By Odwa Mkentane
The Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Mmapaseka Letsike, is calling on the Department of Home Affairs to urgently review Lawrence Chamurwa Mudzinganyama’s immigration status and take action if he is found to meet the legal grounds for being declared a prohibited or undesirable person.
This comes after a video circulating online showing Mudzinganyama threatening women at a Sandton restaurant went viral.
Mudzinganyama was caught on camera allegedly threatening a group of women who rejected his advances at an upmarket restaurant in Sandton.
In the video, Mudzinganyama allegedly follows the women into a restroom and threatens them after they reject him. He is also seen flaunting his status and allegedly threatening to kill one of the women.
Letsike says the threats of lethal violence captured on video during the incident cannot be dismissed as an unfortunate exchange or a momentary loss of temper.
“They reflect the dangerous entitlement that lies along the continuum of gender-based violence and femicide: the belief that a woman’s autonomy is an insult to male authority and that she may be punished for exercising it. Rejection, anger, intoxication, wealth or social standing, perceived or real, can never excuse the harassment, humiliation or threatening of any woman in the Republic, as our Constitution guarantees all women an inalienable right to agency,” said Letsike.
Letsike added that the Minister of Home Affairs will be petitioned by the Office of the Deputy Minister in this regard.
“The swift action taken by stakeholders across the public and private sectors demonstrates that the fight against gender-based violence requires consequences wherever abusive conduct occurs and cannot be left to the criminal justice system alone,” she said.
Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy has since directed the board of the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) to establish whether engineering and construction company Moriel Infrastructure Group, which is linked to Mudzinganyama, was appointed in accordance with the law and whether it is complying with the terms of its contract.
Mudzinganyama has since issued a statement and apologised for his behaviour.
SAPS has confirmed that Mudzinganyama handed himself in at the Randburg Police Station and was released on a warning to appear in court on October 1.
“The reason for this is that the police must conduct their own investigation and gather all the available evidence to establish a prima facie case. Once the investigation has been concluded, the docket will be submitted to the Senior Public Prosecutor for a decision on prosecution. This is a prosecutorial-led investigation, and the matter was discussed with the prosecutor today,” reads the SAPS statement.
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