Jordaan should trust system

Accusations of sexual abuse are, almost invariably, nasty and messy. In the majority of cases, when people know each other, it is invariably a question of “he says, she says” (most of these cases involve men and women) and there are seldom any witnesses to corroborate or deny the versions of the truth offered by both parties.

Many powerful or rich men use high-powered lawyers for victim shaming, where the survivor – we prefer this word for someone who has suffered sexual assault – has her character torn apart and her previous sexual history pored over in the smallest detail, to prove she was a slut.

Another defence tactic is to claim there is an ulterior motive in bringing down a well-known person with a false accusation.

This week, the defence team representing legendary American comedian Bill Cosby in a case of sexual assault ripped into his accuser, implying she had slept with anyone in sight. That crass attack backfired, though, as Cosby was convicted.

Now, football boss Danny Jordaan has laid criminal charges against his rival, Irvin Khoza, claiming he was behind a conspiracy to frame him on a rape charge.

Jordaan alleges Khoza paid for singer Jennifer Ferguson – who claims she was raped by Jordaan decades ago – to return to South Africa from Europe to lay the charges. The alleged motive? Khoza supposedly wants to remove Jordaan as a competitor for the top job at the SA Football Association.

It is odd that Jordaan should make the accusations now against Khoza. Even if Khoza did pay for Ferguson to return home, her allegations cannot simply be ignored.

Also, Jordaan has repeatedly denied Ferguson’s allegations that her raped her in a hotel room in Port Elizabeth decades ago.

So, does he not have faith that our judicial system will return the correct verdict?

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