National Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams has followed through on his promise to file a criminal charge against Helen Zille, Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance (DA). The case, lodged at the Cape Town Central Police Station early on Monday morning, accuses Zille of defeating the ends of justice.
The charge arises from Zille’s comments regarding her alleged prior knowledge of police raids targeting the offices of two City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee (Mayco) members. The raids, which occurred on Friday, were conducted at the offices of Alderman JP Smith, the DA’s deputy federal chairperson and Safety and Security head, as well as Xanthea Limberg, the Mayco member for Energy.
A criminal charge of defeating the ends of justice has been laid against DA Federal Council chair Helen Zille. The National Coloured Congress’s Fadiel Adams has opened a case today. The complaint is related to the police’s raid that happened at Civic Centre. pic.twitter.com/5HwaVAK6pj
— Heart FM News (@HeartFMNews) January 27, 2025
South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson André Traut confirmed the investigation, stating:
“This office can confirm that a defeating the ends of justice case was registered this morning at Cape Town Central police station pertaining to the partial case number cited in your enquiry. The circumstances are being investigated.”
Traut further clarified that the identities of the parties involved could not be disclosed.
Speaking about his decision to press charges, Adams did not mince words.
“Helen Zille does have a case to answer for in my opinion,” he said. “If you listen to Helen Zille, people like me do not know what they are doing. We do not have the necessary skills to do certain jobs.”
Adams accused Zille of having been improperly informed about the investigation into alleged criminal activity involving Alderman JP Smith, implying this violated legal boundaries.
“She has confessed that she was tipped off into the investigation. That is a contravention of the law. We presume it is a policeman who gave her information that could have allowed them to destroy whatever they needed to.”
Fadiel Adams also drew attention to what he perceived as a disparity in how the DA has treated Smith compared to former Mayco member Malusi Booi, who is embroiled in a high-profile R1 billion tender corruption case.
Responding to Adams’ accusations, Zille strongly denied any wrongdoing. She challenged Adams to produce evidence to substantiate his claims.
“I urge him to produce evidence that I have ever said that people like him do not know what they are doing,” Zille stated. “I am only talking about him, not people like him, when I say the following. The first person who tipped the world off about an alleged raid on JP’s office was Fadiel himself.”
Zille alleged that Adams had been publicizing details about the potential raid for months.
“He has been making posts about this since last year. Lots of people apparently knew. The only unanswered question was whether it was a conspiracy theory or not,” she said. “One of Adams’ posts even stated that the raid would happen before Christmas. When it did not, I dismissed it as a conspiracy theory.”
According to Zille, JP Smith himself had warned her about the possibility of a raid, which formed the basis of her knowledge.
“JP was the one who gave me the information. It is far-fetched fiction to suggest that I had a leak about the imminent search of JP’s office and that I could have tipped JP off. Total fiction, and Fadiel knows it.”
Zille took to social media to further defend her position and question the rationale behind the allegations.
“Radio broadcasts are reporting the absurd claim that I should be charged with ‘Defeating the Ends of Justice’ in relation to the police search of JP Smith’s office,” she wrote. “The chief accusers are Brett Herron and Fadiel Adams. Their argument is that, as I was tipped off last year about a possible search of JP’s office, I could have warned him to destroy any incriminating evidence. This is absurd because it was JP Smith who tipped me off.”
She reiterated her position that the accusations were baseless and called on the media to scrutinize such claims more rigorously.
“My real question is: Knowing this, as they should, why do the media even entertain this nonsense?”
Zille concluded her remarks by emphasizing the importance of allowing law enforcement to focus on critical matters.
“The police and criminal justice system have important work to do, and politicians trying to score points against an opponent should not waste their time.”
