Icon’s grandson’s rape accuser ‘over 15’

File photo

File photo

Published Aug 25, 2015

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Johannesburg – The rape-accused grandson of a struggle icon walked into the dock of the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, dressed in a black jacket with a grey hood.

The 24-year-old, whose identity cannot be revealed until he pleads, continued with his bail application after the case was postponed on Friday.

The birth certificate of the plaintiff, who claims to be 15 years old, was handed to Magistrate Paul du Plessis. He said the birth certificate was solely to change the schedule of the offence. The accused was currently facing a schedule six offence, which meant the onus fell on him to persuade the court that he should be granted bail.

But Marinda Veldsman, his new attorney, said the State did not prove that the birth certificate of the plaintiff is that of the girl that their client had consensual sex with.

She pointed out that the surname of the girl the accused had consensual sex with wasn’t the same as the surname on the birth certificate that was presented to Du Plessis.

The accused’s legal team handed over affidavits from the icon’s grandson, a chef from the restaurant and an attorney who took pictures of the crime scene.

A witness said that he saw the accused and the plaintiff kissing in the passage and they seemed familiar with each other and intimate.

The witness also said that he did not hear any noises that sounded like there was a struggle.

The complainant said that the accused forced a kiss and when she tried to push him away he pushed her, turned her around and pulled down her pants from the back while she was screaming.

However, Veldsman said that this was the total opposite of what the witness had said.

The accused said the complainant had consumed alcohol and smoked cigarettes. He said she also took pictures with her friends while drinking to post on her social networks. He also said that she stated she was sexually experienced.

Veldsman added that that was not the behaviour of someone who was under 16.

The accused said that he deserved to be granted bail because he had two children and one on the way and he was not a flight risk because he handed in all his passports. He said he did not have knowledge of an assault charge relating to a 42-year-old woman.

In his affidavit, the accused denied threatening the plaintiff when he made a call to her and said he called to find out why she was upset the previous night and to ask her out on another date.

He denied forcing himself on her and said he sat on a chair and she straddled him when they had intercourse.

Veldsman requested that the accused be granted bail of between R5 000-R10 000 because he was not employed. She said he asked to be treated like anyone would be treated and not as a member of a well-known family.

In his affidavit, the accused claimed he had consensual sex with the complainant, whose age was called into question during Friday’s proceedings.

The alleged rapist’s attorney told the court the girl’s Facebook page said she was born in 1999, adding that the complainant had told the waiter at the restaurant where the alleged rape took place that she was 18 years old.

Du Plessis responded that many things posted on Facebook were not true, and requested that the identity book of the complainant be brought to court on Tuesday.

The alleged rape took place on August 7, in the bathroom of a restaurant in Greenside, in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs. The complainant alleges the accused followed her to the bathroom.

ANA

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