​As a result of the reckless actions by the members of the ANC and others today who revealed confidential information about the Executive Mayor’s private residence, the safety at the Mayor’s house has been jeopardised with information and videos of her home being distributed to the public via various media channels.

The Executive Mayor, like any office-bearer such as an MEC, is entitled to security upgrades at her house which she has lived in for more than two decades.

With the members of the opposition taking the media to the Mayor’s house and this being broadcast all over social media, everyone will see that the Mayor lives in an ordinary, modest home which she paid for herself.

This is in spite of the fact that the Mayor is entitled to an official residence paid for by Council, which she has repeatedly refused.

With the Council’s receipts of the security work done at the Mayor’s house being made public, these security features have now been compromised.

The safety upgrades undertaken at the Mayor’s house were based on a risk analysis report and recommendations from a special unit within the South African Police Service (SAPS).

The report justifies the upgrades, but as a consequence of the actions of the ANC and others, I will have to deploy the City’s VIP protection services to the Mayor’s house 24 hours a day.

The same way any resident would not make details of their security features at their homes known to all and sundry, the sharing of this information has placed the Mayor and her family at risk.

I will be reporting this to the SAPS who will have to reassess the Mayor’s house and Council will have to redo the safety measures because these measures have been compromised with the details being made public.

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