A local politician who was charged with rape in his previous tenure has been elected mayor of the Western Cape Province. South African law makes this possible.
The election of a local politician convicted of rape as mayor has sparked outrage on social media in South Africa.
According to South African media, the 50-year-old man was elected mayor yesterday by the local council of Kannaland in the Western Cape Province – an office he had held in the past. During his previous tenure in 2008, he was sentenced to five years in prison for raping a 15-year-old girl.
However, he appealed. The sentence was suspended in the higher instance. Instead, the politician had to pay a fine and participate in a sex offender program. Under South African law, he would only be excluded from election to public office if he was sentenced to more than a year in prison. This legal situation was also used by the deputy mayor of Kannaland: The politician was convicted of fraud and obstruction of the judiciary, but had opted for a fine and house arrest instead of the otherwise threatened 18 months imprisonment.
“Something like that is only okay in South Africa,” said a Twitter comment. “It’s hard to imagine that we are fighting gender-based violence.” Another Twitter comment said: “We’re doing something very wrong.”
Source From: Stern
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