Under-fire mayor Patricia de Lille has rejected the allegations that she attempted to solicit a bribe from a Gauteng businessman as “hogwash”.
“I have now been informed by the SAPS that a criminal complaint has been laid against me by the federal leadership of the DA pertaining to an alleged solicitation of a bribe from a Mr Anthony Faul in January 2013,” De Lille said yesterday.
“My lawyers and I were afforded an opportunity to respond to this new allegation by the party, but, given that e-mails had to be checked, we were unable to do so within the very short time permitted.
"The DA then rushed off to the police with the allegation and immediately thereafter went on a concerted campaign of distributing the message to all and sundry that I am corrupt.”
De Lille added that the motion of no confidence tabled by her party and to be debated on February 15 was most unfortunate.
“Comparable allegations have been made against Mr Bongi Madikizela regarding the sponsorship of his birthday party, against Premier Helen Zille regarding payment of a trip to Singapore and the boosting of her son’s business, but none of these issues have been reported to the police.
"If this was seriously the reason, then the party should also have laid a criminal complaint against Mr Faul as he himself failed for more than five years to report the matter to police.”
Approached for comment last night, DA federal executive chairperson James Selfe said: “We note her statement. However, it is disappointing for the mayor not to understand the reasons the DA has reported the case.
"We have a sworn affidavit of the allegations against her. We submitted the allegations to the mayor’s attorneys and the mayor has an opportunity to defend herself. This is now in the hands of the police.”
Selfe said there was nothing political or personal against her.