It was a case of David defeating Goliath, says EFF leader accused of assaulting woman

The woman who accused EFF deputy chairperson Bunga Ntsangani  of assaulting and insulting her - together with two other witnesses - lied to the court. This was said by Ntsangani in the Mmabatho magistrate's court on Wednesday when he was called to the stand.

He told the court that actually, the three people who had testified, including the complainant,were ganging up against him.

Ntsangani said his junior staff member, Maggie Klaas, was actually the one who throttled him until he felt like fainting as "he is asthmatic". Ntsangani is accused of assaulting Klaas and throwing her against the office printer. He is also accused of calling her rubbish and threatening to cut off her clitoris.

Giving  evidence, Ntsangani said he was surprised by Klaas's strength as she throttled him by the collar of his shirt. He said after having a quarrel about the asset stickers that the assets team were supposed to come and remove, she walked towards him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “She grabbed me and tightened the grip with her hands. I tried taking her hands off me, only to find out that she had unexpected strength. She was stronger than I thought,” he said.

During a  previous court appearance, Ntsangani compared Klaas to a huge truck. “I never thought that a tiny woman like her would manhandle a giant man like me,” he told the court then.

He said the only conclusion he could make about why Klass, EFF provincial chairperson Betty Diale and EFF member Thabo Mothibi were ganging up against him was that they hated him. He said at the time of the alleged assault, signs were showing that Diale’s faction was going to lose at the December conference which was just a month away.

He said Klaas and Mothibi belonged to Diale’s faction while he was part of the faction that eventually won at the conference. He said he had no reason to assault Klaas as he is  at the forefront of  a group of men who are against women abuse.

Ntsangani, however, admitted to court that he pinned Klaas on the ground during the scuffle as he tried to free himself. He said as they wrestled, she accidentally fell on the office printer and hurt herself.

The trial was postponed to January 14.