The Anglican Diocese of Cape Town has found the Reverend Melvin Booysen not guilty of sexual assault and rape of fellow Anglican Reverend June Dolley-Major.
“The Tribunal finds Booysen guilty of breaching Resolution of Permanent Force 5 which governs ministerial conduct for clergy and lay leaders in this church, by apparently invading the complainant’s private space in their lodgings. Some therapy and retraining have been recommended to the Bishop.
“Mrs Major continues to represent herself as an active Anglican priest in good standing, which by her own choice she has not been since she resigned some years ago. We recommend that the Bishop of Table Bay clarifies the truth to the public.”“She made no such claim when she first broke her silence in 2016. Her claim remains uncorroborated by any of the seven persons who might have done so, and her account does not cohere with any of the five pieces of circumstantial evidence,” said Bishop Lee.
About the verdict, Dolley-Major said: “It is nothing but a travesty of justice and an abuse of process that the tribunal, led by retired Bishop Peter Lee, has fumbled and struggled to protect the church at all costs and in the process have found with baseless diffidence that my accusation of rape by the Reverend Melvin Booysen 19 years ago in Grahamstown was untrue.”
One Billion Rising South Africa coordinator Lucinda Evans said: “We noted the outcomes of the tribunal as One Billion Rising South Africa and we salute June Major for her bravery to name her alleged perpetrator and saw the tribunal to its ends.”“Dolley-Major is an example of what women in South Africa will experience daily,” said Evans.
Dolley-Major is currently on a “pilgrimage” from Cape Town to Makhanda that started on September 20, with rape survivor and activist Celesthea Pierang.
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