He dropped her off at home one night in 2014 and as she opened the door to exit the car, he rubbed his hand up her right thigh before telling her he wants her.
This is the accusation by DA Gauteng MPL Nkele Molapo, who has opened a case of s.e.xual assault against DA Gauteng interim leader Solly Msimanga at Villieria police station in Pretoria.
Speaking to The Citizen on Tuesday morning, she recalled the day of the incident, stating Msimanga had taken her home after they both attended a debate in Johannesburg.
But while the drive home was cordial, the mood suddenly changed when they arrived at her residence.
“As I reached for the door to get out of the car, he reached for the door to stop me, then put his left hand on my right thigh. He then moved up his hand, looked me in the eye and said ‘I want you’. I said no, and honestly, he left it at that. I then got out of the car. To be honest with you, we were okay. At the time, I just saw it as a guy trying his luck and hitting on me,” she said.
Six years later, Molapo came forward to her party earlier this month to lodge a complaint against the former Tshwane mayor.
While the timing of her complaint was questioned by the party, Molapo said it came after continuous internal conflict and squabbles with Msimanga which she felt might be a result of her rejecting his advances.
“I just want the law to take its course,” she said.
Molapo turned to the police on Monday after her complaint within the party was seemingly dismissed when DA Gauteng chairperson Mike Moriarty implied in a statement on Sunday that she was attempting to get back at Msimanga.
“The timing of reporting this incident raises questions about the veracity of the complaint. Furthermore, it should be noted that the complainant Ms Molapo is undergoing a serious disciplinary hearing,” Moriarty had said.
Msimanga however maintained his innocence, stating Molapo fabricated the charges following an investigation into allegations of her leaking party information to Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema. While she was found guilty and subsequently dismissed from the party in January, Molapo had appealed the verdict with the outcome expected to be announced soon.
But she was only “using a sensitive issue to fight a political battle” as she knew she was “on her way out and wants to go out looking like a victim”, Msimanga said.
Msimanga opened a case of crimen injuria at the Brooklyn police station last Sunday, 4 October, immediately after hearing about the internal complaint lodged by his accuser.
“I have never been after her. I protected her when she was called a wh0re in council… I’ve always marched with her and always been supportive of her cause. As late as 2018, she invited me to be a guest speaker at her birthday party… She’s been calling me her ‘man crush’ and now she can’t be close to me because she is scared of me?” asked Msimanga.
“It hurts that it is happening. I am raising sons who I have always been a hero in their eyes. For this to be emerging, it is painful.”
But all Molapo had wanted from the party was mediation and a fair hearing.
“I am disappointed in how the party handled this matter. When I lodged a complaint internally, I just wanted mediation and a fair hearing. I am so disappointed because there was never an intention for things to turn out the way they did,” she said.
-The Citizen
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