DA slams ‘slap on the wrist’ for Tshwane deputy mayor

The DA in Tshwane has slammed what it calls a “slap on the wrist” punishment handed to deputy mayor and MMC for finance Eugene Modise.

A council decision to fine Modise two months’ salary followed a forensic report that found he breached the councillor’s code of conduct by benefiting from a security company contracted to the city.

Modise fined two months salary for councillor code breach

DA mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink has now turned to the courts, arguing the penalty is irrational and undermines constitutional accountability.

“We are asking the court to remit the issue to the Tshwane council for a proper decision. If successful, we will argue for a penalty commensurate with the breach,” Brink said.

He warned that allowing Modise to continue benefiting from municipal contracts while paying only a small fine would embolden other tender‑linked politicians to do the same.

“In 2024, the DA‑led mayoral committee in Tshwane commissioned a review of the city’s security model, which was heavily reliant on costly and ineffective stationary guards, so‑called ‘watchman services’,” said Brink.

“We wanted to scale down the city’s reliance on watchman services in favour of using crime-fighting technology combined with mobile armed response.”

Review of security model abandoned – DA

He said after the takeover of Tshwane by an ANC-led coalition, the review of the city’s security model was abandoned.

“As a result, the contracts of the old watchman-style security companies were extended several times. Those contracts remain in place today,” he said.

“After Modise became a councillor in Tshwane in 2023, he failed to disclose his financial benefit from a contract between Triotic Protection Services and the Tshwane Metro.”

Last year, the DA asked for an investigation into Modise’s relationship with Triotic.

“Following a forensic investigation, which mayor Nasiphi Moya withheld from the council for months, Modise was found guilty of breaching the councillor’s code of conduct,” said Brink.

Modise says he sold shares

Modise told forensic investigators that he sold his shares in Triotic to an employee by way of an instalment sale agreement.

After the DA called for Modise’s suspension, he said the party is “desperate and abuses state apparatus for nefarious intents”.

“Shame on them and Brink, who employed people without qualifications and failed to reach a single funded budget,” said Modise, adding the DA was also to be blamed for the Rooiwal water problems, which they contracted.

Modise said he resigned from Triotic when he became a councillor and the matter was verified by forensic investigators.

This information is publicly available through the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, he added. He said he later disclosed everything after the DA pressurised the forensic investigators.

Deputy mayor claims no benefit

“My only involvement was purchasing property for Triotic back in 2010, when the company – along with many others, including law firms – was abruptly removed from the SALU Building in Pretoria,” said Modise.

“It has been proven that there was no financial benefit to me from that transaction.”

Freedom Front Plus (FF+) Tshwane caucus leader Grandi Theunissen has also written to the Gauteng MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs and infrastructure development to request urgent intervention in Modise’s matter.

“The FF+ is of the opinion that this punitive action does not meet the requirements of municipal legislation,” he said.