Cape Town - The ANC has accused the provincial government of creating an impression that it protects alleged perpetrators of sexual crimes.
The accusation was made in the legislature by ANC transport spokesperson Lulama Mvimbi after Transport and Public Works MEC Daylin Mitchell said acting chief director of traffic management Farrel Payne had not been suspended.
Payne appeared at the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court where he was formally charged with sexual assault, crimen injuria and attempting to commit a sex act in October 2020, but remains at his post.
In his answer to Mvimbi’s query, Mitchell said: “While the claims against the acting chief director of traffic management are considered to be serious in terms of the legal prescripts, this is not the only factor that needs to be considered.
“A decision not to suspend the acting chief director was based on a fair and objective assessment of all the relevant factors that need to be considered before an employee is suspended as a precautionary measure.”
Mitchell quoted the provincial government’s senior management service handbook, which said the employer may suspend an employee on full pay or transfer a member on full pay if the member is alleged to have committed a serious offence and the employer believes that the presence of a member at the workplace might be jeopardised or might jeopardise any investigation.
Mvimbi said: “Eight months after the complaint was submitted, the internal investigation has been finalised and the report was sent to the HOD.
“We would like to know who conducted the investigation, was it an independent investigator or officials from the department?” Mvimbi asked.
“The DA is quick to call on others where it’s not governing to be fired or suspended pending outcomes of investigations. Yet in the Western Cape, it hides behind legislation to protect alleged predators.”
Earlier Speaker Masizole Mnqasela reprimanded MPL Galil Brinkhuis (Al Jama-Ah), who was in the chamber, for not complying with the regulation to submit his member disclosure forms as required by the code of conduct.
Mnqasela said: “Members have to abide by the principles, rules and obligations set out in the code of conduct and your failure to do so is a serious transgression.
“I hope that this is the last time and it is not going to be a norm in future. I don’t want to ever have to repeat what I have just done.”