Cape Town - Anti-crime activist Hanif Loonat on Wednesday lodged another criminal complaint with police in relation to a City tender, this time involving the Safety and Security portfolio.
Loonat, accompanied by the leader of the Cape Coloured Congress (CCC), Fadiel Adams lodged charges of fraud on Wednesday morning, alleging more than R50 million was allegedly taken and paid out for housing tenders.
This is in connection with alleged fraudulent tenders 301Q/2018/19 and payments to three parties. Loonat alleged that from the period December 17, 2019 mayco member for Safety and Security JP Smith’s portfolio allegedly paid more than R50m for support, this was for, including maintenance and construction of building and structures for the city.
While Smith dismissed the claims as false allegations threatening legal action for reputational damage, police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said they were investigating.
“This office can confirm that a fraud case was registered at Cape Town Central police,” said Twigg.
Loonat said he believed the city had a lot to hide.
“I have opened a case related to tender 301Q, we have found that payments that were made were irregular and very similar to the case of tender 243Q. We believe corruption has taken place, documents have been submitted to police.
“I hope the commercial unit will investigate like it had done with the other matter, heads must roll in the Safety and Security portfolio. The public must know what is happening and it raises concerns about audits,” said Loonat.
He claimed further information about 243Q had also come to light which has also been shared with police.
Loonat, also joining forces with Adams, had opened a case of fraud and corruption relating to 243Q, alleging that prices of building materials were inflated by up to 10 times and that City officials approved and paid for costs outside of what was allowed.
This led to the arrest of eight people including a city official last year.
Adams said:“It is quite interesting that with all this amount of fraud picked up Mr Loonat is the complainant, an external person.
Why is it not the City manager, the mayor or another top official there being a complaint when so much money has allegedly been stolen from the City?
“The most transparent City in the world would not tell us how they spend ratepayers’ money. These people are breaking the law left right and centre. Questions have been asked to JP Smith, but with no response. The overspending is mind boggling.”
Smith said these were repeated false allegations and he was considering legal action for reputational damage.
“I was made aware of a political figure within one of Cape Town’s minority parties again making baseless allegations against myself, promising of my imminent arrest.
“This is not the first time they have made such allegations, which along with others even included sensationalistic videos inside and in front of police stations and even though their previous attempts were labelled by SAPS as time-wasting, “I ignored their efforts in trying to appear relevant.
“But as the crucial 2024 national elections draw closer, we cannot allow such individuals the opportunity to confuse residents.”
He said in order to put a stop to the “attention-seeking baseless attacks” he had written to City Council speaker Felicity Purchase to register a complaint against those who were allegedly spreading misinformation.
“We are also considering seeking a personal order within our courts for damages caused to my reputation. I am not in favour of using police investigative resources on such criminal charges. The conduct of the individuals within these political minority parties is listed as a criminal offence and should be treated accordingly,” he said.
Purchase confirmed receiving the complaint from Smith.
The City said: “In general, the City is providing its full support to investigating authorities and will continue to do so. With regards to the mentioned arrest of a City employee, the City is following due process in terms of the Labour Relations Act and other relevant policies.”
Cape Times