Manana apologises but says reports of assault are exaggerated

Deputy minister of higher education Mduduzi Manana has admitted that he is guilty of assaulting a woman and offered an apology to the nation.

But Manana said reports of what had happened were overblown.

"I'm not denying allegations leveled against me‚ neither proud. There is over exaggeration of what transpired‚ there is a fake clip going viral‚" Manana tweeted on Monday.

Manana has been identified in a video assaulting a woman at a Cubana restaurant in the north of Johannesburg on Sunday morning.

The incident happened around 3am after the restaurant at Cedar Square in Fourways had closed.

Manana is accused of lashing out after a debate on who should succeed President Jacob Zuma at the ANC's elective conference in December.

Mandisa Duma‚ who was with her friend and cousin at the restaurant‚ claimed that she was with Manana and his four friends inside the Cubana when Manana chased them out of the venue.

Duma claimed that while walking out Manana slapped her cousin across the face after she made a comment about his sexuality.

 LISTEN: Deputy minister Mdu Manana admits to slapping woman in club