Ekurhuleni speaker exposes abuse allegations of female councillors by male colleagues

The Speaker of Council in the City of Ekurhuleni, Nthabiseng Tshivhenga says female councillors need protection from their abusive male counterparts.

Tshivhenga was speaking during the opening address of a council meeting on Thursday.

“One of the troubling things is the abuse that many endure especially from male colleagues,” Tshivhenga said.

ALSO READ: City of Ekurhuleni is running out of money, claims DA

Different forms of abuse

Tshivhenga said the abuse comes in various forms, verbally, emotionally, and sometimes even physically and it affects their professional lives.

“Not only impacting their well-being but it also impairs their ability to serve effectively. It is very worrisome,” she said.

Tshivhenga appealed to Ekurhuleni Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza to intervene.

“Executive mayor, councillors, it is very important to acknowledge that the mistreatment of female councillors is not only a personal matter to some of us, but a deeper issue that points to a deep systematic problem,” she said.

Tshivhenga said despite many women being in positions of power in politics, they are constantly undermined by their male counterparts.

“This serves as a reminder that despite our progress, there are deep-rooted attitudes,” she added.

Tshivhenga said the mental and emotional well-being of female councillors was a priority for her.

“We offer support and solidarity to our female councillors. This means creating safe and supportive environments where they can report abuse without fear of intimidation or retaliation,” she said.

Tshivhenga said many times when she would defend female councillors, she would be told that she was having a bad day.

However, she said she was willing to act in any manner to protect female councillors from abuse.

100 days in office

Meanwhile, the mayor said in his first 100 days in office he was able to hold several Mayoral Imbizo that were able to lead to various service delivery breakthroughs such as the building of a bridge, fixing water leaks, and electrifying communities that had no electricity.

ALSO READ: Powerplays in Ekurhuleni council amid protests

“Our key initiative in the establishment of the mayoral service delivery war room which is a multi-departmental platform designed to fast track the response time to service delivery,” he said.

Among other initiatives, Xhakaza said he was establishing a team that would work on reclaiming highjacked buildings in the metro.

“We are working on putting together a team that would make sure we reclaim highjacked buildings,” he said.

Xhakaza said he planned on ensuring that the city gets a clean audit from the Auditor General (AG) during his administration.

“The city has implemented a turnaround strategy to address all issues raised by AG in the last report from the AG where we actually regressed we are now on track to implement all the remedial action,” he said.

There were also plans to open a new university in Ekurhuleni.

ANC Ekurhuleni Lekgotla

The ANC in Ekurhuleni had expressed concern about the slow pace of the city.

In a statement, the Regional Task Team (RTT) said it would hold senior administrators accountable.

“The Lekgotla expressed concerns about the pace and standard of development in the city. As such, there was a view that the role of the senior administrative leadership must be examined against the current development legacy,” the RTT said.

The RTT said Ekurhuleni should have developed into a big city such as Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.

“The  City of Ekurhuleni is lagging behind in building an ideal and modern metropolitan city with resemblances of big ideas development,” the RTT said.