A Democratic Alliance Member of Parliament cleared of rape charges says he is too sexy to have to rape anyone.
Masizole Mnqasela was found not guilty of rape when he appeared in the Wynberg Regional Court on Friday.
He was arrested in June last year and released on R500 bail after a teen claimed he violated her at his Pelikan Park home on May 30.
Mnqasela branded the charge against him a political smear campaign.
“Every day, everywhere, women long to be with me. There is no reason for me to criminalise myself,” he said outside court.
“I am happy that this has come to an end because I have been coming to court for more than a year.
“It’s been almost 18 months already and I’ve lost so much.
“I’ve spent almost R150 000 trying to tell the South African public that I won’t rape a woman.”
He may be innocent of rape but, Mnqasela got a tongue-lashing from the magistrate.
Magistrate Kay Pillay said the alleged victim and her friends who testified were poor witnesses who contradicted themselves.
She said they came across as people who were “not telling the truth”.
Pillay told the DA’s Shadow Deputy Minister of Home Affairs that as an MP he should’ve known better than to entertain schoolgirls at his home.
“I want to remind [Mnqasela] that as a Member of Parliament, a public figure, you have a greater responsibility than the man on the street,” said Pillay.
“Who you associate with, how you conduct your lifestyle, all concerns the public.
“When you accepted your office, you also accepted to be accountable to the very society you serve.
“It is very important that as an individual you choose the company you keep.”
She told Mnqasela offering girls free alcohol and food was not a criminal act but that he didn’t do this without expecting benefits.
Pillay said the girl, who was in Grade 12 last year, lied about where she was going and where she’d be spending the night.
And she said the girl admitted that she didn’t have money for food, alcohol or transport when she called Mnqasela, who then invited her and her friends to his house for leftover braai meat.
“The impression created by [Mnqasela] that he didn’t want to waste leftover food from a previous party is certainly not the only reason for his hospitality,” said Pillay.
“The complainant was 17 when you met her and in the most important Grade of her life - she should’ve been home studying and encouraged to go to school, not partying with a man old enough to be her father.”
*This article was published on p5 of the Daily Voice