Kodwa denies 'grotesque' rape allegation

Kodwa is also the party's head of presidency. 

He released a statement on Sunday after it emerged on Saturday that a woman wrote a letter to the ANC's deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte alleging that she was raped by Kodwa at a private party in 2018.

Duarte advised the woman to go to the police, as she is not an ANC member.  

In the statement, Kodwa says he views the accusation "as a grotesque attack on him and his reputation". 

"I refuse to succumb to extortion and blackmail. Most importantly, I refuse to bow down to dirty tricks by cowards operating from their factional dark corners, using women to fight or neutralise me. Most tragically, I detest the use of such serious societal maladies like rape, sexual harassment, and women abuse to simply achieve narrow and factional political ends.

"I wish to expose and condemn this feeble yet dangerous attempt at political blackmail and manipulation orchestrated by elements wishing to turn our politics into a jungle." 

Kodwa said he is in the process of seeking legal advice in relation to a possible case of extortion or defamation.