Disturbing and shocking. These were the words used by former caucus leader at the Newcastle Municipality, Faizel Cassim after he was ousted from Action SA.
The decision came after is was alleged that Cassim had used municipal funds in order to settle a personal lawsuit against the local municipality.
National Chairperson for Action SA, Michael Beaumont issued a statement on 11 November highlighting the party’s reasons for sacking its long time member.
“The charges relate to ongoing litigation between Mr Cassim’s company and the Newcastle Local Municipality arising from actions of the previous ANC-led administration shutting down his place of business for approximately 18 months because of what was believed to be politically motivated actions. In the wake of these events, Mr Cassim pursued legal action against the municipality , which Action SA acknowledges as his right in a constitutional democracy,” said Beaumont in his statement.
The dismissal follows an extensive investigation by the party’s Senate and includes charges of failing to address a conflict of interest related to his role in the municipality and allegedly misusing his position to serve his personal interests.
“Mr Cassim appears to have used his positions of authority to advance the settlement of his own legal matter in a manner that was against the best interests of the residents of the Newcastle Local Municipality and, allegedly, in a manner inconsistent with municipal legislation, the Action SA Constitution and principles of good governance,” he said.
According to Beaumont, the investigation further revealed that in addition to the legal action for loss of revenue, the Newcastle Municipality had voluntarily agreed to settle R1.2 million in legal fees owed to Cassim in March of 2023 which was made an order of court.
He claimed that these fees were paid without any evidence presented a resolution or record in council.
“This is required by law and without any measures to disclose or mitigate an obvious conflict of interest, is of serious concern to Action SA,” said Beaumont.
Responding to the onslaught of claims, Cassim told Spotlight On Newcastle that he knew something like this was going to happen .
“I saw this coming from around two years ago when racism and victimization occurred within the party and it was not addressed when I reported it to the disciplinary body. I defiantly do not agree with the decision as I still maintain it was unjust and uncalled for. Everything I did was transparent to the party from the onset of the case with the municipality,” said Cassim.
He also stated that bringing issues up now instead of at the time of the case did not make any sense.
“There was no political influence as my first case too 18 months while the second case for damages is almost a year old and still in court. The president of Action SA was always aware of my case status as it was communicated to him. The current case is for damages to the company for its illegal 18 month shutdown and o do believe that sabotage was involved,” he said.
Cassim also said that his health had been jeopardized and this situation had contributed to the stress brought on from the cases.
“Politics is a dirty game. I want to ensure all my supporters that the false accusations, similarly to the Amcor Dam issue will be exposed with time,” he said.
With this issue once again shining a spotlight on politics in Newcastle, what are your thoughts?