South Africa

Politics, South Africa

Marius Fransman sexual assault charges and the sounds of deafening silence

Marius Fransman sexual assault charges and the sounds of deafening silence

It has been four months since a 21-year-old Cape Town woman accused ANC Western Cape Leader Marius Fransman of sexually harassing/assaulting her during a trip to the party’s 104th celebrations in Rustenberg in January. The complainant has twice appeared before the ANC’s Integrity Commission where she broke down while giving testimony. Fransman too has appeared before the commission. Police, however, only took a statement three months after the charges were lodged. Why the delay and has the case got caught up in a larger political battle inside the party? By MARIANNE THAMM.

Considering the gravity of the matter – that one of its senior leaders has been accused of sexually harassing/assaulting a young woman while out on party business – you would think the ANC would be keen for some sort of speedy resolution. Especially in a country where gender-based violence is endemic.

Since reporting the matter to police in January this year, the young woman (whose name is known to Daily Maverick) who accused Fransman has gone into hiding, put her life and career as a singer on hold and dyed her hair. On 3 April she testified at an ANC Integrity Commission hearing in Johannesburg where she wept as she recounted her version of events. Fransman too has appeared before the commission.

In the three and a half months since the woman first accused Fransman of sexually assaulting her after she had travelled by road with the Western Cape ANC leader and two colleagues to the party’s 104th January 8th celebration in Rustenberg, some ANC Women’s League members have privately supported the complainant, but the league itself, rather than lobbying for a speedy resolution to the case, has been preoccupied with reinterpreting the Bible and penning florid public tributes to President Jacob Zuma.

And while a case number exists, police too have been cagey about the status of the investigation. Daily Maverick’s queries to police spokesperson in the North West (where the original complaint was made), Colonel Sabata Mokgwabone, as to the status of the investigation were referred in turn to SAPS North West Corporate Communication Head, Brigadier Leonard Hlathi, who two weeks later had still not replied. Police only took a statement from the woman three months after she had laid the charges.

It is common knowledge that Fransman, who stepped down as ANC Western Cape leader after the charges became public, is a vocal ally of President Zuma. As such he is part of what has become known as the “premier league”, a grouping inside the ANC that has established itself around the notion of maintaining the networks of power and patronage that have rippled around President’s Zuma’s scandal-plagued administration.

The lobby group, centred on premiers of the Free State, Ace Magashule, North West’s Supra Mahumapelo and Mpumalanga’s David Mabuza, has shown its influence at the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) and ANCYL elective conferences where their preferred candidates, Bathabile “Smallanyana Skeletons” Dlamini and Collen “Oros” Maine were elected.

Soon after news broke that the woman had laid a charge with police in Rustenberg in North West province, City Press reported that the paper had confirmed with five independent sources that police had pressured the woman to withdraw the charge. City Press also reported that the woman had been offered R50,000 and that Mahumapelo had also pressured her. The ANC denied that the North West premier had attempted to intimidate the woman.

Fransman has repeatedly claimed on several public platforms that the woman had been an “instrument” and that the the charges were part of an elaborate set-up by a rival faction of the ANC in the Western Cape to oust him.

However, the young woman has consistently maintained that this is untrue; “When would I have had time to be plotting against someone I didn’t know in the first place? If you are 20 years old, trying to build a career and move forward, [and someone] offers you an opportunity of a lifetime, you’re going to take it. I want to know why. Why did you do this when I told you not to? Now you made me do this to you when you just could have stopped. You could have listened. God gave us all free will. Why did you try to take mine away?” she told the Sunday Times in an interview.

And indeed it is inexplicable that a young woman, to whom Fransman had allegedly offered a job, would travel with a senior leader and place her life and reputation at risk by making a false allegation. If it is a “set-up”, then indeed it is an elaborate one.

In her original statement to police, which City Press published, the woman said that during the journey from Cape Town to Rustenberg, Fransman, who had been driving, swapped seats with a colleague and joined her on the back seat where he had “touched her inappropriately”.

On Tuesday, January 5, at about 2.19 am, they arrived at the Flamingo Hotel in Kimberley whereby she was forced to share the bed with the suspect and he would wrap his arms over her and rubbed himself against her, touching her breasts,” the docket reads.

She told him that she does not feel comfortable and he said it would be her challenge to overcome if she wants to make a success out of her career and needs to be clinical and cold about it. They then proceeded to Rustenburg.”

Once the four had arrived in Rustenberg the woman had gone directly to police at Sun City where she lodged the complaint. There she said she had been treated with “disdain” by SAPS officers and when an individual, whom she had recognised as an acquaintance of Fransman’s, had arrived at the charge office she had been so terrified that she had hidden under a table before managing to escape from the building, arriving in Cape Town 24 hours later. The young woman left all her belongings in Rustenberg and these were now in the possession of an ANC official whose name is known to the Daily Maverick.

The ANC’s Integrity Commission was established in 2013 as a “first port of call” for allegations of corruption or other charges against any party member. The commission’s original aim, according to 2012 resolutions taken at Mangaung, is to protect the “image” of the ANC and “enhance its standing in society by ensuring, among others, that urgent action is taken to deal with public officials, leaders and members of the ANC who face damaging allegations of improper conduct”.

It is chaired by Rivonia triallist and former Robben Island prisoner Andrew Mlangeni. Other members are Frene Ginwala and Gertrude Shope.

In 2015 the Mail and Guardian reported that the commission had only made one recommendation and that all others had been simply ignored. Its decisions are generally regarded as “recommendations” that are not “binding”.

What is disappointing is that civil society lobby groups have been noticeably silent on this matter. There has been very little public pressure for the case to be resolved or calling on the ANC to act.

Fransman has stated that he would like to see a resolution to the matter as his career is currently in limbo. The allegations are bound to affect the party’s perception in the Western Cape where it has performed dismally in recent years. It is also deeply divided with factions who support President Jacob Zuma and those who do not. So far the “faction” that supports Zuma has managed to galvanise its efforts in the region. Fransman is intricately linked to this grouping.

The complainant too is keen to see the case reach the courts where her version can be tested. So, what’s the delay and is anyone trying to politically influence the justice system behind the scenes? If so, this would constitute a serious breach of the rule of law and the separation of powers. DM

Photo: Marius Fransman (GCIS)

Gallery

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