Lawyer Tumi Sole takes legal against woman accusing him of rape on Twitter

Legal representatives of lawyer and social media activist Tumi Sole have issued a cease and desist order against a person who claims that he raped her and gave her HIV in a Durban hotel room.

The allegations emerged as part of the outing of alleged sexual offenders on Twitter, as part of the #AmINext movement, in response to high-profile acts of extreme violence against women in recent weeks.

The unknown accuser wrote of Sole: “Met in Durban. He was there on business. I liked him yes. He invited me to his hotel room. Had drinks. Forced himself on me. I kept saying no. He was so rough with me. He eventually managed to penetrate me. Now im taking ARVs cause of a selfish self absorbed man. I want him to trend until his wife sees this. And I wish for the same to happen to his children. Mr Country Duty yamasimba (sic).”

Sole, through his Twitter account, said he had noted the allegations and posted a letter from his attorneys.

“I’m aware of the tweets making the rounds & in reference to me & #CountryDuty. I am pursuing the matter through legal channels. Herewith a letter from my attorneys below,” he said.

He added, “[I’m] not going to entertain this further.”

I’m aware of the tweets making the rounds & in reference to me & #CountryDuty. I am pursuing the matter through legal channels.

Herewith a letter from my attorneys below.

Not going to entertain this further. pic.twitter.com/fuXmtDa4aH

— Tumi Sole (@tumisole) September 4, 2019

The cease and desist letter, seemingly addressed to the accuser, says Sole had been receiving threatening e-mails from the person since August 1, 2019.

“Our client has instructed us that since 1 August 2019 you have been sending him violent and threatening phone messages about ruining his public and private life.

“You have also made allegations that you contracted HIV from him and will disseminate this allegation into the public domain.”

Some of the e-mail quotes in the letter read, “I want my money b**ch. Don’t drive me nuts”, as well as “You’re messing with someone who could potentially destroy you”.

The letter explains that the person requested money from Sole in a bid to “supress [them] from carrying out these threats”. The letter further describes this as extortion.

The allegations appeared on the Twitter account @HelpSurvivors2.

The document describes the claims as “false, baseless and slanderous in an attempt to bring our client’s name into disrepute…”

It finally calls on the accuser to “cease and desist from directly or indirectly making defamatory remarks about our client, including defamatory and slanderous remarks”.

Sole wants the accuser to stop publishing statements on social media about him, requesting the @HSurvivors2 account to remove the tweets.

In posting the letter, Sole noted: “The plight against women and children can’t be taken lightly & perpetrators ought to face the full might of the law. False & defamatory accusations can never be left untested!”

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