GOOD Statement by Suzette Little,
GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor & Caucus Chairperson
11 September 2024
The GOOD party welcomes the arrest of former DA City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member, Malusi Booi, in connection with ongoing fraud and corruption investigations in the City’s housing department.
The investigation into these allegations at the Human Settlements Directorate has been ongoing for some time, with officials raising alarm as far back as 2020.
Booi’s offices were finally raided by the Commercial Crimes Unit in March last year after which he was removed as MMC.
While it was encouraging to see the City taking swift steps, GOOD has remained concerned about the ongoing secrecy around the allegations and investigation when this case involves public funds.
At the time, GOOD had requested the Mayor to provide clarity regarding this matter; however, very little was provided.
Unless that investigation was selective, the Mayor must have been aware of information that implicated Booi long before the raid. The Mayor needs to explain why he waited so long to act.
The Mayor and the City Manager would also be wise to stop confusing the public with the continued narrative of a “Clean Audit”. This case brings into question the credibility of these “Clean Audits” if this matter was raised by officials back in 2020.
Mayor Hill-Lewis must come clean and act transparently if he is serious about clean governance, and this includes sharing info with the public he was elected to serve and ensuring accountability where there was mismanagement of public funds.
Media Enquiries:
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 073 367 1223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za
Suzette Little, GOOD: City of Cape Town Councillor
Cell: 0733215036
Email: suzettel@forgood.org.za