The Johannesburg woman who filed rape charges against former ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule says in her police statement her family called her a “liar” because he is a “good man”.
This is contained in the complaint submitted to the police station in Mondeor, south of Johannesburg, on the evening of November 29.
The case was, however, only registered this Tuesday, setting social media abuzz.
Contacted for comment, Magashule, leader of the newly formed African Congress for Transformation (Act), referred Sunday World to a close associate and legal adviser, who said the former Free State premier denied he had raped the woman, who is also a close relative.
He also denied ever having a sexual relationship with her.
According to an internal police report that Sunday World saw, the 28-year-old woman told the police in her statement that sometime in March 2017, Magashule called her from Portugal and inquired whether she had found her student accommodation in Johannesburg.
She added that on his return from Madeira, he allegedly called her mother and informed her to come and collect money for her accommodation. Magashule allegedly told the victim that if he scratched her back, she had to do the same.
The alleged victim stated she met Magashule in Sandton to pick up the money from him. The former ANC heavyweight, she said, invited her to a room in one of the trendy hotels.
When they arrived in the room, Magashule went to the bathroom and later came out wearing only his underwear. He then pushed her onto the bed and penetrated her.
When the politician was done plundering her, he threw a stack of bank notes at her and told her to go home because it was late, she said.
When she arrived home in the south of Joburg, she cried but did not tell her parents what had happened. She alleged Magashule then started raping her at different hotels around Sandton and Pretoria.
The woman also claimed she fell pregnant with Magashule’s baby around October or November 2019, and he allegedly gave her the money and forced her to abort the baby, which she says she did.
The complainant added that Magashule stopped communicating with her after the abortion, except for warning her not to tell anyone about their “affair”.
At the time she was ready to break her silence but the woman said her family told her that she was a liar, adding that Magashule could not have raped her because he “is a good man”.
However, these details are yet to reach the Magashule camp. Based on the scanty information available in the media, his backers are already poking holes in the woman’s claims.
Sunday World learnt that Act members, who are preparing a counter-offensive, are adamant the allegations are false and meant to derail the party’s “momentum,” especially in the Free State, ahead of the upcoming general elections next year.
Meanwhile, a top team of lawyers is on standby to defend Magashule should the police make their next move, but according to police insiders, this may take some time since the investigation process requires that the statements of all witnesses mentioned in the complaint statement be collected.
Among the legal eagles touted as potential counsel for Magashule is Ian Small Smith, who has more than two decades of experience providing legal services in criminal law.
Sunday World understands that part of the reason the police were proceeding cautiously on the matter is because there were claims that required further and independent verification.
An investigating officer has not yet been assigned to the case, which was still being handled at the level of “generals”.
At least five witnesses mentioned in the five-page complaint, which Sunday World has seen, would have to be called in to provide their version of events. The majority of the
witnesses are related to Magashule and the complainant.
A key witness would be the medical professional who allegedly performed an abortion on the complainant in 2019, which Magashule allegedly paid for.
However, contradictory information reaching law enforcement members is that the abortion did not happen and that Magashule was, in any case, not responsible for the pregnancy.
“That doctor would have to be found and his evidence collected, and that is why we are moving cautiously, to make sure we are not seen to be conducting a political witch-hunt,” said a source inside the police.
The person continued: “The police know this case may turn out to be another Zuma-Khwezi political hot potato.”
This is in reference to former President Jacob Zuma’s 2005 rape case, in which he was charged in haste only for the court to acquit him after trial. The complainant was
the late Fezeka Khuzwayo, known as Khwezi.
One of the questions raised is why the police case was only registered on Tuesday, December 5, when the complainant laid the charge on Wednesday, November 29.
This has prompted speculation of a hidden political motive riding on the climax of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.
This year, the campaign to end violence against women and girls started on November 25 and ends today.
On Monday, national police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said, without providing a name, a suspect was being investigated after a woman opened a case on Sunday.
“Police can confirm that a case of rape was opened at Mondeor police station. Due processes will follow,” she said.
