The Commission for Gender Equality has slammed the alleged assault of a female councillor by security guards at the Amathole District Municipality on Monday.
A video of the woman being dragged from the offices of the East London-based municipality has been circulating online over the past week, with the woman subsequently opening a case of assault.
At least five officials have since been arrested.
Commission spokesperson Javu Baloyi said the CGE was shocked to see the “inhumane treatment” of the councillor and called on law enforcement to take action against those implicated in the alleged assault.
“The commission… would like to express its disappointment and shock over the inhumane treatment of Amathole District Municipality councillor, Nanziwe Rulashe, which was captured on a video that has been distributed on various media platforms.
“Although we note and welcome the arrest of suspects in this matter, we condemn any acts of violence and bullying in the workplace. Municipal premises represent the integrity of local government, and should be places of safety for all workers and members of the public,” Baloyi said.
Meanwhile, municipal mayor Nceba Ndikinda released a statement on the incident, calling it a deeply disturbing and “humiliating incident”.
“[We] are deeply disturbed by the humiliating incident which took place at our head office, where security officials dragged a member of the Mayoral Committee in an inhumane and barbaric manner.
“This embarrassing and unfortunate event happened when the political leadership of the municipality and the municipal manager were engaged in council business in Mnquma and Mbhashe Local Municipalities, where the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation was doing its oversight work on ADM [Amathole District Municipality] water infrastructure projects,” Ndikinda explained.
He said an investigation has been launched into the incident and has vowed to take action against the perpetrators.
“The municipality has taken a step to suspend the Head of Security of the district, pending the finalisation of the investigation. We have also requested the security company… to act against the security officials that were responsible for the unfortunate act of violence and to provide us with a report regarding remedial actions taken.
“We will leave no stone unturned to ensure that justice is served accordingly,” Ndikinda said.
Source: South African Government News Agency