Durban — An IFP councillor is facing criminal charges after he allegedly used a month-to-month contract to get sex from women desperate to keep their jobs.
One of the two women – who claimed to have had sex with an IFP councillor in Alfred Duma Local Municipality– has laid charges of rape against him.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily News on Sunday, the woman, 38, said she had opened a rape case against the councillor because she consented to sleep with him under duress since she was desperate to keep her employment.
The worker said the councillor had also promised to give her permanent employment if she slept with him.
She said she recorded herself and the councillor engaging in sexual acts.
She said she has four children and one is currently at university, therefore she needs to keep her job at the municipality to support her kids.
“I have been sleeping with the councillor since February last year. But at some stage, I felt I must record the act to have evidence if the councillor backtracks on his promises,” said the 38-year-old woman.
The other woman, who is 44, said she was married with two children and felt she had to join her colleague open a case against the councillor because she was also lured by the same councillor to sleep with him before he renewed her contract.
She said she had not told her husband the whole truth but now she would have to face him and explain the ordeal. Her concern was how he would react to the truth.
Both women said they were not the only ones who were preyed on by the councillor. They would encourage others to come forward to open rape cases against him.
The women called on the municipality to give them permanent jobs as compensation but wanted the councillor to be punished for exploiting them by taking advantage of their situations.
“We want the mayor to give us permanent jobs as part of our compensation because we still need jobs and we have families to feed.
“We agreed to this because we were desperate for work. This has damaged our reputation and dignity. We want justice to take its course but we need jobs which we paid for with our bodies,” said one victim.
The 38-year-old victim said the councillor had already informed her that he would no longer renew her contract, which expires next week.
She felt a need to release the recording because she had been used and then dumped by the councillor. Both women are in low-graded jobs.
In an audio clip that went viral at the weekend, the woman and purported councillor are heard discussing employment. The man in the clip said no one would terminate the woman’s contract without his permission and they eventually got into a sexual act.
The action prompted condemnation from the ANC provincial leadership. The party said clips involving IFP officials were erupting like a volcano. A few days ago people were shocked to hear about sexual remarks allegedly made by Abaqulusi Local Municipality mayor Mncedisi Maphisa, who is also an IFP member, it said.
The party said in October 2017, Maphisa was also arrested and released on bail of R3 000 in connection with a sexual assault.
The ANC took a swipe at the IFP, saying it was not surprising that its leadership had not acted firmly following the latest scandal because the party believed that sexual abuse was not a disqualifier for public office.
“We salute the two women who have come forward and call for the councillor to be held accountable for his sexual misconduct and the abuse of public office. The Municipal Finance Management Act prohibits councillors from having inappropriate interference in the administration,” the ANC said.
IFP national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the party takes the allegations against its councillor seriously, “therefore the party will be briefed today and after getting all material facts it will take a decision”.
Provincial police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said Ladysmith police are investigating a case of rape.
“It is alleged by a victim, 38, that she was raped by a known man on February 19 at Leonardsville in Ladysmith.”
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