The national chairperson of ActionSA, Micheal Beaumont has written to the Public Protector asking her office to probe its former senior member in Newcastle local municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal for possible abuse of power.

Beaumont’s request came after almost a week the Herman Mashaba led party fired Faizel Cassim as its member and chief whip in the municipality.

The party claimed that Cassim did not declare a conflict of interest as the owner of Newcastle Industrial Launders CC (NIL), a company that was suing the municipality for R18 million. 

That was after it was accused of environmental pollution, resulting in the previous ANC administration closing it down.

Beaumont believes that Cassim used his powerful position as the chief whip to pressure officials to agree to an out of court settlement, which amounts to abuse of power. 

“Allegations have been raised that Mr Cassim may have used his position of authority to influence or place undue pressure on municipal officials in order for the municipality to agree to discharge the interim interdict against his company, NIL and pay NIL’s legal costs, which were estimated at around  R1000 000 00.

“ActionSA is of the view that the above mentioned conduct may be maladministration and falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the Public Protector, as such, we hereby request that the Office of the Public Protector institute an investigation into the conduct of Mr Cassim and the relevant municipal officials,” Beaumont said in a letter sent to the Public Protector dated 14 November 2024. 

Cassim said he will speak out after the investigation has been concluded.

“I’m happy that ActionSA has taken this route. After the investigation, it will give a true story into this matter,” he said.

The municipality did not respond to a request for comment over the matter.