Cape Town - A report on an investigation into eight allegations of breaching the City’s code of conduct for councillors by Hanover Park DA ward councillor Antonio van der Rheede has been handed over to the council’s disciplinary committee.
Van der Rheede, who two weeks ago was charged in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court with the rape of a 27-year-old woman, said through a spokesperson yesterday that he was unaware of the disciplinary committee’s agenda or that he was an item on it.
Among the eight breaches the councillor faces is an allegation that he used his position to exert sexual or inappropriate physical conduct on a woman he had promised a job with the City’s Law Enforcement.
A related allegation is that he failed to respond on time when the speaker’s office provided him with a written statement by the complainant, and had instituted a R400 000 claim of damages against the complainant claiming she had defamed him by providing the speaker with her statement against him.
In a letter to the disciplinary committee dated October 28, speaker Felicity Purchase said she had considered all the available information, including the report by an independent investigator, and had reasonable suspicion that the City’s Code of Conduct had been breached.
Purchase said she did not know when the hearing would take place, but that the matter was in the hands of the disciplinary committee.
Meetings of the disciplinary committee are closed to the public and members of the press, as councillors have a right to confidentiality, similar to common practice in all disciplinary matters and proceedings.
In April, members of the Hanover Park community submitted 19 grievances against Van der Rheede, which included his failure to call a public meeting in the past four years; and hand-picking of the ward committee.
Yesterday, Hanover Park CPF public relations officer Kashiefa Mohammed said: “The lack of service delivery and favouring only those residents who vote for him has been a huge concern as it overall contributes to the safety issues in ward 47, Hanover Park.”
Meanwhile the Disciplinary Committee chairperson Councillor Ian Neilson (DA) said in a letter that the committee would hear the matter of former Water and Sanitation Mayco member Dr Zahid Badroodien (DA) next Wednesday morning.
Badroodien said on Wednesday that he had legal representation who would be defending him.