Duarte had advised the woman that the ANC “does not have the capacity to [investigate] that kind of thing”.
ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule said at a press conference on Tuesday that both spokesperson Pule Mabe and acting spokesperson Zizi Kodwa had requested not to work as spokespersons for the ANC until they had cleared their names.
Magashule reiterated, however, that Mabe remained the spokesman, but had voluntarily requested leave, which was granted.
This differed slightly from reports in the morning that the ANC’s national working committee had decided on Monday to remove both of its spokesmen in the wake of rape and sexual harassment allegations against them.
They remain ANC national executive committee members.
Dakota Legoete will therefore continue as the acting spokesperson for now until the cloud of accusations surrounding either man clears.
Mabe earlier took issue with how the media had reported on his position in the party.
It emerged on Saturday that the former acting spokesperson, Zizi Kodwa, was accused of rape by an alleged 28-year-old complainant in an incident said to have happened last year in April at a Sandton hotel. The woman claimed in a letter to the ANC that a date rape drug was used on her and she only regained consciousness after the alleged crime.
ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte, who received the letter, advised her to open a case with the police.
The woman appeared to conclude it had been Kodwa who’d raped her because the male underwear she’d allegedly found on the floor next to her with a used condom had been blue and “I remember this because you [Kodwa] had been wearing the hotel robe loosely that morning”, her letter read, in part.
The Sunday Times reported that not only had she never gone to the police, she may actually have tried to extort Kodwa to pay for her silence.
He said on Sunday that the letter “was riddled with “false accusations” and he labelled it a “dangerous attempt at political blackmail and manipulation”.
He continued in his statement: “At the outset, I deny these accusations with the contempt they deserve. I refuse to succumb to extortion and blackmail. Most importantly, I refuse to bow down to dirty tricks by cowards operating from factional dark corners, using women to fight or neutralise me.
“Most tragically, I detest the use of such serious societal maladies such as rape, sexual harassment, and women abuse to simply achieve narrow factional and political ends. It is an insult to the women of this country and the fight against women abuse.
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.