Ladies, the one and only Mr. Masizole Mnqasela!

On Friday Masizole Mnqasela, a DA Member of Parliament, was found not guilty of raping a schoolgirl last year. At the time, he invited her to his house “for leftover braai meat” but claims nothing else happened. He branded the charge against him a political smear campaign, adding that he is too sexy to have to rape anyone.

Magistrate Kay Pillay said the alleged victim and her friends who testified were poor witnesses who contradicted themselves. She said they came across as people who were “not telling the truth”.

Mnqasela agreed and added the following:

Every day, everywhere, women long to be with me. There is no reason for me to criminalise myself. I am happy that this has come to an end because I have been coming to court for more than a year. It’s been almost 18 months already and I’ve lost so much. I’ve spent almost R150 000 trying to tell the South African public that I won’t rape a woman.

Magistrate Pillay, however, wasn’t letting him go that easily and gave him this piece of valuable advice:

I want to remind you that as a Member of Parliament, a public figure, you have a greater responsibility than the man on the street. Who you associate with, how you conduct your lifestyle, all concerns the public. When you accepted your office, you also accepted to be accountable to the very society you serve. It is very important that as an individual you choose the company you keep. Offering girls free alcohol and food is not a criminal act but that you didn’t do this without expecting benefits.

[Source: IOL]