Africa-Press – South-Africa. Suspended Western Cape ANC MPL Danville Smith handed himself over to the Hawks on Thursday after failing to appear in court for a corruption case last week.
Smith, 39, was expected to appear in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Cape Town on Tuesday, 16 August on charges of fraud and corruption, but failed to turn up.
He is accused of corruption after a Hawks investigation into irregularities at the Cederberg Municipality, where Smith served as speaker until 2016.
ANC’s Danville Smith released on R10 000 bail on charges of fraud and car theft
Smith’s co-accused is Peter Blankenberg, who was the district committee member for Ward 5 in Lambert’s Bay and a Clanwilliam Municipality employee. They are facing charges relating to alleged corruption during the planning of Mandela Day celebrations in Lambert’s Bay in 2016, said Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani.
Hani said:
Smith appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Bellville on the day of his arrest and was released on a warning.
He is expected to appear along with his co-accused in the same court on Monday, 5 September for legal representation.
Smith also faces charges of fraud and theft of a motor vehicle in another case.
He and three co-accused were charged with pretending to have transferred R210 000 into an account as payment for a vehicle that had been advertised on Gumtree.
In June, the ANC in the Western Cape suspended Smith’s party membership due to the charges against him.
ANC Western Cape spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni said Smith had also been subjected to an internal disciplinary process.
“The latest [developments] reaffirms our view that he remains entangled in very serious matters involving law enforcement agencies. We will interact with the latest arrest and look at further ways in which we can distance the ANC from his personal mishaps, and let him deal with law enforcement agencies,” Mtsweni said.
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