Cape Town - The deputy speaker of the Western Cape Legislature will take the conduct committee report which found her guilty of misconduct on judicial review, her spokesperson said yesterday.
Beverley Schäfer was found guilty after the committee probed complaints that she refused to downgrade her luxury state-funded BMW X5 when her six-month stint as MEC ended, Weekend Argus exclusively reported on Tuesday.
In the committee’s report, which was officially tabled on Wednesday, it “unanimously” agreed to recommend a “reprimand” as a penalty as well as fine of R17 800.67. Her privileges as deputy speaker will also be suspended for seven days as well as her right to sit in on parliamentary debates or committees.
Weekend Argus broke the story in May after it emerged that she had been referred to the committee for a probe. Schäfer first received the vehicle, which cost R976 000, when she served as MEC for Economic Opportunities from November 2018 until May 2019.
Schäfer’s spokesperson Natalie Jardine confirmed that she officially decided to appeal the report on Saturday.
Jardine didn’t want to furnish Weekend Argus with any other comment.
In the meantime, Schäfer is among the candidates touted to become the next speaker of the provincial parliament.
Another favourite is Dan Plato, insiders told Weekend Argus.
Tomorrow, MPLs will convene to elect the new speaker after a motion, which was tabled by the ANC, passed.
They wanted the house to expedite the process of declaring a vacancy for the position of speaker.
This comes after Masizole Mnqasela’s DA membership was terminated last week which created a vacuum.
The DA’s communications director, Richard Newton said: “Mnqasela (ended) his membership and as such any positions he holds as a result of his membership then is no longer valid.”
Mnqasela was also being investigated by the conduct committee.
He allegedly hired an external law firm to probe the conduct of Schäfer, instead of using the legislature’s internal legal team.
Mnqasela was also investigated for discrepancies in the declaration of his interest in a family trust, something the committee found him guilty of. He took the decision on appeal. Hence, the appeals committee was brought to life.
Attempts to get comment from Mnqasela were not successful.
The DA was also accused of double standards when it comes to Mnqasela’s axing.
ActionSA provincial chairperson Michelle Wasserman said: “As to why the DA has failed to take similar action against Schäfer, as they did against Mnqasela, is a matter for the DA to clarify.”
ANC Western Cape deputy chief whip Khalid Sayed echoed Wasserman’s sentiments.
Weekend Argus