Gordon April was handed a five-year jail term earlier this week for theft, intimidation, the misuse of municipal resources and defeating the ends of justice.

CAPE TOWN - The African National Congress in the Western Cape has welcomed the conviction and sentence handed down to its former mayor in Oudtshoorn.

Gordon April was handed a five-year jail term earlier this week for theft, intimidation, the misuse of municipal resources and defeating the ends of justice.

On Thursday he applied for leave to appeal his conviction and sentence.

The ANC’s Yonela Diko says: “As the ANC, we are unequivocally always on the side of the law and the law must be practiced, irrespective of someone’s position. In this case, the law has taken its course.”

April's co-accused Raymond Wagenaar, a former senior municipal official, was handed a one-year jail term which has been suspended for five years.

(Edited by Shimoney Regter)