Mpumalanga EFF and DA call for councillor accused of rape to step down

Both the Mpumalanga EFF and DA have challenged the ANC to prove its seriousness in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual assault against women, by taking action against one of its eMalahleni ward councillors who is facing charges of attempted rape, assault and housebreaking.

According to a police report, a 39-year-old ANC councillor from Kriel near eMalahleni, was arrested after he had allegedly broken into a house and tried to rape a 12-year-old girl.

Firing the first salvo was the EFF, through its provincial leader, Collen Sedibe, who called for the councillor’s immediate resignation.
“It is for this barbaric act that the Mpumalanga EFF is calling for the immediate removal of the councillor, because he is not fit to lead the community. This is not the first time an ANC councillor has been involved in such criminal activities, and this goes to show how the ANC has degenerated over time. It is a party that no longer cares and is not in touch with the people. The Mpumalanga EFF believes that communities deserve only hard-working, reliable and community-orientated public representatives.”

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Shortly after this, the DA followed with a statement of its own, in which it said it will propose an urgent council sitting in eMalahleni to have the councillor in question suspended.

“This is not the first incident in recent weeks in which an ANC councillor has been accused of sexual assault involving a minor. Just last week, on Tuesday, a 43-year-old ANC ward councillor in the North West, who was arrested in connection with the statutory rape of two young boys, appeared in the Orkney Magistrate’s Court. The above two separate incidents highlight the rot within the ANC’s ranks and its reluctance to deal decisively with its ill-disciplined leaders. This is its chance to act against GBV within its ranks.

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“The DA will therefore propose an urgent council sitting in eMalahleni in which we will ask the council to suspend the councillor until he is cleared of all the charges against him. If the ANC majority council is serious about fighting GBV, they will agree with the DA on the proposal to immediately suspend the councillor,” said the DA Women’s Network’s chairperson, Cllr Mariaan Chamberlain.