HIGH COURT DECLARES SMITH, LIMBERG'S OFFICE RAID UNLAWFUL

Smith claims smear campaign aimed to derail City's fight against organised crime

- GENEVIEVE SERRA

THE City's mayco member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, successfully cleared his name when the Western Cape High Court declared the raid on his municipal offices unconstitutional.

In a public statement issued just after 7pm via his Facebook page, Smith - who has steadfastly maintained his innocence - said he believes the raid was a calculated smear campaign.

He said this was especially troubling given that he has spent two decades building the City of Cape Town's Safety and Security Directorate, which increasingly supports SAPS in targeting gang and syndicate leaders.

In January provincial police cited that the raid was part of further investigations into tender fraud in the construction sector within the City of Cape Town.

Mayco member for Energy, Xanthea Limberg was also included in the raid.

Armed with court papers, the documents indicate that some of the respondents include, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, Provincial Police Commissioner, Thembisile Patekile, Carel Johannes Lourens, the Minister of Police and many others.

A confident Smith added: “Today the Western Cape High Court has issued an order declaring the raid on my office as unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid. This follows the litigation application I filed against the SAPS Commercial Crimes Unit and the National Minister of Police in April this year.