#MugabeResigns: 'We woke up every morning waiting for this day'

Harare - Car horns blared and cheering crowds waving the national flag thronged the streets of Zimbabwe's capital Harare on Tuesday after news broke that President Robert Mugabe had resigned after 37 years in power.

The announcement came after days of mounting pressure on the 93-year-old leader, whose long and authoritarian rule made him feared by many of his citizens.

"We are just so happy that things are finally going to change," Togo Ndhlalambi, 32, a hairdresser, told AFP.

"We woke up every morning waiting for this day. This country has been through tough times."

After a week of political turmoil, Zimbabweans reacted with shock, disbelief and delight.

"I am so happy that Mugabe is gone, 37 years under a dictatorship is not a joke," said Tinashe Chakanetsa, 18.

"I am hoping for a new Zimbabwe ruled by the people and not by one person.

"We need leaders who are selected by the people and not rulers. I am looking forward to get a job after our economy recovers."

Massive crowds gathered within minutes of the surprise announcement made to a meeting of parliamentary lawmakers who were discussing a motion to impeach Mugabe.

At the Rainbow Towers conference centre where the MPs were gathered, a framed portrait of the president was ripped from the wall, torn apart and stamped to pieces by a cheering crowd..

People remove, from the wall at the International Conference centre, where parliament had their sitting, the portrait of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe after his resignation. Picture: Jekesai Njikizana/AFP

"It's shocking, that guy (was) powerful, very powerful," said Barber Wright Chirombe, one of those who joined the euphoric street celebrations.

Across the city, men danced, women sang and many were in tears, brandishing national flags and often praising General Constantino Chiwenga -- the man who led the army takeover that finally triggered the crisis that overthrew the ageing president.

"We were reduced to worthless people under Mugabe," said Yeukai Magwari, 33, a vendor dancing with uniformed domestic maids in the Avondale neighbourhood of the capital.

"From now on we don't want to see our elderly men and women sleeping in queues outside banks, and people reduced to being destitute after going to college," he said.

Tendai Chaitezvi, 29, a bank employee, celebrated with friends at the Fiesta bar in the Avenues district as music was blasted from several car stereos.

"The situation in the country under this man was rough," he said. "A lot of our friends went abroad in search of jobs and were wondering how we managed to survive back here.

"There is suddenly a sense of optimism now. Today is the start of hoping that things will get back to normal."

Leah Macharaga, 37, was born in 1980, the same year that Mugabe came to power. "I hated that man," she said simply.

The news came shortly before dusk in Harare, and as dark fell cars careened through the unlit streets.

"I am happy beyond words. Now we expect a better future for our country than the hardship we endured under Mugabe," Modesta Macharaga, 35, told AFP. 

Some locals immediately focused on the country's uncertain future, and likely next president Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe ally with a reputation as a ZANU-PF party hardliner responsible for violent crackdowns on dissent.

"Mugabe's resignation must be followed by the resignation of all those have surrounded him," Munyaradzi Chihota, 40, a businessman in Harare, told AFP.

"We need a complete overhaul, not just the removal of one person at the top. With any elements of ZANU PF still in power I doubt that we will move forward."

"We hate ZANU-PF and we don't want to replace a dictator with another dictator," said Oscar Muponda, a office worker in the capital.

In Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo, Mandla Mpofu, 63, a lawyer gathered with friends at the Continental Bar.

"It has been years and years of suffering and here is freedom at last. I am going to celebrate late tonight."

.Man,aged 23 stabbed to death on his way to work

 Sydenham police are investigating a case of murder after a 23-year old man was killed on the M13, near Westwood Mall on Tuesday morning.

Mohamed Yusuf Janoo Joosub was walking to work when he was accosted by two knife-wielding men. 

Joosub was stabbed in the chest and abdomen. According to a witness, Joosub collapsed shortly after.

He died at the scene. He worked at a cellphone shop in Westwood Mall. He was an only child. was killed on the M13, near Westwood Mall on Tuesday morning.

Mohamed Yusuf Janoo Joosub was walking to work when he was accosted by two knife-wielding men. 

Joosub was stabbed in the chest and abdomen. According to a witness, Joosub collapsed shortly after.

He died at the scene. He worked at a cellphone shop in Westwood Mall. He was an only child. 

His father, arrived at the scene and wept as police gathered evidence. His mother had to be escorted from the scene. Yusuf Janoo Joosub, the man's father  was comforted by friends and family at the scene. 

Cars lined the M13 Durban bound carriageway as family and friends came to pay their last respects. He was described as a warm-hearted person who enjoyed making jokes. 

Satish Dhupelia, of the Sydenham SAPS Community Policing Forum said it sad  that yet another innocent citizen has lost his life while walking to work.

"Something that we should all be able to do safely but are unable to because of the terrible scourge of crime and senseless violence citizens are experiencing.  How many more lives need to be lost before government wakes up to the fact that we need more visible policing more resources and stricter penalties for those who indulge in crime. We are not a safe society but a fearful one - living in the fear that one of us will become a crime statistic today or tomorrow," he said. 

Agony of sole survivor of Soshanguve high-mast horror

Pretoria - The sole survivor of last Saturday’s killer high-mast light in Soshanguve wept hysterically as she fought to move her right leg that was trapped under the heavy metal ring.

Her five friends were not so lucky, and the struggle for survival of Thembeka Mgciwa, 9, was relayed to mourners during their memorial service on Thursday.

Little Thembeka sat quietly next to her grandmother Sorua Mabolawa during the service at a community hall in the township. The event was attended by people from all walks of life who went to express their condolences to the families.

Mabolawa, who spoke to the Pretoria News on the sidelines of the service, said her granddaughter was still traumatised after what transpired on that fateful day.

“Her mother told me she is having sleepless nights. She says at night Thembeka wants to jump in her sleep. I think she is still traumatised by what happened. She needs counselling,” she said.

Mabolawa said Thembeka hardly spoke about her experience besides talking about the pain in her leg and hand. “She is still very young; she can’t really explain to you how she feels inside.

“She knows what happened, but can’t put it into words. She only told me she was scratched by the electric wires.”

Mabolawa said she recalled that Thembeka couldn’t move her small body because her leg was trapped under the lighting ring.

“She couldn’t move herself, just watching the dead bodies of her peers with their brains and blood spilled all over the place”

She said Thembeka was rushed to hospital after the accident, but was discharged the same night after a medical check-up and treatment. “I thought she had fully recovered, but now I am starting to think that doctors might have made a mistake. On our way to this memorial service she complained about pain in her leg,” she said.

Mabolawa harboured fears that Thembeka might not be able to play for a long time with other kids. “I think her leg still needs treatment,” she said.

The sombre memorial service was attended by ANC provincial leader and MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Paul Mashatile, who expressed his heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased.

Mashatile said: “We were shocked when we heard about the tragedy. Be strong in your spirit; we pray that God gives you strength.”

He then indirectly slammed mayor Solly Msimanga for his utterances that cable theft was at the heart of the problem that resulted in the deaths. “It is important that when something like this has happened we must investigate and not speculate because when you speculate you can’t fix the problem,” Mashatile said.

He warned that the problem could happen again if it was not fixed and commented that political organisations made undertakings to serve the people but tended to forget about their promises once they got into power.

Mashatile said he was told that a service provider appointed by the City of Tshwane to fix the problem did shoddy work. “We must appoint people who are able to do proper work,” he said.

Mapiti Matsena, leader of the ANC caucus in the Tshwane council, also criticised Msimanga for his statement regarding cable theft. “We must really have a thorough investigation to determine what happened. Don’t stay in your office and say the problem is cable theft,” he said.

He told the mourners complaints about service delivery were not attended to because the City executive took time to respond. “Communities rush to councillors when they encounter problems with services. They don’t know that after reporting the report the councillor speaks to the MMC and the MMC drags his or her feet before fixing the problem,” Matsena said.

MMC for agriculture and environmental management Michael Mkhari said the City had accepted responsibility for what happened and would make sure it would not happen again.

He said the City designed a programme to repair all street lights and floodlights which had not been working for years. “The tragedy of this nature must never happen again,” Mkhari said.

Maikano Khoza, Lethabo Matibako, Kearabilwe Baloyi, Dimpho Bopape and Boitshoko Bopape will be laid to rest at Block P Cemetery at 8am on Saturday.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura is expected to attend. 

#TexasShooting church might be torn down or turned into a memorial

Sutherland Springs, Texas - The First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, where a gunman slaughtered 26 people and injured 20 others, remains standing, but perhaps not for long.

Church leaders say they might tear down the small white church and rebuild it, but they might also create a memorial where the existing structure stands. Less than a week after the mass shooting, they have not made any firm decisions.

Pastor Frank Pomeroy, whose teenage daughter was killed in the massacre, told the Wall Street Journal that too many people "do not want to go back in there," referring to the church, which has been full of forensic investigators and law enforcement in recent days.

Roger Oldham, a spokesperson for the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee, said church leaders visited Pomeroy this week and discussed multiple scenarios for the building.

"Since that building is the scene of so much horror, Frank said he had been thinking it was in the best interest of the church to have the worship centre removed and the site turned into a memorial garden," Oldham said. "The church has not yet voted, so there is no definitive plan."

Oldham noted that a vote would occur at the local level and would require a consensus between the congregation and the pastor.

Pomeroy could not be reached for comment Thursday, but Leonard Favela, a church spokesperson, said the church is focused on other matters this week, such as "ministering to our grieving families."

The church served the small community here, and often had a few dozen congregants each week in the small service hall. Their typical weekly services - which are posted to YouTube - often opened with hymns accompanied by two electric guitarists while church members greeted each other in conversation among the pews, their children running about. Many members wore jeans and T-shirts in what appeared to be a generally casual, uplifting gatherings.

For communities shattered by mass shootings, among the many things to consider in the aftermath is what to do with the sites of the bloodshed. These venues often shut down at least temporarily as they become crime scenes that need to be scoured and intensely documented.

In some cases, the particular locations never reopen, as authorities tear down the structures to cauterise the physical wounds they can represent. In other situations, officials opt to reopen the doors after a time, seeking a sense of normalcy and a show of resolve after enduring an unimaginable horror.

Some of the structures that reopened did so after being altered in some way. In 2009, two years after a gunman at Virginia Tech killed 32 people, the university reopened Norris Hall, where much of the attack occurred, and redesigned the hallway at the center of the violence.

The building at the Washington Navy Yard where a gunman opened fire in 2013 was renamed and renovated before reopening in 2015. 

A remembrance area was dedicated to the 12 people killed in that attack. The Aurora, Colorado, movie theater where a gunman killed 12 people and wounded dozens of others in 2012 reopened several months after the shooting following a renovation.

The decisions to reopen the sites were not universally welcomed. Some Navy Yard workers said they were too traumatised and had to be transferred to other buildings, while others were believed to have retired rather than return to work.

Relatives of some victims of the Aurora shooting said they were appalled to be invited back to the theater for its reopening. When Virginia Tech reopened Norris Hall, the mother of one of the attack's survivors said: "I wish they'd burn this building down."

Other venues were fully or partially torn down and rebuilt. After a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, the school was demolished and a new school reopened last year. The Columbine High School library where most of the 13 victims of that Colorado rampage were killed in 1999 was removed and another reopened to take its place.

Much like the church in Sutherland Springs, other locations have shuttered amid plans to change them into something else entirely. After a gunman at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killed 49 people there last year, the building was closed. 

The venue's owner said she plans to open a memorial there and reopen the club somewhere else. After a gunman in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino opened fire last month on a Las Vegas concert, killing 58 people, the hotel's operator said they would no longer rent out his suite.

Attack on EMS van leaves family in mourning

Cape Town - They lost their only child. But had it not been for an attack on the ambulance that was transporting him to hospital, their 7-year-old son might have been saved.

Hours earlier, Faigon and his parents, Nicola Wildschut and Chailon Mitchell, were involved in a head-on collision in Lansdowne Road after driving from Manenberg. 

Faigon was transported to the Delft Day Hospital with head injuries, awaiting an ambulance which, according to the parents, arrived four hours later. It was then a race against time to get him to Red Cross Memorial Hospital. 

The scene of the accident.

But the ambulance drove over bricks strewn across Borcherds Quarry Road. The ambulance made its way to the nearest garage. 

The scene of the accident.

It was then that the robbers struck.

“The three guys took the driver’s phone and tried to rob us as well. I got so angry that I smacked one of the guys with my phone,” Faigon’s father said. 

Wildschut said: “We stood waiting for another ambulance to come, but when they arrived there were a lot of paramedics and so many police and they were more worried about the van that was robbed but no one took note of my child.”

Faigon died before reaching the hospital. 

Faigon, 7.

“I think if that robbery wouldn’t have happened he would’ve still been with us. He was my everything, my only child and I am going to miss him,” Wildschut said.

EMS spokesperson Robert Daniels said the ambulance was en route to the Red Cross Children’s Hospital when it was stoned near Borcherds Quarry. 

“The crew were then robbed of their belongings at gunpoint. A second ambulance was dispatched to transport the patient, but the trauma to his head was so severe he sadly passed away at noon.”

Mayco member for safety, security and social services JP Smith said the focus was on other areas such as the R300, where ambulance attack incidents were more prominent. 

Smith said law enforcement who were first on the scene were reasonably quick, despite limitations.

Faigon's parents. Picture: David Ritchie/ANA Pictures

“We are limited, but we do what we can in terms of crime prevention. Through CCTV, officials were able to see something was wrong as slabs were on the road. Law enforcement officials rushed to the scene. Sadly, EMS staff were already attacked. We usually monitor vehicles that stop on the N2 and night vision software also helps a lot,” Smith said.

Smith said City officials patrol the N2 and that attacks were not common.

“Few incidents happen there, so our focus was on roads like R300. This incident has shifted our focus back to it now.”

Smith said that while there were ongoing discussions with Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo about attacks on staff, the City, province and EMS had been working on a solution for five months, which would be introduced in February.

Faigon's parents. Picture: David Ritchie/ANA Pictures

Head of EMS Dr Shaheem de Vries said their staff were not physically harmed, but they were shaken up. 

New 'zombie drug' hits Durban

Anti-drug activist Sam Pillay has described symptoms displayed by people under the influence of a dangerous drug‚ which has made its way to Durban‚ as like watching a horror movie.

Pillay‚ founder and director of Anti-Drug Forum SA‚ is also worried that the drug known as “flakka” or the “zombie drug”‚ which has been sweeping the streets of Australia and the US‚ has hit Durban at the time school exams are about to finish.

“We’re very worried that it’s starting at this time of the year when exams are finishing. People should not be encouraged to experiment with it because it can be very dangerous to them and people around them‚” said Pillay.

The Chatsworth-based Anti-Drug Forum is a voluntary organisation which was formed in April 2005 to assist a community that was and still is being ravaged by substance abuse.

Pillay told TimesLIVE on Wednesday that they have already had some people coming to their centre for help. “We have experienced it with some people who come to our centre and their drinks were spiked. They claim they did not know it was in the drink. After drinking that they displayed those symptoms of flakka; they started feeling the effects of flakka. They turn into zombies and become abusive and violent and they were imagining things and hallucinating‚” said Pillay.

“And those are the kind of things that happen. We had to sedate them and send about three or four people to sit them down when they were high on this drug. It can be very dangerous to themselves and people around them. [One of] the other effects is that the blood pressure peaks up. It’s like a horror movie.”

He said it is scary that the drug has reached Durban and surrounding areas. “We hope that it’s nipped in the bud and it doesn’t reach other areas in the country. We know that the Specialised Crime Unit is working on it‚” said Pillay.

On Tuesday three men were reportedly hospitalised in Chatsworth after taking the drug at a party. One of the men allegedly attacked a woman‚ biting off a chunk of her arm. Another is reported to have suffered a heart failure‚ with his heartbeat returning a short while later.

A Durban daily newspaper quoted a source who said the men were restrained and taken to hospital‚ where they still were not aware of what was going on around them. “They were strapped in the hospital beds but were asking nurses which fruits they must pick from the trees‚” said the source.

It is said to take five days for the drug to be fully flushed out of their systems.

Flakka is priced from R400 to R1 000. Some bizarre reported cases in the US include an agitated man running naked through traffic‚ a delusional drug addict who attempted to perform a sex act on a tree and then resisted arrest‚ and a paranoid man trying to break into a police station to seek safety.

Side effects of this new street drug include changes in behaviour or mood and it may cause extreme agitation‚ jerking muscle movements‚ delirious thoughts and profound paranoia.

Word on the streets is that flakka is a combination of heroin and crack‚ but its scientific description is that the drug is just a newer-generation version of bath salts. Pillay said the drug can be taken in tablet form or snorted in powder form.

He is also worried about the danger the drug can pose to the community. “The biggest worry is that the user is left in that state for a long time. This could be very dangerous to people around them and we need to put the word out against this drug‚” he said.

MANAMELA EXPECTED TO TESTIFY AT ESIDIMENI HEARING IN 2 WEEKS

JOHANNESBURG - Gauteng’s former Director of Mental Health Doctor Makgabo Manamela is expected to testify at the Esidimeni arbitration hearings in two weeks’ time after being subpoenaed on an urgent basis.

Manamela has been suspended for her role in the Esidimeni tragedy in which 141 psychiatric patients died.

The patients were moved after the Health Department terminated its contract with the Life Esidimeni group allegedly to save money.

Manamela has been mentioned several times at the hearings as the official who forced NGO owners to take patients without the adequate qualifications and signed off on the unlawful licenses.

She was also the official named as being present when patients were moved from Esidimeni facilities to the ill-equipped NGOs.

Section 27 lawyer Adila Hassin says she has been subpoenaed to testify soon.

“The subpoena was issued on 2 November and the date in which Dr Manamela is required to appear is 20 November. We’ve has no objection or challenge to the subpoena thus far.”

Recently, an independent ad hoc tribunal headed by retired judge president Bernard Ngoepe dismissed Manamela’s appeal against the health ombudsman’s findings against her.

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says she should now be reported to the nurse’s counsel for ethical misconduct.

#Law enforcement officer bust with drugs worth R1.9m

Cape Town - A law enforcement officer was arrested for the possession of 41 000 mandrax tablets with the street value of R1.9 million in Bellville South, the City of Cape Town said on Wednesday. 

The arrest was made by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) after receiving a tip-off which led to the drugs being found in two vehicles on the property.

Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security and Social Services, JP Smith said: "The City is shocked by this incident and will immediately institute pre-suspension procedures."

According to Smith, when arrested, the officer was off-duty and in possession of his firearm which is a breach of protocol.

"While the case is still under investigation, this is of grave concern and we will assist the Hawks where required.

"Incidents like these have the potential to do great harm to the reputation of the City’s enforcement agencies and the hundreds of officers who sacrifice a lot every day to help make Cape Town a safer place," Smith said.

He encouraged the public to not judge officers on the alleged actions of a few.

The accused will appear in court on Thursday.

Watch:'Alcohol played a roll in MduduziManana's behaviour'

 Former deputy minister of Higher Education Mduduzi Manana, found guilty of assaulting three women at a Johannesburg nightclub, told a probation officer that alcohol played a roll in his behaviour as he was under work pressure at the time.

"He stated that maybe he was sober he would've handled the situation differently," social worker Masisi Modikoane read from her report on Wednesday.

Modikoane told the Randburg Magistrate's Court that Manana told her that he generally spent time at home when be was not at work and that his job was "rather stressful", but that he tried to not allow it to get to him.

Manana was convicted of three counts of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm after pleading guilty to the charges. The charges relate to the assault of three women at Cubana in Fourways on August 6.

He said following the incident he was questioned about whether he was homophobic or whether he himself was gay. He said he was offended by being called gay because he wasn't and because it had happened in a derogatory manner.

Manana's mother said she was disappointed and ashamed of his actions and wasn't coping, the probation officer further testified. 

Modikoane said the victims felt humiliated, especially because of his then position as deputy minister.

All three women, Mandisa Duma, Noluthando Mahlaba and Thina Mopipa have requested R100 000 compensation from Manana.

Modikoane said despite Manana reporting not having alcohol issues, he still had to be responsible for his actions, with or without alcohol.

"He, at no point, shifted blame to his victims...he can reason between right and wrong and has shown maturity," she said.

Modikoane added that Manana had a role to play in society and had to act accordingly.

"There was no planning involved in the execution of the offence," she added. 

She added that he could rehabilitate himself and did not deserve imprisonment. 

Modikoane recommended that Manana  pay compensation for the medical bills of the three women, attend counselling sessions and complete 1 000 hours of community service. She added that victims could receive free counselling.

Watch-out of fake Eskom man

POLICE have warned South Africans about thugs who come to their homes posing as 
service providers.

On Tuesday, they arrested a man pretending to be an Eskom contractor who took money from residents.

He was caught in Kaalfontein, east of Joburg by people who accused him of defrauding them. They questioned him and he could not explain his actions.

He was saved by patrolling cops from an angry crowd that wanted to beat him!

Captain Bernard Matimulane said this kind of crime was common in kasis.

“Residents have to be alert and not allow strangers into their property,” he said.

The 31-year-old suspect allegedly produced an Eskom employee card and claimed to be checking electricity meters.

“Apparently, at some point the suspect worked as a contract worker at Eskom. When the contract ended he did not return the card and overalls,” said Matimulane.

He was identified by a woman who said she gave him money after he told her she had breached her electricity supply.

 

MURDER ACCUSED VAN BREDA WISHES HE HAD DONE MORE TO SAVE FAMILY

CAPE TOWN - Triple murder accused Henri van Breda has told the court he wishes that he had done more to save his family from an axe-wielding killer.

Testifying in his trial this week, Van Breda was also made to demonstrate how an intruder attacked his relatives with an axe.

He says he also couldn’t bring himself to help his family.

“If I have been thinking clearly I probably would have done these things. If I hadn’t been so scared.”

Van Breda is on trial for the murder his parents and older brother and for seriously injuring his sister in an attack at their Stellenbosch home in 2015.

During cross examination on Wednesday, prosecutor Susan Galloway questioned why the intruder would enter the house unarmed.

“It would be strange had a person planned to enter your house and attack the family that they come armed inadequately or unarmed. So they were, in actual fact, ill-prepared for the attack.”

A few months ago, Van Breda's lawyer Advocate Matthys Combrink argued that the axe found on the crime scene might have been one of two used in the attacks.

Prosecutor Susan Galloway asked Van Breda what he thinks about the possibility of a second axe.

“I don’t know. But I only saw one of them. I only saw one of the attackers and he was holding the one axe.”

Van Breda said it’s likely that the other attacker, who he only heard in the house, could have had a second axe.

But Galloway pressed harder.

“Did you ever see another axe other than exhibit 111C (the axe)?”

Van Breda responded: “No”

Van Breda claims the attacker must have come to the house unarmed, and taken a knife from one of the kitchen drawers, and the axe from the pantry where it had been kept.

Two women accused of killing boy, 7, given bail

Two women accused of the murder of Ezra Daniels, 7, were granted bail in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Pregnant Kelly Daniels and Kimberley Solomons were granted bail of R1 000 each yesterday.

The other three accused – Tasliem Bianchi, Ikeraam Bianchi and Marlon Neehuis – abandoned their bail application last week. 

They will remain in custody at Pollsmoor Prison until their next court appearance on December 13.

Hyde Park Primary pupil Ezra was playing outside when he was caught in crossfire and shot in the neck in September. He died at the scene. 

His murder was met with outrage from the Parkwood community, who hadn’t want the alleged killers to be granted bail.

The day Daniels was killed, the community rioted, damaging two police vehicles and injuring two police officers at the scene.

Watch : I did not rape Jennifer Ferguson-Jordaan

“I was raped in a hotel room by Danny Jordaan. There is no question about what happened and if he (Jordaan) wants to play on the nuances of that to imply in any way that it was consensual, then he is lying.”

This was the reaction from singer and former ANC MP Jennifer Ferguson to a statement issued by Jordaan’s lawyer yesterday denying Jordaan raped her in a Port Elizabeth hotel 24 years ago.

Speaking from Sweden to a local news channel, Ferguson said a third woman had come forward claiming she had also been raped by the South African Football Association (Safa) president.  

“We are at the moment in a deep and concentrated conversation. I say we – three women – because Danny’s statement has come on the heels last night (Tuesday night) of a woman who has come forward.

"We have a second woman with a protected identity. Now we have a third woman with a protected identity who came forward with a statement and it was on the heels of this
statement.

“The timing of the statement is not coincidental. It’s not as if Danny has been sitting in remorseful contemplation at the state of what he called gender abuse in our country. 

"There is real fear now, I think in Danny Jordaan’s party, that more revelations are going to be forthcoming,” said Ferguson.

Jordaan's lawyer, Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi, said in a statement: “Dr Jordaan denies that he raped Ms Ferguson. In light of the scourge of gender-based violence in this country and Dr Jordaan’s sensitivity toward the issue, he had to consider carefully his response, if any, in public to the allegations made by Ms Ferguson. 

“Dr Jordaan’s perceived silence in the face of such serious allegations is because of his empathy with the victims of gender-based violence. 

‘‘Dr Jordaan has, however, after careful consideration, decided to assert his innocence. In this case there were two opposing versions that should not be resolved in the media or anywhere else that attempted to substitute for a court of law.

“Mediation, as suggested by Ms Ferguson, runs the risk that the public will perceive that there is a cover-up away from the glare of public scrutiny; and that there is one law for the powerful and another for the masses,” said Mohlala-Mulaudzi.

Ferguson said she and the two other women would look for “other options” to find redress.

“Mediation would have been mediated in a very sensitive way that honoured the dignity ordinarily of the victims, the people around and the families,” she said.

“I cannot do it alone. I have got my family beside me, I have a community of friends and these two women, or maybe more. 

"I have got a group of empowered legal people that are poised, but what I need more than anything is a sense that this particular case is not only about one night in PE, about me or two other woman, but it is a case that’s for South Africa and it is a case that is going to address the sickness, as Danny names it, in South Africa,” said Ferguson.

She called on South African men to come forward and be part of the conversation.

“I would have truly respected a personal statement where Danny could come up, not with the wall of lawyers, but personally in his own capacity, face South Africa and say ‘South Africa, I am one of many men and I have got a problem with my sexual 
behaviour. What I do, I am not doing out of love but out of anger and I cannot control it. 

"I am so afraid that I have to find distractions… my kind of sick distraction, and I need help’,” she said.