Cape Town - Former Oudtshoorn municipality deputy mayor Mlandeli Nyuka, who is behind bars facing sexual assault charges, has lost his title as a councillor.
According to the municipality the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) informed it that Nyuka was no longer a councillor.
“The IEC notified the municipal manager, Walter Hendricks that the new proportional councillor who will represent Saamstaan Suid-Afrika (ISASSA) is Veronica Michaels, who was at the top of the party list of Saamstaan Suid-Africa. She has been declared elected as prescribed in Item 18 of Schedule 1 of the Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act. No. 117 of 1998),” it said.
Mayor Chris Macpherson said he was relieved that the issue has now been resolved and this was in the interest of the community.
Michaels will be ceremoniously inducted at the next council meeting.
Nyuka tendered his resignation as the deputy mayor in the DA-controlled municipality in November last year.
He was also the president of the Saamstaan Suid-Afrika party.
The 40-year-old was arrested last year after being accused of sexually assaulting a 37-year-old assistant in his office on September 27, and allegedly offered her a better job in return for her silence.
He was denied bail at the Oudtshoorn Magistrate’s Court after it emerged he was out on bail on a separate rape case at the time of the alleged sexual assault incident.
It also came to light that in 2013 he was found guilty of sexually assaulting an unnamed woman.
Cape Times