Gardener: Rape charge a ruse

2003-02-01 23:02

Thami Nkwanyane

Johannesburg - A Pretoria businessman has described to a court how he caught his gardener, Isaak Mononyane, raping his wife in their bedroom.

Now Mononyane's current employer and church minister, Gert Vorster, has come to his defence. The gardener claims the criminal charge was a red-herring by his former boss because he was suing him for unpaid wages.

Mononyane, 32, appeared in the Pretoria North Regional Court on Monday and the case was postponed to April 24, when the court will receive the district surgeon's report and DNA test results conducted on both Mononyane and the alleged victim, 34.

Mononyane, of Majaneng outside Hammanskraal, told City Press his former employer, a Pretoria businessman who cannot be named to protect the identity of the alleged victim, owed him R560 in unpaid wages.

Vorster, who is paying for Mononyane's legal expenses, said: "He has been a good worker for me for several years. Since I could not represent him myself, I wanted him to get a fair trial. You are innocent until proven guilty."

Trap

The husband claimed in court he found Mononyane with his wife in their bed. He told the court the gardener raped his drunk wife after having had drinks with her. He said he caught them red-handed in the main bedroom of the house after the domestic worker had phoned him earlier in the day and said there was something wrong.

The wife, who had allegedly drunk Prozac (an anti-depressant), gin, and sleeping tablets, told the court she woke up in hospital and did not remember what had happened.

Mononyane was reportedly locked up by the husband in the toilet before he called the police.

During cross-examination, Mononyane told the court his employer's wife invited him to share a drink with her. "It was the first time I was invited for a drink and, who knows, that was a trap?"

Mononyane said he had been working for three years for the couple after his previous employers - for whom he had worked for seven years at the same house - left him with a new family.

Pointed a gun

He said even the domestic worker was owed money by the businessman. "She phoned him to come and pay us. Instead he arrived late and pointed a gun at me," he said.

Mononyane's mother, Elsie, said she used to scold him for not giving them money for food as he is the breadwinner.

Mononyane said he was suing for defamation and for money owed to him.

The couple no longer stays at the house. During City Press's visit to the house, a gardener said new people had moved in. The domestic worker is said to be looking for the couple to get wages owed to her.

- City Press