The South African Football Association (Safa) has reiterated its stance of innocent until proven guilty over the rape allegations against current Safa president Danny Jordaan.
The Safa president faces a formal charge of rape after Jennifer Ferguson, a musician and former MP, revealed her decision to lay the charges on Sunday via Facebook.
‘After many months of deep consideration‚ consultation and attempts to mediate according to principles of restorative justice as embodied by the Truth and Reconciliation process South Africa has followed.
‘I do this in the hope that other victims of sexual abuse will be empowered to speak out and act. I do this and ask for your support prayerful‚ in thought or action for all those affected by his sexual misconduct. I also am aware of the distress his family must be experiencing and express my sadness that they are inevitably affected. #wetoo,’ Ferguson said.
The rape allegations were initially made public back in October 2017 by Ferguson, who accused a high-ranking football official of allegedly raping her in the 1990s.
The governing body, however, has reiterated that the new charges change nothing about the situation.
SAFA communications manager Dominic Chimhavi, speaking on the matter said, ‘From Safa, nothing changes. We prescribe to the notion of innocent until proven guilty. We have discussed this in the past and the stance remains the same.’
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