Dion George hits back at Helen Zille, accuses DA of 'smear campaign'

FORMER DA Federal finance chairperson Dr Dion George has accused the party of waging smear campaigns against his character following allegations of irregular staff appointments to his ministerial office and inflated salaries at public expense. 

This relates to the time George was Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment.

George announced his resignation last week following the report of the DA’s Federal Legal Commission (FLC) clearing party leader John Steenhuisen of allegations relating to the misappropriation of DA funds via a party-issued credit card.

George was fired as minister in November after Steenhuisen’s request to President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove him from his position, citing poor performance.

In a statement issued shortly after George resigned, DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille  said the allegations faced by George included irregular staff appointments to his ministerial office and inflated salaries at public expense. 

He also faced accusations that staff in his ministry sought departmental information to pursue internal party political matters, bringing the party into disrepute through the media, Zille said.

Zille said it would have been preferable for George to go through the Federal Legal Commission (FLC) process to test the veracity of these allegations.   

George also faces a public protector complaint after his successor   Willie Aucamp  lodged a complaint alleging that the previous minister misused state resources to investigate his private business affairs, including links to the lion breeding industry, after he took office. 

The party also accused George of leaking internal financial information and airing internal grievances through the media.

In a statement on Monday, George’s attorneys said these allegations have never been formally put to their client in writing, to date. 

“And the who, what, where, and when intricacies of the various smear campaigns against our client’s character have never been justified,” read the statement.

DA spokesperson Jan de Villiers maintained that the FLC investigation found a number of grounds to charge George in terms of the DA constitution and established FLC practices.

“Unfortunately, Dr George decided to leave the party rather than face disciplinary proceedings, where he or his attorneys would have had all the opportunity to state his case,” he said.

George's legal team said that while the allegations (against George) require formal notice, an opportunity to respond and present evidence, none of this has been pursued by the DA. 

The law firm added that the DA has also adopted the stance that 'these wild, unsubstantiated allegations can be pursued by the party, without formal notice, without documentation and without affording our client a right to reply'.

The lawyers added that George has systematically been denied information and documentation, including the “secret part report” conveniently exonerating Steenhuisen from the abuse of the party’s credit card.

“The latter is no trivial matter; the implications are that Minister Steenhuisen has viewed the funds from donors as his own, open to personal abuse. Again, in a corporate setting this would attract sanction, not a whitewash,” said the attorneys, adding that George’s resignation from Parliament and from the DA was a principled decision taken to remove political distractions and does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing."

Cape Times