Cape Town – The proverbial knives are out for Kannaland’s Jeffrey Donson who has managed to keep his position in council although he was convicted for the rape of a 15-year-old girl.
Donson is now a councillor after he was ousted as mayor of Kannaland, a municipality marred by political turmoil.
He was convicted of raping the teen in 2008. He went to the Western Cape High Court to appeal the matter and was given a suspended sentence.
The anti-crime lobby group Action Society said it couldn’t understand how a convicted rapist could deserve to be a councillor.
“How is that even possible?” asked the group’s Ian Cameron.
“What example is that for the citizens in Kannaland?”
MEC for local government Anton Bredell said according to law, Donson qualifies to be a councillor.
But Cameron said the law needed to be revised. “It’s nauseating and doesn’t make sense. They need to revise the so-called law,” he added.
Donson didn’t respond to Weekend Argus’ queries.
SALGA cannot allow or disallow individuals from becoming councillors; only the IEC can do that in terms of the Constitution and the act.
In January, Donson was ousted as mayor after a motion of no confidence succeeded.
The motion was tabled after Donson and his deputy, Werner Meshoe, refused to step down after it emerged that they were convicted criminals.
Earlier this year, Weekend Argus broke a story about Donson facing fresh allegations of sexual harassment after a recording of a conversation allegedly between him and a woman was leaked.
To clear his name, Donson laid charges of crimen injuria against a former staffer for “leaking the evidence” in a public meeting.
This comes after a 21-year-old girl claimed that Donson allegedly tried to extract sexual favours when she asked for help.
The woman who, according to a former Icosa staffer, said the incident occurred when she was 20. She reportedly tried to register a case with the police but was unsuccessful.
“The police said she had no prima facie evidence to lay the charge,” said the former staffer who used to work alongside Donson when the incident allegedly occurred.
In the meantime Kannaland’s political landscape is unstable.
The municipality suspended five Kannaland Independent Party (KIP) members working in its administration for alleged malfeasance, among other issues.
On Tuesday, Bredell notified the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) that a vacancy had been declared in the municipality after the KIP terminated Speaker Rodge Albertus’s party membership.
Acting municipal manager Ian Avontuur told Weekend Argus that it was taking Bredell to the High Court in Cape Town to review his decision to declare a vacancy in respect of Albertus.
“We are approaching the High Court on an urgent basis to set aside Bredell's decision,” said Avontuur.
The case will be heard on Wednesday next week.
Weekend Argus.