Manana pleads guilty to three assault counts
FORMER deputy higher education and training minister Mduduzi Manana‚ who was accused of assaulting three women‚ has pleaded guilty to all three charges against him and the court has accepted his plea.
This comes after Mandisa Duma‚ one of the three women Manana assaulted‚ initially opened a case of assault with intention to cause grievous bodily harm at the Douglasdale police station on August 6.
The other two women who were with Duma on the day of the incident – Noluthando Mahlanga and Thina Mopipa – also laid complaints against Manana after he assaulted them at the Cubana restaurant in Cedar Square at Fourways, Gauteng.
Manana made his first court appearance at the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on August 10 and was granted R5 000 bail.
Manana‚ 33‚ appeared briefly in the court again yesterday, where his lawyer, Michael Motsoeneng, read out his guilty plea.
Magistrate Ramsamy Reddy postponed the case to November 7.
Before Manana’s court appearance yesterday‚ Duma identified one of the men who was with Manana on the day of the incident and he was arrested in court.
The second suspect, who fled after his friend was arrested‚ handed himself over later to the police.
The two men will appear in the same court today.
Manana lost his cool on August 6 after a row over who should succeed President Jacob Zuma at the party’s elective conference in December.
But it was a comment about his sexuality that allegedly triggered the attack. Duma claimed that she was with Manana and his friends inside the Cubana restaurant when Manana chased them out of the venue.
Duma‚ who sustained a black eye‚ bruised knees and a swollen face and neck‚ claimed that while walking out‚ Manana slapped her cousin across the face after the comment about his sexuality, before turning on her in the parking lot.
Manana has since resigned after an apology.