Western Cape premier Alan Winde has become the latest prominent DA figure to be embroiled in a controversy over costs related to international travel.
This comes after the Western Cape legislature’s conduct committee, an equivalent to parliament’s ethics committee, found Winde to be in breach of its code of conduct after failing to declare a sponsored trip to New York worth R51,000 in September 2024.
The adverse finding against Winde comes in the same week as another top DA figure, public works minister Dean Macpherson, faced questions over travelling with his spouse to a Brics forum summit in Brazil at a cost of at least R350,000 to the taxpayer, allegedly in violation of his department’s travel policy.
Macpherson has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the matter.
The Western Cape legislature’s conduct committee probed Winde’s travel to New York after a complaint lodged by provincial opposition leader Khalid Sayed of the ANC.
Sayed had alleged that Winde had failed to disclose a sponsorship of an economy-class return ticket to New York to attend the Climate Week NYC 2024 Conference under the auspices of the Under2Coalition.
But in the conduct committee’s report on the matter, which was tabled in the Western Cape provincial legislature on Tuesday, Winde argued that he was at the “Climate Week NYC 2024 conference” wearing two hats: as premier and as the “African co-chair” of the Under2Coalition, a network of subnational governments working on eliminating gas emissions by 2050.
He further argued that it was for that reason that Under2Coalition had offered to reimburse a portion of the cost incurred by his provincial government for his travel to New York.
But this has been rejected by the conduct committee, which has found that this was in breach of its conduct code, as the sponsorship was not declared by Winde in his declarations form filed in February 2025.
However, Winde is likely to escape with a slap on the wrist after the conduct committee recommended that he merely be reprimanded for his ethics breach, after an additional sanction of suspension from the House did not enjoy the support of the majority of the committee.
There must be consequences for the premier from within the institutions of government and politically by his party, provincially and nationally
— Khalid Sayed, provincial opposition leader
But Sayed is adamant that Winde should be axed, arguing that the DA’s narrative of clean and good governance was false.
“This finding is more than just another such example. It comes barely one week since the ink dried on the premier’s state of the province address wherein he waxed lyrical and preached confidently about good governance under a DA-led provincial government.
“It has occurred at the highest level of the provincial administration. There must be consequences for the premier from within the institutions of government and politically by his party, provincially and nationally.
“Winde’s transgressions demonstrated a trend by DA leaders who engage in rogue, reckless and irresponsible behaviour regarding international travel. Today it is premier Winde; just recently we learned about Dean Macpherson, and we know what happened with former deputy minister Andrew Whitfield.
“Premier Winde’s nondisclosure violates public trust. This was not an omission; it was blatant dishonesty.”
Winde’s spokesperson, Reagan Thaw, said the premier maintained that he committed no ethical breach and that he would be appealing against the finding against him.
“This trip was duly disclosed in the annual report. No gift or sponsorship was received in the premier’s personal capacity. The co-funder for the trip to attend the NY Climate Week in 2024 was the Under2Coalition — an important regional organisation made up of 183 states and regions leading on climate change.
“Premier Winde serves as co-chair of the organisation and represents the African continent. The premier disputes the finding and will appeal it,” said Thaw.
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Thabo Mokone
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