ID CAPE TOWN'S BRETT HERRON TO LAY CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST CORRUPT DA COUNCILLOR CHARLOTTE TABISHER
Brett Herron, ID Councillor and Spokesperson for the ID Caucus in the City of Cape Town, says he will today lay criminal charges against DA Councillor Charlotte Tabisher, who was found guilty by the City's Disciplinary Committee on 9 charges of misconduct, including fraud.
Mr Herron will lay fraud and corruption charges against Tabisher at 12H00 (midday) today at the Caledon Square Police Station in Cape Town. (All members of the media are welcome to attend).
The City Council Disciplinary Committee's report, considered by Council on Tuesday this week, revealed that Councillor Tabisher, the DA Councillor for Athlone, was found guilty on 8 charges of ‘misconduct' for promising members of the public state-subsidised housing in return for payment from them.
Council fined Tabisher R10 000 for all 8 charges of misconduct and resolved that she be removed as councillor on the 9th charge, of fraud, which was for preparing a grant-in-aid application for an organisation that no longer existed.
‘Here is a councillor that preyed on the poor and the vulnerable, in some cases raking in as much as R1000 or R2000 per victim. If Tabisher is also found guilty in a court of law, then she belongs in jail,' Mr Herron says, adding that it appears Tabisher has continued working as a councillor - he himself saw her sitting in Council on Tuesday.
‘In fact, there is a precedent for a criminal investigation involving Durban Councillor Kessie Nair, who was found guilty, in 2004, of doing exactly the same thing and he was sentenced to 6 years in prison.
‘The ID believes that we have an obligation to stand up for those who have been conned by this Councillor and that we have a duty to report suspected criminal activities,' says Herron.
‘It is only when the law-abiding majority are prepared to act decisively against the criminal minority that we will start to put an end to crime and corruption.
‘It is also my belief that when we are faced with the problem of rapidly increasing corruption we must bear in mind the words of Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson, who in a 2001 Constitutional Court judgement in the matter of the South African Association of Personal Injury Lawyers versus Heath and Others 2001 (1) SA 833 CC), said,
"Corruption and maladministration are inconsistent with the rule of law and the fundamental values of our Constitution. They undermine the constitutional commitment to human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms. They are the antithesis of the open, accountable, democratic government required by the Constitution. If allowed to go unchecked and unpunished they will pose a serious threat to our democratic State."
‘All over our country people are losing patience with corrupt public representatives and servants,' Herron says.
'With the severe shortage of housing in Cape Town, where hundreds of thousands of people are waiting for a home, there is already much scepticism and suspicion with regards to the housing allocation process.
‘It is imperative that we do all that we can to assure those on the housing waiting list that the system can be trusted. If we do not take these steps against this councillor we will fail the homeless and the poor,' says Herron.
Statement issued by Brett Herron, Independent Democrats spokesperson on the Cape Town City Council, May 27 2010
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