DA suspends trio suspected of ActionSA recruitments

The DA has suspended its former Northern Cape leader, Andrew Louw, for allegedly attempting to cajole DA members into joining a rival party.

Louw, along with two other members — his wife Mariam Louw and Grantham Steenkamp — have been issued with suspension letters pending an investigation into the allegations, the DA announced on Thursday.

TimesLIVE understands Louw and the two others are accused of recruiting other DA members to join opposition party ActionSA.

“The DA has issued letters of suspension to three of its Northern Cape members, two of whom are public representatives. Andrew Louw, Mariam Louw and Grantham Steenkamp have been suspended pending an investigation into allegations that they sought to lure DA members to join rival political parties,” DA spokesperson Cilliers Brink said.

“All three also face other, unrelated matters already being dealt with by the federal legal commission. These include, but are not limited to, charges of ill-discipline and not performing their duties.”

Andrew Louw was the party’s leader in the Northern Cape for 11 years between 2009 and 2020.

The trio is said to have failed to furnish the party with reasons not to suspend them.

“The three were given an opportunity to respond as to why they should not be suspended, but failed either to respond or, in two cases, to provide valid reasons in this regard,” Brink said.

“Two members of staff in the Northern Cape office were also suspended, one of whom has since resigned from the party.”

When TimesLIVE reached out to Louw, he said he would like to comment but had not done so by the time of publication. This article will be updated when his response is received.

TimesLIVE

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