THE latest political squabble in Plettenberg Bay has turned out to be a storm in a handbag.

Following rows over Mayor Lulama Mvimbi’s bodyguards and luxury official car, ANC Bitou secretary Lingo Sulani wrote a letter to The Herald, calling on Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and Local Government MEC Anton Bredell to investigate the failure of DA councillor Elaine Paulse to declare a “Louis Vuitton handbag” she had received as a gift.

Sulani claimed it cost R20000. In terms of municipal regulations, any item worth more than R350 has to be declared.

Not so, says Paulse.

“Firstly, this was not a gift. I paid a friend R20 for it. Secondly, it’s not a Louis Vuitton, it’s only a copy worth way less than R350. And finally, I bought this bag long before I became a councillor, which means it’s absolutely no business of Sulani’s and I have no need to disclose it,” Paulse said yesterday.

“I thought only women gossiped, but now I find out that men also do it. I cannot expect Sulani to know the difference between an original Louis Vuitton and a copy.”

In the letter, Sulani said Paulse’s “ANC mentor” had admired the handbag 2½ years ago and had advised her to declare it.

Referring to Zille and her all- male executive council, Sulani said: “We trust Mother Superior and her men will act swiftly in this regard.”

Paulse, however, said that when someone in the mayor’s office had complimented her on the “Louis Vuitton” handbag, she did not admit it was a copy.

“It’s a girl thing. We never tell if we’ve bought our stuff on a rummage sale or at a boutique, we just want people to say ‘wow’.

“But they can’t even complain that it’s a counterfeit. Nowhere on the bag does the Louis Vuitton brand name or LV logo appear.”

Paulse asked why a DA councillor would have an “ANC mentor”, and questioned the timing of Sulani’s accusation. “He admits that this all happened 2½ years ago. Surely it is the ANC’s duty to report any perceived wrongdoing when and where they come across it, rather than storing such information up to use as a political weapon when it suits them?”

Friend Marchell Meyer confirmed that Paulse had bought the bag from her “long before she became a councillor”.