Gender Equality seeks answer on Manana-NPA’s decision

The Commission for Gender Equality says it is seeking legal advice on the National Prosecuting Authority‘s decision not to prosecute African National Congress Member of Parliament Mduduzi Manana for allegedly assaulting his domestic worker.

The prosecuting authority says there are no reasonable prospects of success in the matter.

Christine Wiro opened a case against Manana earlier this year, accusing him of threatening to push her down a flight of stairs.

Wiro has told the SABC that she is saddened by the NPA’s decision.

Meanwhile, Parliament’s Ethics Committee will sit behind closed doors on Wednesday to consider Manana’s 2017 assault conviction following a nightclub brawl.

It was ANC MP Mduduzi Manana’s second brush with the law – in less than a year. In September last year, he pleaded guilty to assaulting three women in a nightclub brawl and then in May, his domestic worker Christine Wiro lodged a complaint against him for assault.

However the NPA says there is not enough evidence to secure a conviction. Wiro says prosecutors informed her of the decision last week.

She says she has lost faith in the justice system.  “I am sad…..they have already made their decision. I am worried what is going to happen now, but I will leave it like that. He didn’t contact me I am feeling bad because it’s a painful thing, but it’s fine, I forgive him, I have already forgiven him.”

The Commission for Gender Equality, which represented Wiro in the alleged assault case, has approached the NPA for clarity on the decision. It says it is seeking legal advice on whether to challenge it.

Manana’s woes are not over. He is expected to be grilled when he appears before a Joint Ethics Sub-Committee in Parliament on Wednesday.

It will only focus on his conviction on three counts of assault after pleading guilty. Manana has not been available for comment.