POLITICS

ANC WCape denies offering Fransman accuser a bursary

Jabu Mfusi says Lousia Wynand must must give party the name of the person she says offered her a bursary

ANC denies offering Fransman accuser a bursary

Cape Town – The ANC on Friday denied claims that it had offered a bursary to Lousia Wynand. The 20-year-old has accused the party's Western Cape leader, Marius Fransman, of sexual assault.

ANC Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) spokesperson Jabu Mfusi said, "The ANC did not offer that woman a bursary. She must give us a name and place [sic] of the person who she says offered her a bursary."

Mfusi said members of the PEC were not aware of any bursary offer.

"And not even national knows about it. She must bring proof. Even if she is speaking through her lawyers, she must bring proof of these claims"

A Daily Maverick report recently outlined how police in Kimberley reopened a case of sexual assault against Fransman after a series of WhatsApp messages between the political leader and Wynand days before she was due to travel with the ANC leader to attend the ruling party’s 104th anniversary in Rustenburg emerged.

Previously, police announced that the charges had been withdrawn "due to a lack of evidence".

The Daily Maverick earlier this week claimed that Wynand was allegedly offered a full bursary to study at any university in South Africa after she had been flown to Gauteng to testify before the ANC’s integrity commission. The commission has not made any pronouncement on the Fransman matter to date. The publication said it did not know which PEC member allegedly offered the bursary.

Earlier this week‚ Fransman's lawyer Mushtak Parker said the politician hoped to have his day in court sooner rather than later in the hope of clearing his name.

This article first appeared on News24 – see here