The City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, has stepped down from his position following an investigation into electricity meter tampering at a property he owns. Badroodien said he would be stepping aside until his name was cleared. 

Cape Town Executive Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said Badroodien wrote to him asking to step down until his disciplinary hearing was finalised. He is to face a council disciplinary committee to answer to the charges against him. 

“I have accepted his request. It is important for every member of the Mayoral Committee [Mayco] to be fully focused on their work,” Hill-Lewis said. 

Badroodien said that he had been informed by the Speaker, Felicity Purchase, that he would be subjected to a disciplinary process under Section 79, which deals with the discipline of councillors. 

Badroodien said that he believed leaders should be held to the highest standards of honesty and conduct, especially when serving in government. 

He said that in 2016 he had taken out a bond under his name after being asked by his parents to assist them in buying a property for his younger sibling. Construction of the property was completed in 2019 but it remained vacant until November 2021, prompting the councillor to temporarily move into the property as it was close to the ward he had been elected to serve. 

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“Two days after moving in, I was made aware of alleged tampering on the electricity meter of the property. This triggered an investigation and the subsequent disciplinary process, as determined by the Speaker of council. I had no knowledge of such alleged impropriety until that point. 

“Having all the facts at hand, my parents undertook immediate corrective measures. Subsequently, I provided all available information and affidavits at my disposal to the Speaker for her investigative process,” said Badroodien. He added that the amount owed was yet to be confirmed, but that the outstanding balance would be paid to the city as soon as possible. 

In the meantime, Siseko Mbandezi, the Mayoral Committee member for finance, will be stepping into Badroodien’s shoes as the Mayco member for water and sanitation. 

“I am confident that councillor Mbandezi will do an excellent job until such a time as councillor Badroodien has successfully answered this case,” Hill-Lewis said.

While Badroodien has stepped down as a Mayco member until his name has been cleared, he will continue to serve Ward 48 as the elected councillor. The ward includes Belgravia, Belthorn Estate, Mountview, Penlyn and Pinati Estate. 

Badroodien — a medical doctor — joined the council in 2016 as a member of the Economy and Environment Cluster Committee, on which he served as deputy chairperson between October 2016 and December 2018. In November 2018, he became a member of the Planning Appeals Advisory Panel, of which he is still a member. 

Said Hill-Lewis: “I would like to thank councillor Badroodien for the contribution he has made to [the Department of] Water and Sanitation since his appointment in November 2021. I look forward to a fair and speedy resolution of this matter, in the best interests of all Cape Town residents.” DM/OBP