Outrage as City of Cape Town councillor appoints convicted rapist as his admin clerk

A Cape Town ANC councillor’s decision to hire a convicted rapist as his ward clerk has sparked a rift within the party. 

Siviwe Nodliwa, a City of Cape Town ward councillor, employed Masilakhe Benedict Ngqebe in February. Ngqebe was given a 10-year jail sentence for rape committed in Ngqeleni, Eastern Cape, in 2011.

In 2014, he was also charged with rape in Butterworth, but police could not link him to the incident through DNA evidence. 

Nodliwa claims he wasn’t aware of Ngqebe’s criminal record when he selected him from among a list of clerk candidates.

“Upon receiving the list of candidates, I preferred the name of Mr Masilakhe Beni Ngqebe,” Nodliwa said in a letter explaining the appointment, sent to various stakeholders including the co-ordinator of the Dullah Omar region.   

The appointment prompted an ANC branch executive meeting where Nodliwa claims he was first made aware of Ngqebe’s criminal past. Despite this, Nodliwa decided to stick with his preferred candidate. 

“When I shared my views at the meeting, the deputy secretary of the ANC branch was very angry, rude and aggressive ... He alleged that the preferred candidate was convicted,” Nodliwa said in his letter. 

Nodliwa said his criminal record did not preclude Ngqebe from the clerk post.

“It is important to note that all candidates met the requirements. But among other things, there were extraordinary aspects which convinced me to choose him as (a) suitable candidate,” Nodliwa said

After the meeting, Nodliwa confronted Ngqebe, who confirmed he had been convicted of rape.  

“I informed him that the City of Cape Town upon (the) vetting process may preclude him. However, the city confirmed his appointment with effect from February 1 2023.” 

The city this week confirmed that Ngqebe had been a political appointment which was “at the sole discretion of the ward councillor”.

City council chief whip Desiree Visagie said: “A political appointment does not follow the ordinary selection and recruitment process for full-time/permanent public servants.”

Nodliwa admits that the party expressed concern about the appointment and stated that “it is inconsistent with the values, principles and policies of the ANC”.

He said the regional coordinator had instructed him to terminate Ngqebe’s appointment, which he had declined to do: “I described the character of the cadre in question as a seasoned one and loyal to the organisation. It was my sincere belief that he would never intend to bring the ANC into disrepute,” Nodliwa said in his letter.

 “Apparently, Mr Ngqebe was accused by his girlfriend who was jealous when he was getting married to his current wife. The complainant never even attended court proceedings,” Nodliwa said in the letter.  

“The case was dismissed and after two years was revived by a new investigator.  

“It is important to know (that) his bail application was paid by the ANC Women’s League in Ward 06 in Nyandeni and nurses who worked at Canzibe Hospital in the Eastern Cape. Over and above, Mr Ngqebe served his sentence and cannot be punished again for the same conduct. He is in the process of initiating (an) application for expungement.” 

He urged the ANC to provide details on how to reverse the appointment.

Nodliwa declined to comment further when approached by TimesLIVE Premium this week.  

Commenting on the matter this week, Ngqebe said the vacancy did not require him to reveal his criminal record.

“Regardless of how this unfortunate history came about, I was sentenced and released on parole,” he said.  

“I involved myself in community activities. My church ordained me as a reverend. As a married man with children to support, I needed a job. This opportunity emerged at the time I needed work most. If my contract is questionable, I think it must be answered in terms of the SA labour laws. Hence, I signed an employment contract with the City of Cape Town.” 

He said he would approach the CCMA if his contract was terminated unfairly. The ANC in the Western Cape did not respond to questions.

Lynn Abrahams, the ANC Women’s League convener in the Dullah Omar region, said they were “disgusted” by Nodliwa’s characterisation of the rape victim as a “jealous girlfriend”. “As the women’s league, we believe the victims,” she said.

“We were not aware of this, but we will urgently deal with it. We will talk to the Eastern Cape Women’s League about the councillor’s claims it paid this man’s bail. It is unacceptable that the councillor employed this person as an administrator because he interacts with the public. That the ANC has employed a convicted rapist is a concern. We will never accept that, and we will take this up,” Abrahams said.

Eastern Cape police spokesperson Brig Thembinkosi Kinana confirmed the second rape case opened against Ngqebe in Butterworth in September 2014. Kinana said the “case was closed by the prosecutor on 22 May 2015 after the accused was not linked by DNA”.