Africa-Press – South-Africa. A 34-year-old ANC secretary, in a ward north of Johannesburg, is charged with the rape of a 16-year-old girl.
This was heard on Tuesday morning when the man appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court.
In a written affidavit read out by the accused’s lawyer – before court proceedings were adjourned due to load shedding – the ANC ward official said the State had no case against him.
“The State’s case against me is weak. I was not arrested while committing any offence whatsoever, nor was I at the crime scene.
“It occurs to me that the case was opened in November, which was days or months from when the incident is alleged to have happened.
“I have never had any intercourse with the complainant, nor was I linked to the offence with DNA,” his affidavit read.
The accused, who was arrested on 2 December, said he learnt that he was charged with the rape of a 16-year-old girl living in the same yard, after he received a call from a police officer who asked him to hand himself over at the police station.
He said that, on arrival at the station, he found there was another rape case, which had been opened against another man at the same police station.
“The [complainant] alleged that she was raped by another male a few months prior to my arrest.
“I thought the police had made a mistake with my identity, and advised the police that the person she had accused of rape was not me.
“I gave [the police] my identity card to show them, but they said the rape occurred in February, and that the rape I was accused of happened in July, and that both cases had separate dockets,” the affidavit read.
The accused, though, continued to deny any involvement, and said: “It is my belief that had [the complainant] been raped the second time she would have known to give the police DNA, and her waiting for a later time to report the case is indicative that I have never raped her.”
The victim’s father previously told News24 that he only found out about the alleged rape when his daughter confided in him on her birthday, a month after the ordeal.
The father, who cannot be named to protect the minor’s identity, said he did not know the exact date and place of the incident, telling News24:
In court, the accused said there were conflicting versions about what happened.
“In my statement to the police, I denied any involvement in any offence whatsoever. I was given conflicting versions of what happened.
“In one version, I was told that I invited her on a date and raped her [sometime on] 14 October. That is impossible as I do not have contact details to contact her, [and] if I had taken her out on a date, someone could have seen us together and would corroborate her version of events, which is not possible as it never happened.
“In the second version, I was told I raped her where we lived in the same yard [sometime in] July. We stayed in a yard with other people. I would have never been able to grab and rape her, without other people seeing me,” the affidavit said.
The matter continues.
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