ANC ‘disgusted’ another DA member may have lied about qualification

The African National Congress (ANC) in Cape Town said that it was ‘disgusted’ but not surprised to learn about the latest qualification scandal around Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor JP Smith.

Smith is the latest DA member to be embroiled in a qualification scandal.

The Weekend Argus reported that Smith’s biography sent by his personal assistant to the Music Exchange conference organisers where he was a guest speaker in 2019 says he has an honours degree in English from Stellenbosch University.

The report revealed that this was not true as “he did not complete his honours.”

The ANC said that Smith was clearly aware of these discrepancies but “elected not to rectify them.”

The ANC caucus is interested to know whether Smith was remunerated for participating and as a speaker in those conferences,” reads the party’s statement.

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“The DA led City of Cape Town must do the honourable thing and get JP Smith to resign from his portfolio. But we know there is no honour in this City that only works for this with dodgy CVs. JP Smith will not be fired. He will remain in his job.”

The DA last month said that it will carry out a “full audit” on the CVs of its public representatives.

This was after the party’s high-profile figure were recently accused of deceit over qualifications.

The party’s chief whip Natasha Mazzone was accused of lying about a law degree, whereas Saldanha mayor Marius Koen has been questioned about his academic record on his CV.