ANC politician facing rape charges maintains innocence but opts to step aside
- Kenneth Mgaga an ANC member and PR Councillor for the City of Johannesburg has stepped aside
- He chose to voluntarily leave his position as he faces charges of rape
- He maintains that he is innocent but the serious nature of the charges led to his decision to step aside
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ANC PR councillor Kenneth Mgaga is facing allegations fo rape, he maintains his innocence in the face of the charges.
He has, however, opted to step from his position. He wrote a statement which was uploaded by @ZimasaMatiwane on Twitter.
He went to great lengths to explain his decision, beginning the statement by explaining his beliefs and what he had for the ruling party as well as claiming to be a strong supporter in the gender struggle.
Source: Facebook
Mgaga made it clear that the ANC does not have a specific policy which forces accused councillors to step aside.
He said that the seriousness of the charges has led to him voluntarily deciding to step aside as PR Councillor in the City of Johannesburg.
Mgaga stressed that he is innocent and of the allegations levelled against him and commits to to participate completely in the investigation.
Here is his letter in full:
Earlier, Briefly.co.za reported that An unnamed City of Joburg ANC councillor, charged with rape, was released on bail within minutes of making his first appearance in court.
The Wynberg Regional Court saw the politician walked in from holding cells in leg clamps to face the music.
The accused, who cannot be named until he has pleaded according to SA law, reportedly was as cool as a cucumber in court despite facing a Schedule 5 offence.
This means that the ANC politician can face a minimum sentence of 10 to 20 years, something that Magistrate Gideon Schnetler explained.
IOL reports that state prosecutor Ayanda Bakana says the investigating officer had confirmed the address of the accused with no previous convictions or pending cases. The state also opted out of opposing bail.
Bakana explained that the victim, whose name has been protected, outlined the allegations as follows:
“The victim alleges that she visited her friend (the accused) on Christmas Day in Alexandra. She said the offence happened in the early hours of December 26. Later on that day, the accused and his friend took her to her place of residence in Tembisa."
In other news, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte says that SA minus the ANC simply cannot be imagined.
Without going into specifics as to why Duarte also claimed that the ANC being dethroned would spark a civil war:
“Comrades, it is very difficult when you speak with people who doubt that the ANC should continue. You know in your heart that you can never live in a country where there is no ANC because the opposite to that would be chaos and, undoubtedly, a civil war that we all don’t want."
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Source: Briefly News
