Busisiwe “Cici” Thwala said her fight for justice would continue until the truth was brought to light. This after Arthur Mafokate was acquitted of assaulting her.
The acquittal was granted in the Midrand Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Cici said on the judgment: “I hope that it does not discourage you in any way to speak out for yourself, to stand up for yourself and speak your truth, to fight for your justice. I said to you in the beginning of this whole thing that I will fight for my justice till the very end. This is not the end, it’s not going to be our narrative as women. I always preach that we need to take back our power and so we will do just that, we will be heard. We will get the justice that we deserve and our perpetrators might win the battle but the war is very much still on.”
She said in a statement that she had instructed her legal team to pursue a civil lawsuit against her perpetrator.
“My fight will continue until the truth is brought to light – procedure should not prevent the truth from being heard.”
Mafokate was facing assault charges with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in an incident that took place in June 2017 and caused Thwala to undergo a pelvic replacement operation.
Cici was reportedly dragged for 300 metres while holding on to the handle of Mafokate’s car door. She said afterwards that she may never have children due to the injuries.
Mafokate later claimed he was actually the one subjected to abuse. His manager also told the media the public perception that his client had attacked Cici was incorrect.
Cici originally opened a case of assault against him, claiming Mafokate allegedly dragged her and choked her during an argument after receiving a phone call from another woman while they were in their bedroom.
Mafokate was arrested and opened a counter-charge against Cici. He claimed his partner had actually been the one who’d assaulted him while they were wrestling for his phone.
Mafokate declared in court papers that Cici allegedly hit him with a coat hanger and a steel chair and bit his arms. He added that she had apparently grabbed a DStv decoder and DVD player to strike him with those, but then apparently calmed down. He denied striking her, claiming he had acted only in self-defence.
Sunday World reported in 2017 that Cici’s dancer Hlengiwe Makhoba told them Cici had prepared for a physical fight on the night in question and that the two women had drunk a “copious volume” of Oros and vodka at the couple’s “love nest” in Midrand before the fight took place.
She claimed Cici kept telling her how she wanted to take Arthur’s phones.
They apparently both went to sleep but Makhoba woke up at 3am to hear Arthur screaming for help. She allegedly found him full of scratches and pleading with Cici to apparently not throw his phones in the swimming pool.
It emerged in media reports at the time that Cici may, in fact, have been injured while trying to stop Mafokate from driving away. When Mafokate visited her in hospital “she told him that she was injured by a steel rod at the gate”, according to Sunday World.
(Compiled by Vhahangwele Nemakonde, additional reporting by Charles Cilliers)
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