctions were available: a warning, a reprimand or a fine.

Brink argued that this advice was legally incorrect.

“In doing so, the Speaker misdirected the council because, in fact, the council can also recommend to the MEC for local government that a councillor found guilty of this can be suspended or fired.”

He said the DA raised this objection during the council meeting, but its submission was voted down by the ANC, EFF, ActionSA, and other parties forming part of the governing coalition.

The coalition subsequently supported a proposal by the ANC that Modise be fined the equivalent of two months’ salary.

Brink estimated the value of the fine at about R200 000.

“In the meantime, his company Triotic Protection Services benefits at least R3-million a month. Compare that to the R200 000 that he will forfeit as a salary. If the penalty of two months’ pay stands, anybody in his position on any tender can simply decide ‘I will pay the fine and I will continue to make the big bucks at taxpayers’ expense’.

“You can either be a tenderpreneur or somebody who does business with government, or you can be a deputy mayor and finance MMC, but you cannot be both and you certainly cannot abuse your position as a politician in order to benefit yourself commercially.”

Brink said the DA has asked the High Court to set aside both the Speaker’s handling of the matter and the council’s decision on the sanction.

“If the High Court grants us the relief that we seek, they set aside the slap on the wrist given to Modise. We can take our argument before the council, which must then make a proper decision as to the penalty against Modise.”

He said the DA would argue that the most serious sanction available should be considered if the matter returns to council.

Modise, in an interview with Rekord, has dismissed the DA’s High Court application challenging his sanction for breaching the councillors’ Code of Conduct, saying he resigned from the company when he became a councillor and received no financial benefit.

Responding to the DA’s High Court application challenging the sanction imposed on him, Modise said: “I have resigned when I became a councillor and it is verified by forensics and it is accessible at the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office.”

He said the only issue identified during the investigation related to a property he bought for the company in 2010.

“The only sin was the property that I bought for the company during 2010 when Triotic and many other companies, including a lot of law firms, were abruptly removed from SALU building, and it is proven that there was no financial benefit.”

Modise said he fully co-operated with forensic investigators and disclosed all requested information. “Unfortunately, the DA pressurised the forensic investigators and I later disclosed everything to them. I co-operated and gave all information which was requested.”

He maintained that he had sold his shares in the company and that the agreed payment plan was being implemented.

“I am not part of it anymore.”

Modise described the DA’s court action as politically motivated.

“It is a lost campaign,” he said, adding that the party was attempting to undermine the city’s achievements, including what he described as its second funded budget in succession and progress on its funding plan.

He further accused the DA of abusing state institutions for political purposes and criticised Brink over previous governance issues.

– Click here to listen to Cilliers Brink on taking the Modise sanction to High Court.

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