ActionSA’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, has called for an investigation into the potential maladministration within the Newcastle local municipality involving former councillor Faizel Cassim.
Beaumont wrote to Molly Ngcobo, the public protector representative in KwaZulu-Natal, alleging that Cassim, who once held the position of chief whip in the municipality, may have misused his authority to influence the municipal decisions for personal gain.
In the letter, Beaumont outlined concerns regarding a legal dispute between the municipality and Newcastle Industrial Launders (NIL), a company owned by Cassim.
According to Beaumont, in 2021, the municipality obtained an interim interdict against NIL, but this was later overturned by the Pietermaritzburg High Court in March 2023.
The court ordered that the municipality pay NIL’s legal costs, a decision that was made out of court with both parties agreeing to the terms before the matter was formalised.
Beaumont believes that the circumstances surrounding the overturning of the interdict and the payment of legal fees raise serious questions.
He claims that Cassim, while still sitting as councillor and chief whip of the Newcastle municipality council, may have used his influence to push for the municipality to pay these legal costs, which were close to R1-million.
“On the 1st of November 2023, NIL, Mr Cassim, and others issued summons against the municipality in an amount of around R18-million for damages as a result of pure economic loss suffered by NIL, Mr Cassim, and others as a result of the interim interdict obtained by the municipality.
“On or about the 25th of October 2024, it came to ActionSA’s attention that the municipality and NIL, Mr Cassim, and others had, through their legal representatives, entered into settlement negotiations in respect of the summons issued by NIL, Mr Cassim, and others,” reads the letter.
He also raised concern about the lack of transparency in the way the settlement negotiations were conducted and the potential conflict of interest that comes from Cassim’s dual role as both councillor and a litigant.
“ActionSA is of the view that the abovementioned conduct may be maladministration and falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the Public Protector. As such, we hereby request that the Office of the Public Protector institute an investigation into the conduct of Mr Cassim and the relevant municipal officials,” said Beaumont in the letter.
