Axed ActionSA leader and Gauteng provincial secretary Abel Tau was accused of statutory rape by a disciplinary hearing witness.
The allegations are contained in papers of his hearing, which ended on Thursday.
ActionSA’s disciplinary panel, chaired by advocate Gillian Benson and Thuli Nkomo as a prosecutor, concluded Tau brought the party into disrepute and called for his axing from the party.
This comes a week after Sunday World’s revelations of Tau’s sexual misconduct, which resulted in one of the women he allegedly attempted to rape opening a criminal case against him.
During the hearing, Tshepo Moremi testified that he used to work closely with Tau and said they were “good friends”.
Moremi, who is not a member of ActionSA or DA, testified that Tau approached him for assistance after the politician was facing allegations of engaging in sexual acts with a minor.
Tau allegedly requested Moremi to approach the girl’s family to buy their silence.
Tau did not deny Moremi’s allegations and did not challenge Moremi’s evidence during the virtual hearing.
However, Tau’s legal representative, Alfred Kota, objected to the admissibility of his evidence during cross examination.
Moremi said on Friday: “He got himself into trouble after sleeping with a 16-year-old girl. He came to me and other DA leaders in Tshwane to assist him to hide his evil deeds,” said Moremi.
Yesterday, Tau said Moremi was lying. “Moremi is a liar and whatever he testified about at that hearing is a complete lie. I have never slept with a minor in my life. I am going to open a case against him so that he can prove his claims as he spoke that nonsense under oath.
“He is an ex-con. I’m going to sue him for defamation. Moremi believes that I owe him as he claimed to have elevated me to higher ranks in politics. He just gets e-wallets from my detractors. I am going to deal with all this through law,” said Tau.
A DA councillor confirmed that he was aware of the incident, but refused to be dragged into the matter. “I cannot help you with your enquiry.”
The judgment stated that Tau was given an opportunity to cross-examine witnesses.
The judgment in part reads: “Tau, on his own version, was prepared to sexually engage with the wife of one of his staff members in political office and allowed himself to be placed in a compromising situation in his own matrimonial bedroom. Tau acknowledged that he knew a scandal would be imminent … within the Tshwane council, and yet still elected to accompany his staff member’s wife to his bedroom.
“He has further placed the party at risk of civil litigation, which is unbecoming of someone of his stature. He further – whether intentionally or not – caused a GBV scandal for ActionSA, which is highly prejudicial to a newly formed party at such a critical juncture of the upcoming national elections. Tau has acted in a manner which has damaged the reputation of the party.”
Tau has since said he will take the matter to court.
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