Category Archives: South African News

eNCA | SA wants answers from US embassy about Trump comments

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JOHANNESBURG – Government is expected to meet with US representatives in Pretoria following US President Donald Trump’s latest comments about African countries and Haiti.

There has been worldwide condemnation of Trump’s crude and offensive remark about African countries.

He allegedly made the comments at a briefing on new measures to restrict immigration.

LISTEN: Dirco summons US embassy chief over Trump remarks

The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner has called the comment racist while the African Union has expressed its dismay.

South Africa has issued a statement, calling on America’s acting ambassador to explain the remark.

Despite attempts by Trump to backtrack on parts of his remark, South Africa wants a thorough explanation.

The last time Pretoria expressed its displeasure with the US was in 2016 when the embassy issued a terror alert for South Africa.

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News24.com | EXCLUSIVE: Prasa’s Spanish supplier paid R75m ‘consulting’ fees to Montana’s ‘friend’

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Johannesburg – The Spanish manufacturer of Prasa’s controversial Afro4000 locomotives failed to disclose payments of over R75m made to a former colleague and “friend” of the embattled state-owned company’s former CEO, after National Treasury asked the European rail company about its financial ties with local “subcontractors” and “partners”.

News24 can today reveal that Vossloh España, the supplier of the ill-fated trains to the Passenger Rail Agency (Prasa), paid altogether R75m to S-Investments, a company whose sole director is Makhensa Mabunda, a former government official and erstwhile colleague of Lucky Montana, Prasa’s former CEO.

The payments, which were made between 2014 and 2015, came after Prasa in 2012 awarded a R3.5bn contract for 70 new locomotives to Swifambo Rail Leasing, a local company that was set up only a year before Prasa first advertised the tender.

Swifambo, which had no track record in the rail industry, procured the trains from Vossloh España after it had won the tender.

News24 has seen documents confirming Vossloh España’s payments to S-Investments. The documents relate to an investigation into Prasa’s tenders and contracts that was instituted following a recommendation by former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela in her 2015 report into Prasa’s financial affairs, Derailed.

The Valencia-based manufacturer labelled the payments as fees for “management consulting services” and “architectural, engineering and other technical services”, the documents show. The total of R75m was paid in four tranches between February 2014 and October 2015.

Correspondence 

News24 has also seen correspondence between Treasury’s procurement division and Stadler Rail Valencia that deals with Vossloh España’s payments to companies and individuals in South Africa.

Vossloh España changed its name to Stadler Rail Valencia after it was acquired by Swiss company Stadler Rail in 2016.

In April 2017, Mariano Marti, Stadler Rail Valencia’s vice president for sales, claimed in a letter to Treasury that Vossloh España had only made payments of about R3m to South African “subcontractors”. Marti, therefore, failed to mention the R75m that Vossloh España had paid to S-Investments.

Marti also refused to tell Treasury who his company’s South African “subcontractors” or “partners” were, citing confidentiality considerations.


Lucky Montana (Alet Pretorius, Netwerk24)

Last week Stadler Rail spokesperson Marina Winder insisted that Marti was correct when he told Treasury that Vossloh España only paid South African subcontractors about €200 000 (less than R3m).

“According to our information, payments of just under 6 million Swiss francs (the R75m payment to S-Investments) did not exist,” Winder told the Tages-Anzeiger, a Swiss newspaper with which News24 is collaborating on this issue.

Winder added that Stadler was well aware of the ongoing issues around the Prasa deal when Stadler bought Vossloh España. For that reason, Stadler obtained a liability guarantee from Vossloh for any possible misconduct, “for which there is currently no evidence”, Winder told Tages-Anzeiger.

Mabunda, however, did not deny that his company had received R75m from Vossloh España. He refused to discuss the payments in detail.

Stadler Rail’s comments are also contradicted by the detailed information on Vossloh España’s payments to Mabunda’s company, as seen by News24.

ANC ‘fundraiser’ and Zuma’s friend

The latest revelations about Vossloh España’s payments come in the wake of earlier reports by Rapport and News24 that Swifambo itself had made suspicious payments related to the locomotives deal. The company paid roughly R80m to an Angolan businesswoman who called herself a friend of President Jacob Zuma and to a local lawyer who’d introduced himself to Swifambo’s managing director as a fundraiser for the ANC. 

The payments made by Vossloh España to Mabunda’s S-Investments, along with Swifambo’s above-mentioned payments, appear to provide credence to claims that the tender was accompanied by alleged bribes or kickbacks.

Prasa’s contract for much-needed new locomotives first made headlines when Rapport revealed that the Afro4000’s were too tall for South Africa’s rail network. 

There are several indications that Mabunda, who is not registered as a director of Swifambo, was the mastermind behind Swifambo’s bid to become Prasa’s locomotives supplier. Mabunda has previously denied this assertion.

In earlier papers filed in Prasa’s successful court application to have the tender set aside, it was alleged that Swifambo’s managing director, Auswell Mashaba, received instructions from Mabunda to set up Swifambo. Mabunda allegedly told Mashaba that he was a friend of Montana. Papers filed in the same court case also showed that someone from the S Group, another of Mabunda’s companies, picked up and signed for the Prasa tender documents on behalf of Swifambo.

It was also in this court case in which it was alleged that Mashaba paid about R40m to George Sabelo, a lawyer with ties to President Jacob Zuma’s family who was allegedly introduced to Mashaba as a “fundraiser” for the ANC.

Montana and Mabunda’s history

News24 has subsequently established that the relationship between Montana and Mabunda goes back to at least 2002, when the two were both officials in the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE).

Mabunda was the DPE’s director for financial performance whilst Montana was its director for parliamentary services and stakeholder liaison, according to the department’s 2002-’03 annual report.

Apart from Mabunda’s Spanish windfall, companies under his control also scored tenders from Prasa worth more than R5bn during Montana’s tenure as CEO.

Mabunda did not want to discuss the payments S-Investments received from Vossloh España in any detail.

“My companies do a lot of work for international companies,” said Mabunda.

He confirmed that he knew Montana from their days working as DPE officials.

“The media has been writing a lot of incorrect things about me and my companies, so I am not going to speak to the media any more. You guys can write what you want,” he told News24.

Montana could not be reached on his cellphone. He did not respond to text messages sent to him.

Prasa and Treasury indicated that they would respond to News24’s queries before our deadline, but both failed to do so. 

Do you have information for our investigative journalists? Send an email totips@24.com

News24.com | ‘I am not a racist’ – Trump defends himself after ‘shithole’ comments

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West Palm Beach – US President Donald Trump, on the defensive in the wake of recent disparaging comments about Haiti and African nations that have revived questions about whether the leader of the world’s melting pot is a racist, declared on Sunday that he is not one.

“No, No. I am not a racist,” Trump told reporters who asked for his response to those who think he is a racist. “I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed. That I can tell you.”

Trump also denied making the statements attributed to him, but avoided delving into the specifics of what he did or did not say.

“Did you see what various senators in the room said about my comments?” he asked, referring to lawmakers who were meeting with him in the Oval Office on Thursday when Trump is said to have made the comments. “They weren’t made.”

Trump stands accused of using “shithole” to describe African countries during an immigration meeting with a bipartisan group of six senators. The president, in the meeting, also questioned the need to admit more Haitians to the US, according to people who were briefed on the conversation but were not authorised to describe the meeting publicly.

Trump said in the meeting that he would prefer immigrants from countries like Norway instead.

The White House has not denied that Trump said “shithole” though Trump has already pushed back on some depictions of the meeting.

‘Vile, hate-filled and clearly racial’ 

A confidant of Trump’s told The Associated Press that the president spent Thursday evening calling friends and outside advisers to judge their reaction to his remarks. Trump wasn’t apologetic and denied he was racist, instead blaming the media for distorting his meaning, said the confidant, who wasn’t authorised to disclose a private conversation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the only Democrat at Thursday’s meeting, said Trump had indeed said what he was reported to have said. Durbin said the remarks were “vile, hate-filled and clearly racial in their content”. He said Trump used the most vulgar term “more than once”.

Trump commented as Durbin was presenting details of a compromise immigration plan that included providing $1.6 billion for a first instalment of the president’s long-sought border wall.

Trump took particular issue with the idea that people who’d fled to the US after disasters hit their homes in places such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Haiti would be allowed to stay as part of the deal, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to publicly describe the discussion.

When it came to talk of extending protections for Haitians, Durbin said Trump replied: “We don’t need more Haitians.”

“He said, ‘Put me down for wanting more Europeans to come to this country. Why don’t we get more people from Norway?'” Durbin said.

Republican Senators David Perdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who also attended the meeting, initially said in a statement on Friday that they “do not recall the president saying these comments specifically.” On Sunday, they backtracked and challenged other senators’ descriptions of the remarks.

Perdue described as a “gross misrepresentation” reports that Trump used the vulgarity. He said Durbin and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina were mistaken in indicating that was the case. Graham also attended the meeting.

‘Gross misrepresentation’ 

“I am telling you that he did not use that word. And I’m telling you it’s a gross misrepresentation,” Perdue said on ABC’s This Week.

Cotton told CBS’ Face the Nation that he “didn’t hear” the word used — “and I was sitting no further away from Donald Trump than Dick Durbin was”.

Trump insisted in a tweet on Friday that he “never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said ‘take them out.’ Made up by Dems.” Trump wrote, “I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings – unfortunately, no trust!”

Word of Trump’s comments threatened to upend delicate negotiations over resolving the status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children. Trump announced last year that he will end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, or DACA, unless lawmakers come up with a solution by March. The programme shielded these immigrants, often referred to as “Dreamers”, from deportation and granted them work permits.

Trump tweeted earlier on Sunday that the programme is “probably dead” and blamed Democrats. He elaborated on the way to dinner with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., saying Democrats “don’t want to help the DACA people”.

Some Democrats have threatened to vote against legislation to extend government funding, which expires on Friday, unless protections for the Dreamers are included.

“Honestly I don’t think the Democrats want to make a deal,” Trump said. “I think they talk about DACA but they don’t want to help the DACA people.”

Trump said Democrats aren’t for securing the border and stopping the flow of drugs.

“We have a lot of sticking points but they’re all Democrat sticking points. We are ready, willing and able to make a deal.”

News24.com | Prasa trains in a state

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Cromet Molepo, the acting group chief executive of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), allegedly disregarded advice from the Treasury and hired locomotives from a private company over the festive season.

Documents obtained by City Press show that Molepo, who was appointed early last month, approved the “emergency hiring” of locomotives from Premifield – going against Treasury’s advice not to deviate from the normal tender processes.

In a memo sent by the executive manager of Mainline Passenger Services, Mthuthuzeli Swartz, on December 14, Swartz asks Molepo to approve the “emergency hiring of locomotives” for the December holiday period.

But on December 11, Treasury supply chain management chief director Solly Tshitangano declined Prasa’s request.

On December 11, Tshitangano wrote to then Prasa acting group chief executive Lindikhaya Zide, denying their request to “shorten the tender period” and negotiate directly with the supplier, saying their reasons were “not justifiable” and Treasury did not support direct negotiations.

“Prasa must advertise a bid for a least 14 days,” Tshitangano wrote.

However, on December 14, Swartz wrote to Molepo asking for “emergency hiring of locomotives” over the holiday period.

Molepo responded: “Proceed immediately with the procurement process to ensure stability of our service.”

The cost of hiring 10 locomotives for 45 days is R15.7m.

Swartz’s memo paints a bleak picture of the state of the country’s passenger rail service, saying it had only “36 locomotives” to run the entire service, down from 124 in 2009.

“Even these are not the right type for all of them to be used as hauling trains. Some are just used for shunting in the yards.”

He wrote that the ones used to haul trains often failed and “we are forced to depend on Transnet to run our service”, he wrote.

“Transnet is charging Prasa exorbitant prices, which undermine the profitability of the service. This has forced Mainline Passenger Services to reduce the number of trains that we run from more than 6 000 trains to the current 1 872 trains over the years.”

Swartz said the continued failure of their locomotives upset customers and “will have a detrimental effect on passenger’s travelling plans”. Swartz asked Molepo to approve its short-term hiring plan over the festive season.

“Treasury has been engaged in November to approve direct engagement with Premifield. This was not approved and Treasury recommends that Prasa go out on open tender.”

Swartz said this would be done this month after the festive period, which ends on January 15.

By December 14, Swartz said their normal schedule was already sold out and seats on additional trains were almost sold out.

The Christmas weekend brought much pressure to bear on their capacity, he said.

“We need the reliable locos from Premifield to cope with pressure. Without these hired locos, our capacity will be overstretched and we will not be able to cope and might be forced to cancel the additional trains that we have introduced.”

Hiring additional locomotives, he said, would “stabilise the current performance of Mainline Passenger Services, the locos of which are prone to failure”, “improve the perception of Mainline Passenger Services, which is notorious for late arrivals as well as departures because of faulty locomotives” and “take away the need to use buses to complete the journey”.

Swartz said Premifield charged far less than Transnet Freight Rail for the hire of their locomotives – “an hourly rate of just over R1 000, while Transnet Freight Rail charges R1 859 to R3 594 for similar locos”.

Prasa spokesperson Nana Zenani confirmed that they hired the locomotives from Premifield “due to the shortage and unreliability of the current locomotives and the urgency of peak-time trading”.

Zenani said Prasa, as an organ of state, was allowed to do so “on an urgent basis for the short term. Prasa made a decision to embark on a lease agreement, but it was not illegally done,” she said.

“Zide approved the hiring of locomotives towards the beginning of the peak period.”

News24.com | Registration backlog forces learners to miss first day of school – DA

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Johannesburg – The DA says several learners will miss the first day of the 2018 academic year due to a registration backlog.
 
The party visited two admission centres – the Gauteng department of education Johannesburg South District Office and the Johannesburg Central District Office, on Saturday.

The centres were opened to assist thousands of parents to register their children for the academic year.

Parents were queuing at the application centres, hoping their children would be placed in a school.

These included new applicants, those who have applied and have not yet received any confirmation about placement and those that applied in 2017 and were given spaces, but are not happy with their schools.
 
DA Gauteng shadow MEC for education Khume Ramulifho said the department had to find a balance to ensure that placements at schools are distributed.

“Some schools have no space available, while some schools were declared full from day one of online registration. The biggest challenge is the lack of excellent schools hence the demand for enrolment in those few schools of excellence that are performing well,” Ramulifho said.

Ramulifho has called on Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi to create more high performing schools by resourcing underperforming schools with adequate infrastructure which included, sporting facilities, well equipped libraries and laboratories and qualified teachers.
 
“By so doing it will enable those underperforming schools to compete with those which have a legacy of excellence; this will then change the perception of the parents when selecting schools for their children.”
 
He said an inadequate campaign drive and poor communication with parents about online registration had resulted in the backlog of many unplaced learners.
 
He had urged parents to accept any available placement of their children.

Gauteng education department could not immediately comment.

Lesufi is expected to visit the centres on Sunday.

eNCA | Three dead, one critical in Limpopo car crash

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GROBLERSDAL – Three people died and another was critically injured when a car left the road and overturned at a junction near Sekhukhune in the Groblersdal area in the early hours of Saturday morning, police said.

It was alleged that the driver of a VW Polo carrying four occupants lost control of the car at the R577 and R555 junction near Phepheng village and the car rolled at about 4.50am, Constable Maphure Manamela said 

“The 33-year-old driver and his 29-year-old  passenger died on the scene, while the other female occupant, aged 26 years, died later in hospital. The remaining female occupant, aged 24, is still in hospital in a critical condition.

The cause of the crash was not yet known. Police were investigating three counts of culpable homicide, Manamela said.

African News Agency

News24.com | Top city executive threatens to sue embattled Cape Town Mayor De Lille

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Cape Town – The lawyers of Craig Kesson on Friday threatened to sue Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille for substantial damages for her “heinous defamations”, adding to her woes amid apparent divisions in the city’s top leadership and the DA.

Kesson, the executive director in De Lille’s office, sent out a letter through his lawyers John MacRobert Attorneys on Friday.

The lawyers had given De Lille until the end of Friday to “retract unconditionally and unreservedly, and apologise unequivocally” to Kesson on all public media and social media platforms that she had used to accuse him of being a liar.

The law firm also threatened to make the contents of the letter, which was apparently sent to De Lille on December 1, public and available on all public media and social network platforms if the deadline was not met.

ALSO READ: Inside the DA divisions in the City of Cape Town

De Lille told News24 on Friday evening that the letter was received at 08:30 on Friday.

“We responded to say that the timeframe was unreasonable and that we could not respond in such a short time,” de Lille said.

De Lille accused of planning to discredit official

About a month ago, allegations against De Lille, made by Kesson and detailed in a 42-page affidavit, became public.

In his affidavit, Kesson claimed that De Lille had planned to publicly discredit a senior city staffer who questioned alleged tender irregularities.  

He also claimed that De Lille had asked that a report into a possible R43m loss regarding another tender be made to “go away”.

In response to Kesson’s affidavit, De Lille issued a statement saying that his “false” disclosures could not be viewed as the actions of a whistleblower, but were instead a criminal offence.

The federal executive is expected to make a decision about De Lille’s fate on Sunday.

ALSO READ: 5 scandals that have recently rocked the City of Cape Town

eNCA | WATCH: Chester Missing on point as the ANC breaks bread

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EAST LONDON – On Friday night, the newly elected ANC leadership breaks bread together ahead of the party’s annual January 8 policy statement.

The governing party has been on the road, celebrating the organisation’s 106th anniversary this past week.

WATCH: Ramaphosa sports funky socks on beachfront stroll

Political satirist Chester Missing went for a walk outside the venue of the ANC’s 106th-anniversary celebrations to see what’s up for sale.

Missing says he can’t afford to sponsor a table at the celebration dinner because he can’t afford the R250,000 price tag, saying it costs as much as one of Bheki Cele’s hats.

Interrogating the issue of state capture, Missing told ANC MP Mondli Gungubele he smells something fishy…

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News24.com | ‘Racist’ Trump’s ‘shithole’ comment hits the fan, Africa demands answers

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Johannesburg – The US state department is trying to calm things down after President Donald Trump’s vulgar remark about immigrants from African countries.

Trump on Thursday reportedly questioned why the US would accept more immigrants from Haiti and “shithole countries” in Africa.

A new tweet from the department’s Bureau of African Affairs said that “the United States will continue to robustly, enthusiastically and forcefully engage in #Africa, promoting this vital relationship, and to listen and build on the trust and views we share with our African partners”.

The president on Friday, however, denied using the language but a senator present at a White House immigration meeting said he used it repeatedly.

‘Insulting and reprehensible’

Haiti said it was “deeply shocked and outraged” by Trump’s remarks, calling it “racist”.

The Haitian government said in a statement that “these insulting and reprehensible statements in no way reflect the virtues of wisdom, restraint and discernment that must be cultivated by any high political authority”.

It added that the comment, as reported, “reflects a totally erroneous and racist view of the Haitian community and its contribution to the United States”.

Haiti’s ambassador to Washington told local radio that his government had complained to the US Embassy.

A senior European Union lawmaker said Trump “has forgotten to engage his brain before talking” about immigrants and is not fit for office.

‘Delirious and racist words’

Socialist group President Gianni Pittella said that after insulting Mexicans and Muslims, “now it is Haiti, El Salvador and African people being targeted by the US president’s delirious and racist words”.

Pittella – who leads the second-largest party group in the EU assembly – said that “every passing day, Trump proves not to be fit to run the US and lead the international community. Insulting, bullying, threatening is the only language Trump knows. It is no longer tolerable”.

However, some on the continent said they agreed with Trump.

“President Donald Trump is absolutely right. Africa is a continent of shit,” says Mamady Traore, a 30-year-old sociologist in the West African nation of Guinea.

“When you have heads of state who mess with the constitutions to perpetuate their power. When you have rebel factions that kill children, disembowel women as saints, who mutilate innocent civilians. Frankly, it must be said that it’s crap.

“Then again, others were not happy with Trump himself.

“Donald Trump is an unstable character who would critique his own image if it was doubled,” says Marlyatou Sow, a 32-year-old student in Guinea.

“So, that he considers Africa as shit, it shows that he doesn’t have a heightened vision and that he is nothing less than a businessman who arrived at the White House purely by chance.”

‘Bigoted, divisive’

A senior Trump administration official said the top US diplomat in Haiti has been summoned to meet with Haiti’s president to explain Trump’s remark.

Robin Diallo, the charge d’affaires at the US Embassy, is the most senior diplomat there as the Trump administration does not have an ambassador in place.

The administration official said Diallo plans to listen to the Haitian leader’s concerns and reiterate the strong US relationship with Haiti.

The administration official demanded anonymity because the official wasn’t authorised to disclose diplomatic conversations.

A French government spokesman said “silence” was preferable to any reaction in response to Trump’s vulgar comments.

Benjamin Grivaux told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting “it’s obviously not advisable” to speak the way Trump “reportedly” spoke.

Grivaux said that “we must keep a correct language especially when we speak about countries that sometimes suffered from bad weather, a great poverty and that are in a great distress”.

An opposition lawmaker in Ghana is calling for a boycott by developing countries against the United States until Trump leaves office.

Ras Mubarak said countries should send a “strong message to Trump that the world is united against his kind of politics, which is bigoted, divisive and not healthy”.

Mubarak added that “the sooner he is made aware that America needs the world and the world needs America the better it is for all of us.”

‘Reprehensible and racist’

Botswana’s government labelled Trump’s comment “reprehensible and racist”.

A statement by the southern African nation said the US ambassador has been summoned.

Botswana said it wants to clarify whether the nation is regarded as, to use Trump’s word, a “shithole” country after years of cordial relations.

Other African nations have begun speaking up. Uganda’s state minister for international relations, Henry Okello Oryem, called Trump’s remarks “unfortunate and regrettable”.

He added that “we pray that the Almighty God gives him wisdom to change his mind about people who are suffering and looking for safe haven in America”.

He said he hoped African heads of state will reply to Trump at an African Union summit later this month.

The UN human rights office said Trump’s use of an expletive to describe Africa and other countries could “potentially damage and disrupt the lives of many people”.

Repeating the term attributed to Trump a day earlier, spokesman Rupert Colville says that “you cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as ‘shitholes'”.

Colville said on Friday that the comments were “shocking and shameful” and “I’m sorry, but there’s no other word one can use but racist”.

Colville said Trump’s reported comments “go against the universal values the world has been striving so hard to establish since World War II and the Holocaust.”

The ANC called Trump’s comment “extremely offensive”.

Deputy secretary general Jesse Duarte of the African National Congress told reporters that developing countries do have difficulties but that the United States itself has millions of people out of work or without health care. She said that “we would not deign to make comments as derogatory” as Trump’s.

The African Union said it was “frankly alarmed” by Trump’s statement.

“Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this statement flies in the face of all accepted behaviour and practice,” AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo told The Associated Press.

“This is particularly surprising as the United States of America remains a global example of how migration gave birth to a nation built on strong values of diversity and opportunity.”

She added that “we believe that a statement like this hurts our shared global values on diversity, human rights and reciprocal understanding”.

eNCA | De Lille in the hot seat but not facing charges per se

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JOHANNESBURG – Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille has a tough weekend ahead.

The Democratic Alliance (DA)’s Federal Executive meets on Sunday to discuss her future as the leader of the City of Cape Town.

DA Federal Executive Chairperson James Selfe said there are no charges against De Lille per se.

“There are a number of worrying aspects of political management that were identified and that were investigated by a committee, under the chairpersonship of John Steenhuisen. She has been provided with a copy of that report and she has commented in detail on the allegations that were made in that report. In the end, it has less to do with whether she has done right or wrong. It has more [do with] whether the party has confidence in her ability to lead a complicated city and a very big cause.”

The case against de Lille has been marked by a maelstrom of accusations, counter-accusations and denials by those involved in the public fallout.

It started with claims that de Lille benefitted unlawfully from renovations and security upgrades to her home.

Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security JP Smith has been blamed for leaking the information, leading to a public spat.

Both were placed on special leave by the DA and barred from participating in party matters.

The Auditor General and council speaker have since cleared her of any wrongdoing in this matter.

This week, de Lille threatened to sue Smith and those who had accused her of stealing ratepayers’ money.

WATCH: ‘I’m going to sue the hell out of those who claim I stole’: De Lille

Smith denies he leaked the information and claims de Lille’s threat of legal action smacks of a cover-up.

“I always become very nervous when people make threats of legal action. Not nervous of the legal action because if you’ve spoken to the truth, you have no concerns about what you’ve said. But it is indicative of a person who is attempting to silence whistleblowers,” Smith added.

WATCH: Tony Leon speaks on De Lille’s debacle

Then, a damning affidavit emerged by Executive Director in the Mayor’s Office, Craig Kesson.

He places the city’s transport head, Melissa Whitehead, at the centre of multi-million rand dodgy tender deals related to the unfinished Foreshore bridge project and MyCiti bus fare system.
He further claims that City Manager Achmat Ebrahim failed to act and that de Lille had turned a blind eye.

Last week, a report by the Bowman Gilfillan investigators, tabled before council, corroborated these claims.

De Lille has cited several inaccuracies in the report.

Throughout the debacle, de Lille has pleaded for a chance to clear her name.

Selfe says she will be given that opportunity when the federal executive meets.

eNCA