An EFF Gauteng leader has been accused of sexually harassing several of the party’s female student activists and of raping one of them on two separate occasions last year and this year.
The alleged rape victim has since opened a case of rape at the Vereeniging police station, and the case is being investigated.
The sexual harassment victims have filed a complaint against the leader with the provincial and national leadership of the red beret brigade, but have accused them of turning a blind eye to their complaints and of protecting the sex pest.
The leader, who is known to Sunday World, cannot be named for legal reasons.
The startling revelations were made by one of the EFF’s female members who did not approve of the leader’s conduct.
The member, who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation, said the alleged rape victim, a student at Sedibeng college, was walking to her student commune together with friends in October last year when the suspect asked them to join him for drinks at a party in Rivers Pray in Sedibeng.
She alleges the leader drugged the victim’s friend and tried to rape her.
“When the victim, who was sharing a bed with her friend, saw him undressing her friend, she told him to stop,”,” the EFF member said.
“He then pushed her off the bed onto the floor and raped her.”
In the police statement, which we have seen, a Vereeniging police officer, sergeant Skhosana, said the victim was sleeping in the same bed as her friend when the suspect blitzed into their room and pulled down the friend’s underwear.
“She told him he must stop what he is doing.
“He then told her that because she doesn’t want him to sleep with her friend, he pushed her down, he lifted her skirt then he was on top of her already (sic),” reads the statement.
The leader, according to the statement, raped the victim without using a condom.
The victim opened a case of rape against the suspect on July 14 this year,
After opening the rape case against the leader, the victim wrote a letter to the national leadership of the EFF and informed them of her decision to file a case.
In the letter, which we have seen, she alleges that she did not open the case immediately because the leader was intimidating and threatened her with expulsion from the party if she reported him to the police.
She said the leader also told her that even if she opened a case against him, there would be no consequences because he was friends with certain leaders in the party.
She said he claimed that the two leaders would, instead, have her expelled from the organisation to protect him.
The alleged rape was preceded by a letter of complaint written by other female members to the EFF leadership on February 15 in which they complained that the leader sexually harassed them.
They also said they tried to raise the matter with the relevant structures but were ignored because the leadership was male dominated.
“We tried to raise this problem in the EFF Plenum this weekend, and also raised this problem with the regional treasurer of the EFF as the head of GBV, but nothing was addressed.
“The treasure said that she told him to stop sexually harassing us but he continued (sic),” reads the letter.
Gauteng provincial police spokesperson, Mavela Masondo confirmed that a case of rape was opened, but said no arrest has been made, and investigations are ongoing.
“Police can confirm that a case of rape was opened at Vereeniging police station and assigned to a detective attached to Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for further investigation.
“No arrest has been made yet,” he said.
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said the party encouraged all their members to approach law enforcement agencies and report any form of GBV meted against them.
He said the party took the allegations in a serious light and will conduct its own investigations into the matter, and will leave no stone unturned to unearth the truth.
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