Nine months into his tenure as the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) leader in the Western Cape, Albert Fritz has asked his party bosses to allow him to step aside to deal with a sexual assault scandal.

Jaco Londt, the DA's Western Cape chairperson, said: "I can confirm that Minister Fritz has requested that he be excused from his duties as leader until end of February. The provincial executive committee accepted this and the deputy leader, MEC Tertuis Simmers, will be acting leader for the time being. We view these allegations in a very serious light and the investigation must be allowed to run its course unhindered."

Simmers, who was recently elected deputy provincial leader, is the Western Cape Human Settlements MEC.

In May 2021, Fritz was elected leader of the party's biggest province.

Fritz took over as the DA's interim leader in the Western Cape after the resignation of Bonginkosi Madikizela last year. Madikizela resigned after it was revealed that he falsely claimed on his CV that he had a BCom degree.

Earlier, News24 revealed that Fritz, who served as Western Cape Community Safety MEC, was suspended following serious allegations of sexual assault that were levelled against him by young employees.

Premier Alan Winde announced Fritz's suspension late on Sunday evening without divulging the reasons for the decision.

"He allegedly sexually assaulted young female workers in his office," said a direct source who has knowledge of the suspension.

Four independent sources confirmed to News24 that sexual assault allegations were at the core of the suspension.

"This has been known since last year," said a source. It is unclear whether criminal charges have been opened against Fritz.

Winde was expected to address employees of the provincial community safety department on Monday morning. It is unclear whether more of his staff members will be suspended. 

Asked for comment, Odette Cason, an official in Winde's office, said:

We understand that there are many questions around the suspension of Minister Fritz, however, at this stage, we cannot divulge further information on the matter, until an independent investigator has determined the full extent of the allegations and their veracity. It would be unfair to the persons who made those allegations to the premier, under requests for confidentiality, and indeed the minister too, for the premier to provide details of what is being investigated, the publication of which may well severely compromise the investigation itself.

Fritz told News24 he was not available to comment. This article will be updated if he provides comment. 

News24 can also reveal that the DA's federal executive, the party's highest decision-making body, was not informed of Fritz's suspension ahead of time.