The President of the Value, Education, Nationalism and Democracy in Africa Party (VENDA party), Mr Levy Mathivha, said that the two female mayors in the Vhembe district should tender their resignation from their positions with lucrative incentives, "to the owners of Vendaland and their descendants".

According to Mathivha, the former Venda homeland was never ruled by a woman, so the ruling ANC should remove all women they have deployed to occupy strategic positions in various government spheres in the Vhembe district.

He said that he viewed women empowerment as a dangerous strategy that needs to be addressed urgently by the nation at large. According to him, putting a woman in a senior position is un-African.

"Where are our African values, education, nationalism? The VENDA party will never accept a woman president, a female mayor or councillor. Effective change happens everywhere, but the more things change the more they remain the same. If Kwazulu-Natal changes to Kwazulu, then Vhembe must also change to Venda, Land of Legends," he said.

Mathivha, who defected from the Democratic Alliance and formed his own party, said that women are man-made puppets, puppeteering on the brink to lead the world to the greatest catastrophe of all the times. He said that women cannot be given absolute power because they will betray the nation.

Mathivha, who added that his party is against same-sex marriage, added that local politicians in the Vhembe district should utilise the floor-crossing window period to join his VENDA party. "Yes we want to urge local politicians to join our party in large numbers, because we are internal squabble free," he claimed.

Mathivha said that in an African society, men are not led by women.