Pretoria - Disgraced Winterveld ANC councillor Sipho Maselane has been booted out of the party after he was convicted on four counts of rape and four of robbery with aggravated circumstances and sentenced to life.
Maselane was also sentenced to a total of 58 years imprisonment by the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
Maselane, who was described as a serial rapist by Magistrate Dan Mogotsi, preyed on unsuspecting victims from taverns in and around Soshanguve.
He would give his victims lifts in his white Toyota Corolla and drive them to secluded areas where he would rape and rob them of their valuable items at gunpoint.
Two of his victims were 14 when the crimes were committed in December 2014 and February 2015.
The other two victims were aged 30 and 37.
Regional party spokesperson Bafuze Yabo said the decision to expel him was taken during the first meeting of the newly-elected regional leadership convened in Arcadia on Thursday night.
Yabo said members of the regional executive committee (REC) talked at length about Maselane’s conviction before they resolved to remove him as ward 9 councillor with immediate effect.
They also recommended that his ANC membership be expunged.
“Sexual offences and gender based violence remain pernicious acts of turpitude,” Yabo said.
Perpetrators should be condemned in the strongest of terms.
He said the meeting was also used to reflect on its recent elective conference and the state of the party.
Yabo said the party resolved to bring in its former leaders to serve in its integrity commission in line with the 53rd national ANC conference.
“The ANC in Tshwane suffered a big blow in the 2016 local government election as a result of internal squabbles.
“This committee must assist the newly elected leadership to resolve non-branch related matters in addition to its prescribed work.”
He said executive members noted that business during the regional conference was not fully concluded due to unforeseen delays.
It was resolved, during the meeting, that a conference would soon be reconvened and concluded at a time to be determined by the new leadership.
“The REC will at once begin the process in earnest, with the intention to convene the last part of the Regional Conference before the ANC Provincial Conference sits,” Yabo said.