Kannaland Council Controversially Re Elects Convicted Child Sex Offender As Its Mayor

• The Kannaland municipal council re-instated ICOSA president Jeffrey Donson's term in the mayoral office
• Donson was convicted of the statutory rape of a 15-year-old child while he was the Kannaland mayor in 2008
• Werner Meshoa, who was convicted of fraud, was elected as the deputy mayor with the support of the ANC
• The Kannaland Municipality is reportedly the second worst-performing municipality in the Western Cape

KANNALAND - The Kannaland Local Municipal council on Tuesday renewed Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (ICOSA) president Jeffrey Donson's term as mayor.

News24 reported that Donson is a convicted rapist, having been convicted of statutory rape while he was the mayor in 2008.

His then-conviction, including that of indecent assault, came after he raped a 15-year-old child in 2004, for which he was sentenced to five years in prison.

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Donson reportedly appealed his conviction, which the Western Cape High Court declined to overturn.

However, his sentence was reduced to a wholly suspended term of imprisonment, correctional supervision, a fine of R20 000 fine, and enrolment in a rehabilitation programme for sex offenders.

Following his whirlwind legal woes, Donson was re-elected to the Kannaland council in 2008.

Newly-elected mayor not free of sin

The South African reported that Donson's deputy, Werner Meshoa, also of ICOSA, has a fraud conviction to his name. He was voted in with the support of the African National Congress (ANC).

Meshoa was convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice earlier this year while he was the speaker of the Kannaland council, according to GroundUp.

He received an 18-month jail term or a fine of R6 000 for the fraud conviction, while he was sentenced to four years behind bars for obstruction of justice, with 36 months under house arrest.

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Briefly News understands ICOSA emerged as the strongest party in the troubled municipality, with three councillors, after the election.

Ran to the ground by long-standing maladministration

The Democratic Alliance (DA), in addition to the ANC, has two councillors, and the Kannaland Independent Party one.

ICOSA will run the municipality in partnership with the ANC after the two political parties formed a coalition.

However, the Kannaland Municipality has been under administration since 2018, making it the second worst-performing municipality in the Western Cape.

Reports suggest it owes nearly R14 million to Eskom. In its 2018/19 audit, the municipality received an unqualified finding opinion, while its 2019/20 audit was not completed in time.

ActionSA sinks EFF coalition describing it as being the same as the ANC

Elsewhere, Briefly News previously reported that Herman Mashaba closed the door on a partnership with the EFF as a potential coalition partner after the results of the local government elections.

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Talks between the two groups faltered on Friday night. Mahsaba confirmed that the ActionSA senate decided that a partnership with the EFF would violate their commitment to service delivery.

ActionSA said that the EFF is too similar to the ANC. Earlier, ActionSA had prefered the EFF over the DA and this is due to Mashaba's personal experiences with the DA according to IOL.

He revealed that the EFF has never complained about him firing a corrupt member while the DA forced him to resign after he fired an allegedly corrupt official according to News24.

Source: Briefly News