Winde confirms Fritz was suspended over ‘serious’ sexual misconduct allegations

After keeping mum on the reasons behind the suspension of Western Cape Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz, Premier Alan Winde on Sunday officially confirmed that he suspended the MEC over “serious allegations” of sexual misconduct.

Sexual misconduct

When the premier first announced Fritz’s suspension on 23 January, Winde said it was due to “serious allegations” of misconduct and did not divulge any further details.

But in a statement on Sunday, he finally confirmed the sexual misconduct claims after it emerged through media reports that the allegations were of a sexual nature.

Winde said he decided to disclose the nature of the allegations after seeking guidance from the Western Cape legal services unit and from Advocate Jennifer Williams, who has been appointed as an independent legal counsel to investigate the claims against Fritz.

“Late on Friday, I received such permission. I am therefore now able to confirm that the serious allegations against [MEC] Fritz relate to sexual misconduct,” Winde said.

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The premier said he also received permission from all the complainants to reveal the nature of the allegations.

“I have deep respect for the people who have come forward, for their persons, for their privacy, and for the braveness they have shown, and do not feel it is fitting to expose further details about what has allegedly been inflicted upon them.

“I would encourage others to show similar restraint. We must think of the people who came forward first, and not seek to cause them further harm, or in fact endanger them, through our actions,” he said.

External investigation

Winde said now that an independent legal counsel has been appointed to probe the allegations against Fritz, he did not “foresee having any other role, as this process is both independent and external”.

Winde said he would take further steps as soon as the investigation is done, which he hopes would be within 14 days.

He reiterated that he still had the option to lay criminal charges against Fritz, depending on the outcome of the independent investigation.

“I must be guided by this report to ensure a lawful and fair process that will stand up to legal scrutiny in the future.”

Alleged victims were young DA members

Meanwhile. the Sunday Times reported that Fritz’s alleged victims were reportedly recruited from among young Democratic Alliance (DA) members in Mitchells Plain, where he has been the DA’s constituency head.

According to the report, Fritz allegedly “bombarded” the young women with late-night messages asking them to come to his room during out-of-town trips while on government or DA business.

At the same time, Western Cape police last Thursday said they had also opened an inquiry into the sexual assault allegations levelled against Fritz.

The Good party on Sunday called on Winde to widen the scope of the external investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations to include Fritz’s time as MEC for Social Development.

The party’s secretary-general and Member of the Western Cape provincial legislature, Brett Herron, also called for the terms of reference for the probe to be made public.

“Fritz has served as MEC for Community Safety for just two years. He was MEC for Social Development for eight years. It is essential that the investigation into Fritz is not limited in its scope to his time as MEC for Community Safety,” he said in a statement.

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