Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 26-02-2019
A political analyst has told Radio Islam, while the rape allegations against African National Congress (ANC) acting spokesperson Zizi Kodwa are serious, it should not be contextualized in a political landscape.
A woman sent a letter to the party’s deputy general secretary Jessie Duarte detailing how she and another woman were drugged and raped by Kodwa.
Kodwa denies the allegation and says its part of a dirty tricks campaign against him.
Political analyst Sanusha Naidoo says the allegations against Kodwa must be fact checked and verified before speculating on what the implications are including the basis of the claims against him.
“It’s very easy for people to say it’s a dirty game or its being used as a political game or whatever. But let’s be careful here because we live in a society where these kind of issues are very real and they have very dynamic implications for society and there are sensitivities around this.”
Naidoo says the issues that is plaguing the ANC ahead of the national elections on 8 May does have links and alignments to different factions and constituents within the party.
“There may be levels of power plays and levels in which there’s these dynamics around interpersonal relations or the way in which power is being exercised over other individuals.”
Naidoo says the allegations levelled against Kodwa and Pule Mabe who was accused of sexual harassment are serious.
She says the ANC must be clear on how it’s dealing with the issues in the context of safeguarding the rights and interests of women and other members in the party who have been at the receiving at end of this kind of treatment.
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