Cape Town - Christopher Jordaan, who was previously dismissed as an employee of the City for selling two of its vehicles, was on Thursday elected to chair subcouncil 4 (Goodwood, Elsies River and Parow), and now stands to earn an annual salary of about R800 000.
The previous chairperson, Clive Justus, will now head subcouncil 6, which until recently was chaired by Sam Pienaar, who is being subjected to a DA disciplinary process for failing to declare his role in the 1985 Trojan Horse massacre in Athlone in which three people were shot dead.
On Thursday, the DA came to the defence of Ward 28 (Elsies River) councillor Jordaan, saying he had not transgressed the code of conduct for councillors during his current tenure, which started in 2011, and had never been prosecuted.
Back in June 2003, while employed as an administrative assistant by the City, Jordaan pleaded guilty to selling a Ford Laser and a Mazda Marathon for financial gain.
Jordaan was not present at his disciplinary hearing, which found that on May 3, 2002 he had sold the two vehicles while a SA Municipal Workers Union shop steward, according to the record of the hearing.
During the hearing, the initiator (prosecutor), named M Stander, said Jordaan had been unco-operative.
“In terms of the duties of the shop steward, he had the gears of the workforce. I had no doubt in my mind from the outset that Mr Jordaan will not be coming to the hearing.
“He has been unreliable and it’s quite clear that he cannot be trusted,” Stander told the hearing.
Jordaan was suspended from his job and, according to Stander, this was so that he could not intimidate staff in the council’s technical services branch.
Stander further stated that Jordaan had used his knowledge of administration for personal gain through the sale of the two vehicles.
According to the record, hearing chairperson L Bester said: “Past disciplinary action against him points to his record of using his power to intimidate employees, as stated by his employer.
“I, despite the statement of Mr Stander that Mr Jordaan had been unco-operative, find that he co-operated in this hearing by pleading guilty in unusual circumstances in order to minimise the (disciplinary) procedure and that he acknowledge his wrongdoing and accepted that he needs to be disciplined.”
Jordaan was found guilty and dismissed with immediate effect. He subsequently joined the now-disbanded Independent Democrats and three years after his dismissal, became a proportional representative councillor. When the ID merged with the DA in 2010, Jordaan became a DA ward candidate in 2011 despite ructions within the DA caucus about his chequered past.
Jordaan would not comment on Thursday and referred queries to the DA.
DA metro chairperson Shaun August said Jordaan was not in transgression of the code of conduct of councillors in his current tenure as councillor.
“It remains his constitutional right to stand as a councillor in any political party of his choice.
“Since the last election of 2011, Jordaan has been an excellent councillor who is very well liked in his ward. As a ward councillor, he was elected by the people in his community,” said August.
His views were echoed by DA provincial spokesperson Liza Albrecht, who said Jordaan had never been criminally prosecuted.
But the ANC’s chief whip in council, Xolani Sotashe, said the DA was “so arrogant with power”. “If you go to that council (meeting), I can count more than five (DA) councillors with dubious histories.”
@mtyala
Cape Times