Herman Mashaba’s fledging political party, ActionSA has been hit by a sex scandal that threatens to claim the scalp of one of its leaders in the city of Tshwane.
Sunday World has it on good authority that Mashaba’s go-to man in the city, Abel Tau, who is also the party’s provincial secretary, will have to fend off charges of attempted rape laid by the wife of one of his friends.
Tau is currently MMC (member of mayoral committee) for human settlements.
In a story filled with betrayal and a friendship gone sour, Tau is accused of having tried to sleep with his friend’s wife.
This paper has learnt that Tau and his friend were last month enjoying drinks at Tau’s house in Pretoria.
It was during this drinking session that Tau’s associate, who is also his childhood and family friend, is said to have dozed off after a heavy drinking session.
Tau is then alleged to have called his friend’s wife to come and pick up her husband as he was too drunk to drive.
When the wife arrived, she found him “out of it”.
It is at this stage that Tau is said to have made sexual advances on the wife, which she rebuffed.
Tau allegedly then tried to force himself on her, but she successfully fended him off.
A case of attempted rape has since been lodged with police and the docket is sitting in the prosecutor’s office.
Tau’s friend is said to have only regained consciousness the next morning with no clue of what happened the previous night until his wife told him the story of Tau’s alleged attempt to force himself on her.
The furious husband, who is also a member of ActionSA, then confronted Tau.
A meeting between the two families was then held, where Tau is said to have denied the allegations and insisted that it was “his friend’s wife who was hitting on him”.
The friend is believed to have asked Tau to acknowledge the incident and apologise. However, Tau still stuck to his guns and refused to apologise.
The fallout between the two men is said to have also poisoned their work relationship in ActionSA and the city of Tshwane.
Tau is said to have made his friend’s working conditions unbearable, continuously accusing him of under-performance. He is alleged to have also sought to redeploy him.
A friend has since brought the matter to the attention of ActionSA political bosses.
ActionSA Gauteng chairperson Bongani Baloyi confirmed that the party was aware of the allegations.
“I can confirm that I am aware of such allegations and that there is a case registered with the party in regard with the matter. The matter was also reported to the senate meeting held by the party leaders in late September, where there was a scheduled meeting for the
provincial leaders of ActionSA, where our national chairperson [Michael Beaumont] was also present.”
Baloyi said Mashaba was not present at the meeting, but had been informed.
Asked if Tau had been suspended, Baloyi said: “That can only happen through the senate resolution. I don’t know what the resolution is. The chairperson, Michael, and the spokesperson, Lerato (Ngobeni), can … explain further as I was not part of the meeting.”
The scandal comes at a time when the ANC has launched a massive fight to take back control of the city currently under the leadership of a DA-led coalition.
Before joining ActionSA, Tau was the DA regional chairperson in Tshwane. He has previously also served a stint as acting mayor of Tshwane.
Coincidentally, his acting stint in 2019 came after then mayor, Stevens Mokgalapa, was placed on special leave following allegations that he had sex with former MMC for roads and transport Sheila Senkubuge in the offices of the municipality.
Tau has been in his current role for less than a year after he was appointed by current mayor Randall Williams as part of a coalition government arrangement.
In March, Tau stepped down from his role as caucus leader to focus on the party’s management of the coalition government in the city.
Tau could not be reached for comment as his phone has been off since Friday.
The friend promised to respond to requests for comment but failed to do so at the time of going to print despite numerous reminders.
Mashaba yesterday confirmed the incident, saying the “matter was brought to the attention of the entire senate, where a decision was taken to urgently refer the matter to our disciplinary committee for investigation and report back.
“This matter is of interest to ActionSA. We await a report from our disciplinary committee and its recommendations. We’ll go to an extent of calling a special meeting if their report is ready before our scheduled monthly meeting.”
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