Manana has no pending case in Mpumalanga: NPA

Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training Mduduzi Manana has no pending case against him in Mpumalanga.

This is according to the National Prosecuting Authority's Gauteng spokesperson‚ Phindi Mjonondwane‚ who was briefing the media shortly after Manana was granted bail of R5‚000 on Thursday.

Manana‚ who made a brief appearance in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday‚ is facing two counts of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after an alleged attack on three women in a Johannesburg restaurant at the weekend.

"According to the investigating officer‚ there is no pending case in Ermelo [against Manana]. So at this point‚ the information that we have is that there are no pending cases against the accused‚" said Mjonondwane.

Asked if a case was opened and then later dropped in Ermelo‚ Mpumalanga‚ Mjonondwane said the NPA was not in a position to comment on that.

"As the NPA‚ I cannot comment on that. You'll have to ask the police because it simply means that it might have been a case that was just investigated and it was never brought to the NPA‚" she said.

This comes after Zinhle Mokhohlane‚ a 22-year-old‚ alleged she had suffered the same fate in Ermelo‚ Mpumalanga‚ last month.

Speaking to TimesLIVE‚ Mokhohlane said she had done nothing to provoke Manana‚ alleging that he was ticked off by her entertaining a man who had been in his company.

Mokhohlane has denied dropping the case‚ saying she is waiting for the police to give her an update on their investigation.

TimesLIVE contacted the Ermelo police station where the case was opened this week. The senior police officer tasked with handling the matter referred all questions to the provincial spokesperson‚ Brigadier Leonard Hlathi. Hlathi however‚ referred all questions to Vuyo Mhaga‚ spokesperson for the police ministry.

Mhaga told TimesLIVE that they were aware of the matter.

On Sunday morning‚ the deputy minister allegedly lost his cool at the Cubana restaurant in Fourways after an argument on who should succeed President Jacob Zuma at the party's elective conference in December. But what apparently triggered him to attack the three women was when one of them allegedly made a comment about his sexuality‚ labelling him gay.

Manana has since admitted and apologised for the incident.

He will appear in court again on September 13.