CAPE TOWN - The re-election of convicted child rapist Jeffrey Donson as Kannaland mayor is a damning indictment of South Africa’s failure to end gender-based violence and the promise to protect children, according to Western Cape Commissioner for Children Christina Nomdo.
Donson, a member of the Independent Civic Organisation of SA (Icosa), is expected to make an announcement today on his political future after all the negative reaction to his re-election after his 2008 conviction for statutory rape was made public.
“In a country where adult men use power and control to manipulate young children, especially girls, we cannot afford to put children at risk. Where does this leave us now?” Nomdo asked.
The rape that Donson was convicted for took place while he was Kannaland mayor in 2008.
His victim was 15 years old at the time.
After lodging an appeal in the Western Cape High Court, Donson’s five-year sentence was reduced to a wholly suspended term of imprisonment, correctional supervision, a R20 000 fine and a rehabilitation programme for sex offenders.
He reclaimed his title recently when Icosa formed a coalition government with the ANC, but following a special meeting on Friday, the ANC in the province announced that it would review its coalition agreement.
Provincial ANC spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni said the party could not ignore the risk to its reputation.
“While we respect and uphold the democratic wishes of the people of Kannaland, who have on successive occasions chosen to elect Icosa as the majority party, the extended interim provincial committee resolved to mandate the negotiating team to review the coalition agreement in Kannaland Municipality.”
Shockingly, Icosa provincial leader Dawid Kamfer yesterday called for the public to “respect Kannaland’s voters choice to vote for Donson”.
Experts have previously said that the people had little choice and had to choose between lesser evils while voting in the latest election.
IEC Western Cape electoral officer Michael Hendrickse said the issue was Constitutional, and did not lie with the Electoral Act.
Political analyst and human rights activist Nkosikhulule Nyembezi said: “Whereas there are no legal or political grounds for denying a re-elected citizen the right to hold political office and those who voted for him the right to be represented by someone they elected freely, the good morals of the community demand that a convicted child rapist and fraudster not hold an executive position in a municipality.”
Cape Times