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Last year, City of Cape Town official Wendy Kloppers was gunned down on a construction site in Delft. The City attributed the murder to “construction mafia”.

After visiting the scene together with his Mayoral Committee member for human settlements Malusi Booi, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the DA-led City “would not be intimidated by selfish thugs”.

The following month, in March 2023, the City suspended Booi, for alleged fraud. It released no details about Booi’s alleged transgressions, and continued paying his salary for six months until he resigned as a councillor in October. 

Booi was arrested by the police earlier this month in connection with unlawful contracts worth about R1 Billion. His nine co-accused include alleged leader of the 28s gang, Ralph Stanfield, and Stanfield’s wife, Nicole Johnson.

Last night, two days after the court granted most of the accused bail, one of them – Abdul-Kader Davids – was shot dead in Mitchell’s Plain in an apparent gang hit. 

Once again, instead of acknowledging the rot in the city and reassuring Capetonians that due diligence processes have been tightened to ensure gang bosses are not getting government contracts, the City has had little to say on the matter.

Earlier this year, in March 2024, the head of the City’s shady Special Investigation Unit, Reynold Talmakkies, stepped down after being called out by a magistrate for trying to interfere in a gang-related case involving Talmakkies’ son.

Talmakkies was controversially appointed to the position by Cape Town Mayco member JP Smith, who styles himself the Sheriff of Cape Town – and operates a budget and well-equipped crime-fighting force of the size to make any sheriff proud. 

The reason Talmakkies’ appointment was controversial was that he was hired after leaving the South African Police while facing charges for fiddling with a police docket. Prior to vacating his City of Cape Town job he faced new charges relating to corruption and defrauding his employer (the City).

Smith, reflecting on Talmakkies’ tenure, nonetheless told media: “He has helped to bring some bad people to book, including those who murdered City staff, and for that we are grateful. But all of the good he has done could not stand against the serious allegations he faced.”

Smith is way out of his league. He is the de-facto commander-in-chief of the city’s army of LEAP officers, with a sea wing, drones, shot spotter technology and, in Talmakkies’ former unit, alleged intelligence capacity. But the City increasingly takes on the appearance of a crime scene, while quarterly crime statistics remain stubbornly high.

There is a need for a full investigation into how it was possible for a criminal organisation to operate these schemes in South Africa’s allegedly best-run city, with all its alleged checks and balances, and security forces.

The Mayor must explain the City’s links to gangsterism, whether Booi had accomplices in the City or was acting alone, and what steps the City’s taken to prevent such losses in future. 

While he’s about it, Hill-Lewis must explain how – despite gangsters running amok with ratepayers’ hard-earned cash – the City still manages to obtain clean audit opinions. It would also be interesting to hear the view of the Audit-General on this matter.

Issued by Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament