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By Citizen Reporter

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AfriForum will prosecute Tom Moyane for ‘ninja-kicking’ his son’s girlfriend

The former Sars commissioner was accused of kicking the mother of his grandson 'like a ninja' and 'rugby tackling' her in 2018.


At a media briefing at lobby group AfriForum’s headquarters in Centurion, the organisation’s private prosecutions unit announced that it would be privately prosecuting axed SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane for alleged assault.

The case relates to reports last year that Moyane allegedly assaulted his 24-year-old son’s then 17-year-old girlfriend, who is the mother of Moyane’s six-month-old grandson.

A medical report allegedly showed she suffered a bruised jaw, a cut cheek, and a bruise to her stomach.

AfriForum will represent the girlfriend, Lerato Maila, who accuses Moyane of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm, as well as damage to property.

Maila alleges that Moyane assaulted her in her home in May, 2018. She says he kicked her face, pushed her and scratched her on her abdomen.

AfriForum said they decided to take the case up after obtaining a nolle prosequi certificate from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). This is legal confirmation that the NPA will not be prosecuting, which led to the lobby group deciding to do it themselves. The NPA cited a lack of evidence as their reason for not proceeding.

According to the head of AfriForum’s private prosecutions unit, Gerrie Nel, the organisation received the certificate indicating that the NPA wouldn’t be prosecuting on September 26, and want to do so themselves before December 26 2019.

READ MORE: Moyane kicks son’s girlfriend in face ‘like a ninja’ – report

“According to her, Tom Moyane assaulted her in May 2018 at his house in Roodepoort, Gauteng by scratching her on her abdomen, pushing her around and kicking her in the face,” Nel said.

“Moyane also threw her cell phone into pieces against the wall before the alleged attack when he realised that she had been recording him. She phoned her mother immediately after the alleged attack, who told her to lay charges at the SAPS.

“Such alleged actions are indicative of bullying and Moyane should be held accountable. The NPA’s failure to prosecute him is also a gross violence of their constitutional duty to strive for justice in society.

“In light of the wave of violence against women and children in the country, this is a very important case in which AfriForum’s private prosecution unit simply must get involved.”

At the time of the incident, Sunday Times quoted the young woman as accusing Moyane of kicking her “like a ninja” and “rugby tackling” her during an argument in which Moyane allegedly blamed her for his troubles and called her a witch at his house in Johannesburg.

The incident was allegedly started by the teenager telling Moyane she was recording him telling her to get out of his home on her cellphone – and he then tried to grab the phone from her.

Moyane’s only son, Hlekani, and the young woman – who couldn’t be named at the time because she was still a minor – started dating in 2016.

The woman’s mother was apparently on a call with her and heard the violent confrontation. The paper further reported that Moyane allegedly denied the woman access to her child for a month.

Moyane did not respond to requests for comment from the publication at the time.

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