DA Moves to Overturn Tshwane's Light Penalty for Deputy Mayor Conduct Breach

JOHANNESBURG — The Democratic Alliance has filed court papers at the Gauteng High Court seeking to overturn a City of Tshwane Council decision that imposed only a financial penalty on Deputy Executive Mayor Eugene Modise, after a forensic investigation found he had breached the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

The breach centers on Modise’s failure to legally disclose financial interests connected to Triotic Protection Services, a company that has received millions of rands in payments from the municipality. The forensic investigation was commissioned by the City itself, and its findings established that Modise, the ANC politician responsible for overseeing Tshwane’s finances, maintained undisclosed ties to a firm conducting business with the local government he helps administer.

That finding did not produce meaningful consequences. The ANC-ActionSA-EFF coalition controlling the Council voted to impose only a financial penalty. The DA argues this response violates the legal framework governing councillor conduct and has now taken the dispute out of the Council chamber and into the High Court.

The DA’s application challenges the lawfulness and rationality of the Council’s decision and asks the court to set it aside, requesting that the matter be reconsidered under proper legal procedures where Modise would face appropriate enforcement action. The party contends that allowing a councillor who breached the code to escape with a minimal sanction undermines the integrity of local government and signals that the Councillors’ Code of Conduct carries little binding force.

The timing compounds those concerns. During Modise’s tenure as MMC for Finance, expenditure on security watchman services escalated significantly into hundreds of millions of rands. His undisclosed financial interests in a company providing precisely those services to the municipality, the DA argues, created a conflict of interest that should have been disclosed and managed transparently from the outset.

Meanwhile, the DA’s application takes direct aim at ActionSA’s role in the coalition vote. The party states that ActionSA, despite positioning itself as a reform-minded partner, aligned with ANC practices that the DA characterizes as lawlessness and rule-breaking. The court filing represents the DA’s refusal to accept what it views as an unlawful outcome reached through political protection rather than principled governance.

The DA indicated it will provide updates as the case progresses. The High Court will now assess whether the Council acted within its authority and in accordance with applicable law.

If the challenge succeeds, it could establish precedent for how councils must handle code-of-conduct breaches and what disclosure standards apply to officials with financial interests in companies doing municipal business. Whether the court agrees that the Council overstepped, or finds the penalty within permissible bounds, will determine how much binding force the code actually carries in practice.