The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will decide soon whether or not to prosecute the leader of the EFF in Gauteng on charges of rape, according to a text message sent to the alleged victim.
The text message, which we have seen, was sent on August 12 by the police in Vereeniging who are investigating the case.
The text message reads: “Case referred for decision on prosecution to senior public prosecutor on 22-08-12.”
Sunday World also understands that the leader of the red berets in Gauteng, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is also on the verge of being suspended from the party pending the outcome of the rape case.
The leader, who is also a ward councillor in one of the municipalities in Gauteng, is also under immense pressure from other opposition parties to vacate his seat in the council and relinquish his duties until his case has been finalised.
Relating the ordeal, an EFF 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 with friends in October 2021 when the suspect asked them to join him for drinks at a party in Rivers Pray in Sedibeng.
The member said the suspect later 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,” shared the EFF member.
“He then pushed her off the bed [and] onto the floor and raped her.”
In the police statement, which we have seen, a Vereeniging police officer by the name of 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 [the victim] told him [that] he must stop what he was 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 [and] then he was on top of her already [sic],” reads the statement.
The leader, according to the police statement, raped the victim without using a condom, and the victim opened a case of rape on July 14.
After opening the rape case, she wrote a letter to the EFF to inform the national leadership of her decision to lay a charge of rape. In the letter, which we have seen, she alleges that she did not open the case immediately because the suspect had intimidated and threatened her with expulsion from the party.
She also alleged that her attacker informed her that there would not be any consequences even if she opened a case against him, because he was friends with some party leaders.
The spokesperson for the NPA, Lumka Mahanjana, confirmed that a case of rape has been referred to the agency, but said no decision has been taken yet because investigations are continuing.
“A decision to prosecute or not in the matter has not been taken as there are still outstanding investigations,” said Mahanjana.
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo could not deny nor confirm that the red-beret battalions were girding their loins to suspend the Gauteng leader, only saying the party would respond at a later stage.
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