Call to axe councillor accused of rape

COPE in the Northern Cape is in the process of petitioning for the removal of the ANC ward councillor who was charged for abduction, rape of a minor and attempted rape.

The ward councillor was arrested on Tuesday after a 14-yearold girl and another young woman were allegedly locked inside a house in Lerato Park over the weekend.

Cope MPL Pakes Dikgetsi said that the charges were “shocking and depressing in the extreme”.

“Violence against women and children is an evil scourge. Like corruption, it is a demonic evil that must be exorcised from society as a matter of urgency,” said Dikgetsi yesterday.

He urged the ANC and Sol Plaatje Municipality to remove the councillor from office, with immediate effect.

“As a political office-bearer, he must not be allowed within the council chambers or earn a salary funded by ratepayers, until he has cleared his name in court.”

The ANC in the Frances Baard region said that the ward councillor would remain in his position pending an internal investigation into the allegations, following his arrest.

Spokesperson for Sol Plaatje municipality Sello Matsie explained that a ward councillor could only be removed by a political party or upon resignation.

“Ward councillors are governed by the code of conduct of their respective political party and are not employed by the municipality.”

Independent Electoral Commission provincial manager Elkin Topkin pointed out that councillors were not permitted to serve if they were convicted of a criminal charge.