Naik sits tight in storm

Even though George

Mayor Melvin Naik has been suspended from the DA and all party activities since last week Wednesday, 29 January, he is still occupying the number one seat in town.

But the pressure to step down as mayor is mounting, as the party's Federal Executive Committee (Fedex) wrote to him on Tuesday, asking him to provide reasons why he should not resign as mayor, following a motion of no confidence passed by the DA caucus. This came after an investigation ordered by Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Anton Bredell, reported to have found evidence of corruption and interference in administrative processes by Naik at the municipality.

DA George Constituency Head Geordin Hill-Lewis welcomed the motion of no confidence, while Naik did not respond to a request for comment.

Still mayor

The practical implications of the suspension is that Naik will not be able to partake in any DA-related activities, including the caucus, with immediate effect. However, he does remain in the mayoral seat until such time as either the party requires him to resign or he decides to resign.

Asked why Naik remains in the position of mayor although he is suspended from the DA, Hill-Lewis explained, "Even though Naik is appointed as mayor by the DA, he was elected as mayor by Council in the first council meeting after the election in 2016.

The same goes for every mayor in the country. So, simply suspending him from the party does not suspend him from the office of mayor. That can only be done when he is either asked to resign from the office of the mayor by the party, or his membership from the party is terminated, not just suspended."

Should Naik's DA membership be cancelled following the outcome of a disciplinary hearing, he would immediately lose his seat as mayor. A disciplinary hearing date has not been set.

Case number

Meanwhile Bredell's report, as it is commonly referred to, received heavy criticism from some of the opposition parties who claim the handover of the report to the police on 22 January was a mere publicity stunt. PBI's Virgill Gericke said a case was already opened in 2018 and that's the reason why no new case number can be provided.

DA George Constituency Head Geordin Hill-Lewis confirmed this, but said he handed the report to the

Hawks as new evidence in the case. "Hopefully it would provide them with new leads to pursue. Frankly, this is just clutching at straws - who cares if the case is new or old? The case is open, the evidence is in, that's the only point," he said.