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Cosatu secretary-general, Zwelinzima Vavi, has denied raping a staff member.
He was reacting to a report in the Weekend Post today which claims that he had raped the 26-year-old woman in a Cosatu office on the 25th of January.
The woman has laid a formal complaint against Vavi, who told the newspaper that the woman had tried to solicit two million rand from him in hush money.
In a statement today, which is available on our website - algoafm.co.za, Vavi said he is willing to appear before any legitimate body to clear his name.
He has vehemently denied the allegations, even though he told Weekend Post that he had consensual sex with the woman.
The Cosatu boss says no further statements will be issued on the matter.
Read Vavi's full statement below:
Press Statement by Mr. Z. Vavi re allegations of misconduct made by a member of staff (see below).
This is an extremely intimate, private, personal and delicate matter that requires great sensitivity and maturity to manage on my part. It involves the dignity and lives of private individuals. We all have the constitutional responsibility to defend each other's dignity and integrity.
There are two families and children on both sides involved in this extremely delicate matter. Their interests are foremost in my mind as we go through this period.
I have engaged lawyers, and I am ready and willing to appear before any legitimate body to clear my name. I vehemently deny the allegations made against me by the staff member concerned.
While I fully appreciate the media value and interest in this matter, I, on behalf of both families, am appealing to the media and the public to give us the privacy which we all deserve, as we work through this matter.
I am also fully aware that because of my work and life, this matter obviously offers a goldmine for those fishing for sensational stories.
For years now I have been dealing with consistent threats to my life, political assaults and efforts to destroy my contribution to the struggle of the working class and the poor in this country. Lately as we all know, these efforts to destroy me have intensified. I am unable not to view this matter in the same light.
I choose to fight to defend the right to human dignity of all those involved in the two families.
No further statements will be issued by either my wife of myself, nor will we be available for contact by the media in any form except through our lawyers.
