ANC Women's League wants Cape Town councillor hauled over the coals for hiring a rapist clerk

The ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) has come out guns blazing after a City of Cape Town councillor refused to fire his convicted rapist clerk.

ANC ward councillor Siviwe Nodliwa employed Masilakhe Ngqebe in February. Ngqebe, 40, was convicted of a rape he committed in Ngqeleni, Eastern Cape, in 2011, for which he received a 10-year jail sentence.  

After his release on parole, Ngqebe moved to Cape Town where he has since been ordained as a pastor and claims to be involved in community programmes. However, the ANC in the province has urged Nodliwa to fire Ngqebe because his appointment was “inconsistent with the values, principles and policies of the” party. But Nodliwa dug in his heels and labelled those opposed to Ngqebe’s appointment as bitter political rivals.

“Sometimes, as a person, I get frustrated to learn the leadership does not play [the] ball but [the] person,” Nodliwa said in a letter to the co-ordinator of the ANC Dullah Omar region. 

He said Ngqebe was employed by the City of Cape Town and the country’s labour laws applied. “Which means termination of the employment contract is regulated by the employer.

“The legal issues concerned are of a serious nature which means the region must give comprehensive details on how to institute a reversal and/or termination. Therefore, as a principled member of the ANC, I will wait to be guided and directed on the feasibility of this issue as requested.”

Ngqebe told TimesLIVE he would approach the CCMA if his contract was “unfairly” terminated. The city said the employment of a ward clerk was at the discretion of councillors.

This week, the Dullah Omar region ANCWL said: “The ANCWL is appalled by the appointment of a convicted rapist as admin clerk and disgusted with the attitude of the ward councillor, who in a letter to the ANC regional co-ordinator, accused the branch BEC [branch executive committee] as possibly exaggerating and then defending the admin clerk, stating, ‘Mr Ngqebe served his sentenced and cannot be punished again for the same conduct. He is in the process to initiate the application for expungement.'

“The councillor’s attitude is inconsistent with the values, principles, dignity and integrity of the ANC’s processes of renewal and rebuilding, and can be interpreted as disrespectful to the victim, her family and all women and children who were victims of GBVF [gender-based violence and femicide].

“In a country with escalating violence against women and children and with President [Cyril] Ramaphosa declaring GBV the second pandemic, how does a councillor justify the act? The office of the councillor is central to a community and the admin clerk, by nature of the job, would on a regular basis interact with women and children.”

The league said February statistics showed rape in Nodliwa’s ward, the Kraaifontein policing precinct, “increased by 64% in the last three months of 2022. These are alarming stats and therefore the appointment of a convicted rapist cannot be justified.

“The ANCWL in the region supports the ANC in the Dullah Omar region that the employment of the admin clerk is terminated and that disciplinary steps be taken against the councillor. Appointments in critical offices such as this must be scrutinised and qualifying employees undergo police clearance.

“As perceived to be a leader of society, we must stand steadfast in our commitment to fight GBVF on all fronts and not to choose a different path because it's convenient for us or because it is our own.

“The ANC took a principled stance to distance itself from any person found guilty of any offence that seeks to further damage our image and reputation, and therefore in choosing the path of renewal and rebuilding of our glorious movement and country, we urge the ANC to prioritise the termination of the admin clerks’ contract and to institute disciplinary action against the councillor. 

“We view this appointment by the councillor as inconsistent with the values, principles and policies of the ANC,” the league said. 

TimesLIVE

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