Pretoria - Tshwane MMC for Human Settlements and ActionSA Gauteng provincial secretary, Abel Tau, has been placed on a forced leave after it surfaced that he was facing allegations of attempted rape.
Mayor Randall Williams said the decision was taken by the Tshwane coalition partners in the wake of a media report that Tau was accused of attempted rape by a wife of his friend.
The accusations were published in a weekend newspaper, which stated that the incident happened at Tau’s residence in Pretoria, where he allegedly made sexual advances on his friend’s wife.
It was reported that both Tau and a friend, identified as an ActionSA member, were binging on alcohol before the alleged incident.
According to the report, the friend passed out after he had had too many drinks and Tau decided to call his wife to fetch him.
The report claimed that on her arrival Tau made sexual advances on the woman, who turned him down. He allegedly tried to force himself on her but the woman managed to fend Tau off.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Tau said he was careful not to say much about what transpired because the matter was still under investigation by the SAPS, his political party and Tshwane coalition partners.
He, however, said there were “lots of untruths” contained in the media report in question.
For example, he refuted claims that he invited the woman to his house, saying she was called by her husband. “There is evidence that he is the one who called the wife,” he said.
Tau expressed support of the decision to put him on leave, saying he believed it was the right thing to do.
According to him, the gender-based violence victims must be given a space to report any form of violation irrespective of the societal status of the accused.
He said he has been put on a special leave for two weeks, which could be extended should there be a need to do so.
Both ActionSA Gauteng chairperson Bongani Baloyi and party president Herman Mashaba had reportedly admitted that the matter was reported to the party and was currently being investigated.
In reaction to the alleged incident, Williams said he was not aware of the allegations until the news article was published on Sunday.
“The political executive in the City was not aware of the allegations until the news article was published,” Williams said.
He said due to the seriousness of the allegations “the local City of Tshwane coalition leadership met this morning to engage on the matter and take a decision on the way forward that is in the best interest of the multiparty coalition”.
“In line with the City’s due process, the Office of the Speaker (Dr Murunwa Makwarela) will initiate an investigation into this matter. Furthermore, on the request of local ActionSA leadership, the chief whip of council (Christo van den Heever) will place Cllr Abel Tau on leave for the interim,” he said.
He noted that ActionSA national structures have also instituted their own internal processes to deal with the matter.
“The news article has also indicated that the matter has been reported to the South African Police Service for investigation,” Williams said.
Pretoria News