A FORMER DA member is a man on a mission to block his dismissal.
Jacques de Lange was last month axed with immediate effect after he failed to declare that his fianceé, Zintle Khobeni, was a member of the political movement ActionSA.
De Lange, who worked for the DA as a constituency co-ordinator for six years, was also accused of using his home laptop and printer to print his work documents, as well as for participating in a non-profit organisation that stands against gender-based violence without informing them.
“There’s something sinister behind my dismissal,” De Lange, who lodged a complaint at labour watchdog CCMA, told Weekend Argus.
“On Friday May 26, the mayor of Cape Town was informed of the sexual assault allegations Zintle levelled against one of his councillors and on the Monday, May 30, I was called into a formal discussion,” he said.
Khobeni, as previously reported by Weekend Argus, alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Unathi Lasithi in Cape Town in 2015. She informed Western Cape DA leader, Albert Fritz, of the alleged incident late last year. Nothing came of it and four months later Fritz was embroiled in a sex scandal himself.
“The timeline of events is extremely suspicious; like dibby-doo, dibby-boo, who are you trying to fool?” De Lange said.
De Lange’s hearing at the CCMA will take place later this month.
“I went to the CCMA to declare my suspension unlawful and invalid.
“I want to achieve the fact that I was unfairly dismissed, because when Khobeni was a member of the EFF, this did not matter. There were pictures all over social media.”
The DA’s communications director Richard Newton confirmed his axing.
“Jacques de Lange has been dismissed,” Newton said.
“As far as we concerned, the matter has been resolved and he is no longer a member of the DA. If he chooses to take action we will respond once we see what that action entails.”
In the meantime, Khobeni is still waiting for justice.
The alleged incident occurred after she was moved from Johannesburg to Cape Town.
On a Saturday night, Lasithi joined Khobeni and a few other people for a night out in Long Street. They all returned to the backpackers and continued to have drinks in Khobeni’s room.
Khobeni said she fell asleep.
“In the early hours of the morning while I was still sleeping, I was woken up by Unathi pulling up (my) skirt and trying to force himself on me. I fought him off, and I was shouting for help, but no one responded.
“I tried to run and open the door, but it was locked. He pushed me back onto the bed and when he realised that I was putting up a good fight he jumped off me and off the bed.
“It was then that I could see that he did not actually have his pants on,” she said.
Mayor Hill-Lewis said the matter was brought to his attention.
“Another councillor told me about this matter which dates back to 2015, on May 26,” he told Weekend Argus.
“I was given the SAPS case number (and) I have tried to check with SAPS what is happening with the case, since it is an old matter, but have not heard back as yet,” he said.
Police said the matter was under investigation.
“The sexual assault case is still under investigation,” spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said.
Lasithi denied the allegations and said: “There is absolutely no truth to the allegations and I will give my full co-operation to the authorities. No further comment at this stage.”