NEWS & ANALYSIS

'Zuma tried his luck with me, twice' - Vytjie Mentor

Former ANC MP says in new book that the president continued to prey on women after she dealt with him

'Zuma tried his luck with me, twice' - Mentor alleges sexual harassment

13 July 2017

Cape Town - Former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor has alleged in a new book that President Jacob Zuma made inappropriate sexual advances on her while he was deputy president of the country.

She says she twice rejected him, once while she was a younger ANC member in the early 1990s, and then when she was chairperson of the ANC caucus in the mid-2000s.

"Zuma tried his luck with me on two occasions. I dealt with him and continued with my work. But he continued to prey on women," she told the Cape Town Press Club on Thursday.

Her new book No Holy Cows includes her experience of the extent of sexual harassment in the ruling party.

"So maybe the regret is, if I had exposed him better, a 'Kwezi' may not have happened," she said, referring to Zuma’s rape accuser, Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo. He went on trial and was found not guilty in May 2006.

"But I cannot live with regret, so I'm doing this now to give courage to many women," she said.

Mentor alleges that, at a party conference in Durban Westville 25 years ago, Zuma made his first sexual advance while in a car. She said he introduced himself to her that evening, and invited her to his hotel room.

When she told him she had to look after her three-month-old baby, he told her he could arrange for a babysitter and that a car could be sent for her, she claims.

'I kept on moving away and he kept on'

The second time it happened in Zuma's office. Zuma was deputy president and head of political communication at the time.

She initially thought the meeting would take place in a board room or in her office, but Zuma asked for it to be changed to his office, she says. There were two guards outside his office. One remained at the door, the other invited her inside, she told the Press Club.

Zuma dismissed the guards, saying he was "surely not in danger from her". She and Zuma sat on separate couches, but he eventually he sat next to her.

He shifted his body closer and closer, and each time she moved further away. She eventually put her handbag between them, before leaving midway through the meeting.

One guard asked her what had happened when he saw her leave. "Go ask him," she replied.

"That is persistence. I kept on moving away and he kept on. If that is not persistence, I don't know what persistence is."

'I don't think I'm the only victim'

Mentor said she was speaking out now because "everything has its time".

"I'm speaking out because I'm encouraging others to speak out. I'm sure there are many other victims. I don't think I'm the only victim."

She said a member of the ANC caucus beat up a woman she knew in the Free State.

"If they choose to report things internally, you cannot coerce them to go public. I cannot say it's endemic in the ANC only, but I can for sure say it's endemic in society."

Silence about sexual harassment in an organisation merely allowed it to grow, she said.

"I don't think the ANC has done enough to arrest the culture of sexual harassment of women in its ranks. I also don't think the government and society have done enough in this country."

She said she intended to self-publish the book, as she would lose her "voice" if it was edited by a publisher. She wanted every South African to be able to read it.

Mentor said she expected a backlash from some of the people mentioned in the book, but this did not bother her.

"Those who want to go to court can to court. I've been trying to take Zuma to court for a long time, so it will be nice to meet him in court."

Mentor has been an outspoken critic of the Gupta family. In her book, she cites other cases of sexual harassment and reveals her thoughts about state capture and the Marikana shooting.

Presidency spokesperson Dr Bongani Ngqulunga could not immediately be reached for comment. -News24

Vytjie Mentor predicts ANC 'splinter'

Cape Town - Former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor has predicted the ruling party is headed for a major split come the party's national elective conference in December.

Mentor told the Cape Town Press Club on Thursday about her book No Holy Cows in which she details alleged sexual harassment in the ruling party, including two incidents she claimed she experienced with President Jacob Zuma.

During a round of questions, Mentor shared her thoughts on the ANC's short-term prospects in the race for party president, and it was not good news in her view.

"The ANC needs a bit of space and time to deal with its mess, the mess it has exported to the economy and to South Africa," she told the room.

"I can promise you now there will be a splinter coming out of the ANC. Don't look for power coming out of the ANC or elsewhere. Look to yourselves.

"How can you look to a party who brought us this mess, to salvage the mess?"

She suggested that the eventual winner of the party's presidential race may mean very little in changing the party's fate come the 2019 general elections.

"There will be a conference in December. If Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma wins the presidency, it may be the quick end to the ANC. If Cyril takes over it might not be as quick.

"We don't want chaos, or a civil war. I hope the ANC will correct its mess.

"But if you look at history, parties that promised certain things and became endemically corrupt, inevitably lose power and take a long time to recover."

'Can state capturers be dislodged?'

She said there were still good people in the ANC though, but that the ANC was "its own enemy", and was "killing itself".

"I don't know why we are so transfixed on the ANC. The country can fix itself."

Mentor, who has been an open critic of the Gupta family, was very thoughtful on the prospects of overcoming the so-called "predator class", or those accused of trying to "capture" state-owned enterprises.

"Dislodging the predators will be a mammoth task, because they are deeply entrenched. They were left alone for too long," she said in answer to a question.

"I think people are seeing it is possible for the tide to turn by way of a new dispensation...

"But the question is how? A general election in 2019? If that is the case, how much damage would have occurred between now and then?"

She hoped South Africans could solve the problem beyond party political lines.

'How will ANC vote in no confidence motion?'

With regards to the pending vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma scheduled for August 8, Mentor did not want to divulge too much on what she knew.

"I am cautious on discussing how current serving MPs will vote or may vote, because just touching on that topic with some of them, could mean I'm trying to influence how they would vote.

"I think we are putting it to their consciences to do the right thing.

"...If it doesn't happen [though], is that the end of the problems? I don't think so," she said later.

When asked what she thought it would mean if Zuma survived the motion, she said, "That the ANC does not have the will or the capability of doing the right thing".

She also spoke out against the culture of intimidation festering in the party, following high profile incidents involving herself and other members, including ANC MP Dr Makhosi Khoza.

Women 'soft targets' for intimidation

She reached out to Khoza recently to lend her support, and empathised with her "dire situation" in terms of security.

"I know who the thugs are that are intimidating me. I would be lying if I could tell you who is intimidating Dr Khoza. I know about three women other than doctor Khoza who have also [been intimidated]."

She said the people intimidating her were "Zuma supporters and members of state capture". The vast majority on Facebook or social media do not concern her, but there have been other more serious threats made.

"I got a call from the Northern Cape from a person who is a retired spy, who was sent by someone to warn me."

She said she would be very reluctant though to take state protection.

"I think I might die in the hands of the very ones who could be sent under the pretext that they are protecting me." She had faith in the police who patrolled her area.

She said she knew of two men who also joined the Democratic Alliance following safety threats they had received.

"But I think women are soft targets in terms of being intimidated," she added.

News24