Mayor’s team rocked by attempted rape claim

A FORMER DA member, now in the ActionSA camp, has been fighting for justice for seven years for an alleged attempted rape by a man who is now a City of Cape Town councillor.

The alleged perpetrator, Unathi Lasithi, is a DA member who serves on mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis’s team.

Zintle Khobeni sent a stronglyworded letter to former Western Cape DA leader Albert Fritz late last year. Nothing came of it and four months later Fritz was embroiled in a sex scandal himself.

According to the letter, seen by Weekend Argus, the incident allegedly occurred when Khobeni was employed as a fund-raiser by Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

The alleged incident occurred after she was transferred from Johannesburg to Cape Town in 2015.

“On February 14, 2015, I was brutally raped, and it was after this gruesome crime that MSF under the capable leadership of my then manager offered me the opportunity to move from Johannesburg and to join the team in Cape Town,” Khobeni said.

Upon her arrival, she said, MSF had temporarily booked a room for her at the Green Elephant Backpackers in Observatory.

“I had about six housemates who were tourists from Europe. We got along well so we planned to discover Cape Town as a group,” she said.

Lasithi was in a position of authority and her team leader at MSF.

“I met him on June 26, 2015. In

the morning he picked me up and we travelled to work together and again on June 27,” she said.

On that Saturday night, Lasithi joined Khobeni and her tourist friends for a night out in Long Street.

They all returned to the backpackers and continued to have drinks in Khobeni’s room.

Khobeni said she fell asleep.

“In the early hours of the morning while I was still sleeping, I was woken

up by Unathi pulling up (my) skirt and trying to force himself on me.

“I fought him off, and I was shouting for help, but no one responded,” she said.

“I tried to run and open the door, but it was locked. He managed to push me back onto the bed and when he realised that I was putting up a good fight, he jumped off me and off the bed.

“It was then that I could see that he did not actually have his pants on,” Khobeni said.

Mayor Hill-Lewis said the matter had been brought to his attention last month.

“Another councillor told me about this matter dating back to 2015, on May 26,” he told Weekend Argus.

“I was given the SAPS case number (and) I have tried to check with SAPS what is happening with the case, since it is an old matter, but have not heard back as yet,” he said.

Hill-Lewis said he had also referred the matter to the DA’s provincial executive committee for consideration.

“We’ve been made aware of the allegations,” said DA regional head Jaco Londt.

“The councillor categorically denies all the allegations. We’ve reached out to the relevant authorities and haven’t been able to get any more information that merits further action.

“The party referred the matter to the tagging committee that established a watching brief. (There is) no further action at this stage pending further information,” he said.

Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said the sexual assault case was still under investigation,.

Lasithi denied the allegations and said: “There is absolutely no truth to the allegations and I will give my full co-operation to the authorities. No further comment at this stage.”

Meanwhile, Khobeni’s fiancé, Jacques de Lange, who was a DA member for six years, was expelled from the party last week, according to a letter seen by the Weekend Argus.

“My fiancé has since been fired from work,” Khobeni said.

“They just made up charges such as him not declaring that I’m now a member of ActionSA. For using the home laptop and printer to print his work documents and for participating in the NPO that stands against GBV without informing them,” she said.

Khobeni said when she was a member of the EFF this did not matter. There were pictures all over social media.

“Nobody complained,” she said.