THE ANC in the province has opened a fraud case against embattled DA and Mayco member JP Smith.
ANC leader in Cape Town Xolani Sotashe, and ANC leader in the provincial legislature Cameron Dugmore, have opened the case at the Cape Town Central Police station.
This follows revelations by the Weekend Argus that Smith falsified his qualifications by claiming that he completed his honours degree when he in fact left the qualification incomplete more than 20 years ago.
“We allege that he (JP Smith) has committed the common law of fraud,” Dugmore said.
The Weekend Argus revealed last week that in 2017 Smith campaigned with false qualifications in a party booklet given to candidates before he was re-elected for for the provincial deputy chairperson. He claimed to have an honours degree in English from Stellenbosch University.
The paper also revealed that in 2018 and 2019 his biography included the qualification.
Dugmore said: “JP Smith had ample time to correct this. It’s only when the media followed up that he claimed it was an error.”
Sotashe asked how the DA missed the JP Smith qualification saga.
“They claim they have the best vetting panel. How it is that they could not pick up the errors from (Bonginkosi) Madikizela, JP Smith and Xanthea Limberg? The list is long. All these individuals went through their vetting panels, but they could not pick up these false qualifications.”
He also questioned the way the DA handled the matter.
“There are a set of rules for whites and there are a set of rules for blacks in the DA. The reason Limberg is still there is because she assisted in getting rid of De Lille.”
Bonginkosi Madikizela resigned as MEC and DA leader in the province after it emerged that he falsified his qualifications. Limberg and Smith are being investigated by the party’s legal commission on allegations that they falsified their qualifications.
Weekend Argus