A DA councillor in the City of Cape Town has been found guilty of attempting to defraud the council and faces dismissal.
Charlotte Tabisher, the councillor for ward 49 which includes sections of Athlone, Mowbray and Kewtown, was found guilty on several charges of irregularly collecting "top-up" payments relating to a housing project, and also of assisting a member of the public to formulate a fraudulent document.
Councillor Anthea Serritslev, chairwoman of the disciplinary committee and DA chief whip, said Tabisher had been involved in the collection of money without proper bookkeeping or other processes being in place.
Serritslev said Tabisher had been found guilty as she had no right or duty to collect money from residents.
"She used her position of trust as a ward councillor and exercised gross negligence in the administration of money," Serritslev said.
She said there was no evidence that Tabisher had paid money collected from the community into a trust account as claimed by her.
Tabisher was fined R10 000 for the collection of money from the community, and had paid most of it back, Serritslev said.
But the guilty finding on the charge of attempting to defraud the council by assisting a member of the public to draw up a fraudulent document is the one which could see her lose her position.
Serritslev said that if the council agreed with the findings of the committee and the recommendation that Tabisher be dismissed, the matter would go to local government MEC Anton Bredell for consideration and ratification.
Tabisher could not be reached for comment on Monday.
Charlotte Tabisher, the councillor for ward 49 which includes sections of Athlone, Mowbray and Kewtown, was found guilty on several charges of irregularly collecting "top-up" payments relating to a housing project, and also of assisting a member of the public to formulate a fraudulent document.
Councillor Anthea Serritslev, chairwoman of the disciplinary committee and DA chief whip, said Tabisher had been involved in the collection of money without proper bookkeeping or other processes being in place.
Serritslev said Tabisher had been found guilty as she had no right or duty to collect money from residents.
"She used her position of trust as a ward councillor and exercised gross negligence in the administration of money," Serritslev said.
She said there was no evidence that Tabisher had paid money collected from the community into a trust account as claimed by her.
Tabisher was fined R10 000 for the collection of money from the community, and had paid most of it back, Serritslev said.
But the guilty finding on the charge of attempting to defraud the council by assisting a member of the public to draw up a fraudulent document is the one which could see her lose her position.
Serritslev said that if the council agreed with the findings of the committee and the recommendation that Tabisher be dismissed, the matter would go to local government MEC Anton Bredell for consideration and ratification.
Tabisher could not be reached for comment on Monday.
- Cape Argus
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