November 1 – South African Football Association President Danny Jordaan has broken his silence over rape allegations against him, denying the accusations are true.
Last month Jordaan, the public face of the 2010 South Africa World Cup, was accused of rape by South African singer and one-time parliamentarian Jennifer Ferguson who alleged the offense took place some 24 years ago.
Jordaan’s lawyer Mamodupi Mohalala-Mulaudzi had told a South African broadcaster: “He will be releasing a statement that will then say in his position he denies allegations that have been made against him.”
In the statement, Jordaan says that mediation is not an option from his perspective as that would suggest a cover-up and that the issue can only be resolved in a court of law.
Ferguson, who says she does not want a criminal investigation opened, nevertheless claims that a lawyer (not Mohalala-Mulaudzi) has been fishing for information to be used as part of a smear campaign against her.
She also told media in Sweden, where she now lives, that another woman has contacted saying that she was also raped by Jordaan.
“Just yesterday (Wednesday) I got a message from somebody who experienced the same thing with him,” said Ferguson
Jordaan’s statement from his lawyers says:
“Ms Ferguson has alleged that Dr Jordaan raped her 24 years ago. Dr Jordaan denies that he raped Ms Ferguson.
“In light of the scourge of gender-based violence in this country and Dr Jordaan’s sensitivity toward the issue he had to consider carefully his response, if any, in public to the allegations made by Ms Ferguson. Dr Jordaan’s perceived silence in the face of such serious allegations is because of his empathy with the victims of gender-based violence. Dr Jordaan has, however, after careful consideration decided to assert his innocence. Whilst Dr Jordaan supports public debate as an essential tool to highlight the issue of gender-based violence, however, in this case there are two opposing versions that cannot be resolved in the media, or elsewhere, in substitution for a court of law. Mediation, as suggested by Ms Ferguson, runs the risk that the public will perceive that there is a cover-up away from the glare of public scrutiny; and that there is one law for the powerful and another for the masses.
“We have accordingly, as his attorneys, advised Dr Jordaan that he must not participate in a public discourse of the allegation made against him by Ms Ferguson.”
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