Picture File: Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. Picture: @TreasuryRSA/Twitter
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has returned back to police the investigation docket related to sexual assault allegations made against Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, confirmed to The Citizen on Thursday the NPA returned the docket in order for police to obtain a warning statement from Godongwana.
Mohlala refused to divulge the details surrounding the case, only confirming that the docket was in connection with a sexual assault case at Kruger National Park involving a “prominent person”.
“The docket has been returned to us with an instruction that we need to obtain a statement from the prominent person on the allegations made,” he said.
ALSO READ: Godongwana sexual assault docket handed to NPA to decide if they’ll prosecute
Mohlala said police could not indicate when they would meet with Godongwana to obtain his statement.
“This will depend on the availability of the person.”
He added that after they have received the statement, they would then send back the docket to the NPA for a decision on whether to charge the minister with sexual assault.
Earlier, Mohlala said the docket was handed over on Monday, to a senior public prosecutor for a decision.
“The docket pertains to a known prominent person over an alleged sexual assault incident at Skukuza in the Kruger National Park,” he said.
Godongwana has come under increasing pressure to step down after it emerged that a Kruger National Park masseuse laid a criminal complaint against him for allegedly “fondling” her while she was giving him a massage in his room.
The alleged incident is said to have happened last week, when he and his wife were on a private trip to the park.
Godongwana, on Saturday, released a statement categorically denying the allegation against him. He said he had “always upheld and respected the rights and dignity of women, and this allegation goes against everything I stand for”.
The minister on Thursday told Jacaranda FM that he had not received any communication from Mpumalanga police on the sexual assault allegations levelled against him.
“As I sit here, I don’t even have a piece of paper from the police. It would be difficult for me to even refute something that I don’t know and that is where the difficulty is,” Godongwana was quoted as saying.
He made the remarks on the sidelines of the Consulting Engineering South Africa Infrastructure Indaba in Fourways, Johannesburg.
Godongwana also reacted to mounting calls for him to step-aside in accordance with the ANC’s step-aside resolution that requires party members facing serious charges or court cases to step down, pending the conclusion of their matters.
“Should the NPA go ahead with prosecuting the matter, the ANC policy is that I must step-aside,” Godongwana said.
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