Coalition talks: ANC looks to review Icosa deal after child rapist appointed as mayor

The African National Congress (ANC) has until the end of the day to decide the fate of their coalition agreement with Icosa, which saw the party’s leader and convicted child rapist, Jeffrey Donson appointed as mayor.

Calls are mounting for the party to distance themselves from him, after a joint council meeting in Kannaland in the Western Cape, last week saw Donson re-elected as mayor.

The ANC in the Western Cape has made it clear that the decision to appoint a child rapist as a mayor was not theirs. Spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni said that the party’s coalitions negotiation team was working on a deadline for Tuesday to constitute their councils.

When you enter into agreements with political parties, they don’t come with a list of names but now with this type of revelations and outrage, we as the ANC thought that we probably need to review that arrangement,” Mtsweni said.

But for the Commission for Gender Equality’s Javu Baloyi, it’s not about who appointed Donson, but rather why he was allowed to run for office in the first place.

“We have a pandemic called GBV. What are we saying to all victims? The IEC must look at any person convicted of gender-based violence and should not allow them to stand for any position whatsoever,” Baloyi said.

In parallel to the ANC processes, the commission has launched an investigation into Donson’s appointment and called for his immediate removal from office.

Source: News365

In other news –  SA men need to play a greater role in preventing GBV, says Ramaphosa

Dear Fellow South African, If a nation’s character can be judged by how it treats women and children, then we are falling desperately short.

A week before the launch of the annual 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children, the latest crime statistics released by the South African Police Service. Learn more