‘Pale male’ Cape Town council

THE composition of Cape Town’s proposed mayoral committee has come under fire for its poor representation of women and people of colour.

Days after the DA retained control of the city and in a month dedicated to women incoming mayor Patricia de Lille was slammed for proposing a male-dominated leadership for the city.

This was after De Lille proposed only three women to serve on the 13 person mayco.

De Lille’s spokeswoman, Zara Nicholson, said the proposed candidates were not chosen on the basis of their gender or race.

Commission for Gender Equality spokesman Javu Baloyi said it would be a travesty of gender justice to see men still dominating in positions of power in the municipality.

“We cannot in this day and age still have a situation where we are not seeing 50-50 gender representation on a leadership level. The Commission for Gender Equality believes that ration should be implemented everywhere, most especially in our municipalities and governments,” he said.

Women’s Month

The fact that the nation celebrated Women’s Month should inspire leaders to make sure women were represented from the lowest to the highest levels, Baloyi said.

ANC mayoral candidate Xolani Sotashe and leader of the opposition in the council, Tony Ehrenreich, said De Lille’s list was a slap in the face for women who had voted the DA into power.

“We hear the DA say it runs an inclusive city, yet their leadership consists of mostly white males, with only three women out of 13. And that’s besides more than half of them (in mayco) being white,” Ehrenreich said.

Sotashe said: “The DA will do whatever it likes. We see white men who have political connections in the business sector holding on to the power in leadership positions. Nothing has changed in the Cape metro, and the poor will be the ones who suffer yet again.”

Under De Lille’s proposed mayco, there are only two changes from the former mayco.

Ian Neilson is set to retain his position as Cape Town’s deputy mayor, Dirk Smit stays as Speaker, and Shaun August will be the new DA whip in the council.

Unchanged are Brett Herron (transport), Jean-Pierre Smith (safety), Xanthea Limberg (corporate services), Ernest Sonnenberg (utilities), Benedicta van Minnen (human settlements), and Johan van der Merwe (energy and environment planning).

Siya Mamkeli (health) and Suzette Little (social development) both also retain their positions.

Newcomers are Anda Ntsondo, who takes over the community services portfolio from Belinda Walker, who has retired, and Eddie Andrews, who replaces Gareth Bloor in economic development.

Said Ehrenreich: “What we are seeing is an elitist group of white men who have no regard for women and the poor. Employment equity laws obviously do not apply to the DA. As the ANC, we will continue pressurising the DA to have the voices of women and the poor heard in council.”

When she announced the list this week, De Lille said the DA would increase the economy and create jobs by making Cape Town a centre for business and innovation as Africa’s ideas hub.

“In order to do so, we must have the right team in place to make this great city even greater,” she said.

EFF provincial chairman Bernard Joseph said a male-dominated mayco was nothing new from the DA.

The city council’s meeting for the new term of office will be held tomorrow. The newly constituted council will elect the executive mayor, the executive deputy mayor and the Speaker.