Cape Town - An anti-gender violence group has called on the ANC to rein in troubled Western Cape chairman Marius Fransman over his supporters who have launched social media attacks on Louisa Wynand, the woman who accused Fransman of sexually assaulting her.
The Shukumisa Campaign wrote to ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs and the Commission on Gender Equality saying it saluted the 21-year-old woman for standing by her accusations.
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Wynand laid a charge against Fransman in January after travelling with him in his car to the ANC's anniversary celebrations in Rustenburg.
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She claimed Fransman touched her inappropriately and allegedly forced her to share a room with him.
She then went public, revealing her identity after the Director of Public Prosecutions in the North West province, where the charge was laid, decided against prosecuting Fransman.
The matter is being probed by the Northern Cape police. Fransman continues to deny Wynand’s allegations.
Using the Fransman case to highlight the scourge of gender-based violence in the country, the Shukumisa Campaign called on the ANC to honour Wynand’s courage by releasing a statement in respect of gender-based violence and to condemn “any structures which perpetuate any form of secondary victimisation”.
It urged the ANC to discipline its members who did not adhere to its gender policies and condemned social media accounts which supported Fransman.
The group said that it seemed to perpetuate and promote blaming the victim.
Some accounts have targeted and threatened Wynand and her family.
Fransman’s supporters have circulated a screen shot of Wynand’s Facebook page, where she is seen posing in her underwear, days after the case against Fransman was opened in January.
The Shukumisa Campaign said the language used by some of these groups and Fransman in various media statements was not inappropriate. It was gender insensitive and “promotes sexism, patriarchy and endorses the perception of impunity relating to political leadership”.
It added that social media accounts claiming to represent or support Fransman have been actively promoting gender based hate speech against Wynand.
“The online threats and cyber-bullying against the victim is another form of violence and should be condemned in the strongest terms.
“The ANC states that it is a non-racist, non-sexist organisation as well as the fight to combat all forms of discrimination, including sexual violence, being among its key values and principles,” they said.
It said while it acknowledged and supported the necessity for due process, all role-players and stakeholders including government departments, political parties, unions, civil society organisations and communities “must send a clear message.”
They said the ANC should take “immediate steps that will ensure that the sexual assault of women and children by leaders will not be tolerated and that political parties will take disciplinary steps against its members in such matters”.
“The absence of such a message creates an impression that the ANC is a hostile place for women, especially young women,” it said.
Cape Argus