CoCT’s JP Smith taking police to court over office raid

CAPE TOWN - Cape Town's Safety and Security MMC JP Smith is taking police to court over a raid on his office.

The January operation relates to a construction tender fraud case already before the courts and involving former Human Settlements MMC, Malusi Booi.

Smith has not been charged, but he maintains the police action has significantly damaged his reputation and has constrained his ability to do his work properly.

JP Smith said he lodged a High Court application against the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the magistrate in April but was only making it public now because of recent disinformation and politically-driven campaigns.

He said he's been advised that the search and seizure warrants used to execute the January raid contained numerous falsehoods, errors and critical omissions.

He claimed this made them unlawful and open to a legal challenge.

The safety and security MMC added that the warrants were overbroad, allowing officers to seize items belonging to unrelated individuals, including staff not referred to in the affidavit.

He further stated that the warrants permitted police to make digital images of the seized devices before returning them, which they indicated would happen within two weeks.

However, 14 weeks later, the devices have still not been returned with no proper explanation.

Smith said he tried to cooperate with police to allow them to verify the facts and clear his name, but his efforts had been met with little response and bad faith.

He also claimed that as someone who has always been led by their conscience and for whom their reputation matters, the incident has caused him a great deal of trauma and distress.