A symbol of power or criminality? Deputy Mayor Kolwapi links her gun incident to GBV crisis
Bitou Deputy Mayor Nokuzola Kolwapi has pushed back against calls for her resignation, framing the viral gun incident as a challenge to a society where women are "relegated to roles of victimhood."
Image: Screenshot
Facing a criminal investigation and mounting political pressure, Bitou Deputy Mayor Nokuzola Kolwapi has offered a defiant justification for her actions at a recent cultural ceremony.
In a formal statement, Kolwapi attempts to pivot the narrative away from the legality of the weapon seen in her hand, linking the incident instead to the national crisis of gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa.
The deputy mayor maintains that the object she was filmed discharging into the air during her son's ulwaluko (initiation rite) was merely a "replica (toy-gun)." However, she argues that the act itself was a deliberate "declaration" in a country where women are too often relegated to the roles of the protected or the mourned.
Bitou Deputy Executive Mayor Nokuzola Kolwapi is facing criminal charges and widespread condemnation after a video emerged appearing to show her discharging a firearm during a celebratory gathering in KwaNokuthula, Western Cape
Image: Screengrab/ X
Reclaiming "Ritual Authority"
Kolwapi suggests that the public outcry is a symptom of a patriarchal society that is "unsettled" by the sight of a woman asserting power in a traditional setting. She positions her actions as a direct challenge to the historical exclusion of women from symbols of authority and protection.
"For generations, power, ritual authority, and public symbolism have been narrowly defined along patriarchal lines," Kolwapi said.
"A woman occupying this space — confidently, visibly, and unapologetically — challenges the assumption that leadership, protection, and cultural authority belong to men alone."
A Response to a Grieving Nation
In perhaps her most controversial claim, the deputy mayor argues that her actions cannot be viewed in isolation from South Africa’s high rates of violence against women. She frames the brandishing of the alleged replica gun as a symbolic refusal to accept a life of fear.
"This moment cannot be separated from the political and social reality of South Africa today," she stated.
"We are a nation grieving; women are being killed in their homes... The incident was not a threat — it was a declaration. A declaration that our sons must be raised to honour life, not dominate it."
The Legal Reality
While Kolwapi frames her actions as a revolutionary act for womanhood, the South African Police Service (SAPS) is focusing on the physical evidence. Detectives have opened a case for the pointing and discharging of a firearm in public, as ballistics experts investigate whether the device was indeed a toy or a lethal weapon.
Kolwapi insists she remains steadfast in her attempt to link her cultural expression to a broader struggle for safety. She concluded her statement by dreaming of a South Africa "where our traditions evolve without losing their soul, where women’s authority is not questioned but respected, and where no woman has to march, protest, or mourn simply to be safe."
On Monday, IOL reported that the African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape has reacted angrily to the circulating video showing Kolwapi discharging a firearm during a celebration in the street.
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
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