A close relative of a KwaDukuza politician is being accused of raping a 19-year-old woman in a scrapyard during the festive season.
The family of the young woman has accused the politician and his relative of threatening their family, bribing Umhlali SAPS and offering the victim money to keep the incident under wraps.
The accused appeared in the KwaDukuza magistrates court last week, but was not asked to plead and was released on bail.
In terms of the law, the accused in a sex-related crime may not be publicly named until he has entered a plea.
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A family member of the young woman has also accused the Umhlali SAPS of refusing to arrest the accused.
“The incident took place on December 29 and the next day we went to Umhlali SAPS to open a case.
“We were told by the investigating officer that we should rather take R100 000 from the family and forget that the rape happened.
“We refused to do so and assumed the culprit would be arrested.
“However, he showed up at the victim’s grandmother’s home and threatened to burn the house down if the case was not dropped. We then went to KwaDukuza SAPS and the man was arrested the next day.”
Umhlali SAPS spokesperson Vinny Pillay denied that police had refused to take action.
“The matter was sent to KwaDukuza court because Umhlali court was closed at the time.”
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