Premier Winde mum on calls to act against MEC in housing benefits saga

Opposition parties are calling for Western Cape Premier Alan Winde to take action, following reports that Western Cape infrastructure MEC Tertius Simmers is “double-dipping” for collecting rent from an investment property close to his workplace, while receiving benefits for a state-funded residence earmarked for those who live further away.

Simmers is alleged to have flouted the ministerial handbook in terms of housing benefits that allowed him to rent for R9 975 per month for living 50km away from Cape Town while he owned property 11km away.

Simmers has refuted the claims, saying his primary residence remains in the Garden Route which is +-450 km away and the Cape Town properties were merely for “investment purposes” and had been declared to the provincial legislature and the provincial cabinet.

“The (flats) were always purchased as an investment and do not simply by reason of their proximity to my seat of office disqualify me from the housing benefit provided for in the Ministerial Handbook. As the provincial Minister, I will not do anything that breaches nor contravenes the guidelines prescribed by the ministerial handbook,” he said

In response to the matter, EFF provincial chairperson Unathi Ntame said: “The lies perpetuated by the DA leaders claiming to be running a clean government in the Western Cape is a dream too far-fetched for their administration and little by little their true colours are showing.

We call on the Premier of Western Cape Alan Winde to suspend Simmers with immediate effect.

We also call for the investigation into this matter to be expedited and made public for purposes of transparency and accountability”.

While ANC spokesperson Khalid Sayed added: “He was appointed MEC while we know he faced electricity theft allegations. So these new allegations are not shocking at all. The DA simply doesn't take ethics into account. The ANC will follow this up in the legislature. The Premier must walk the talk and take stern action,” he said.

Winde’s office said he had “nothing to add to what Minister Simmers has said on the matter at this stage”.

Cape Times