A senior Economic Freedom Fighters member has accused the party’s Western Cape leader, Bernard Joseph, of having an affair with his wife and wrecking his home.
Shafiek Simons, 35, has revealed sordid details of Joseph’s alleged jollery with his wife, Faranaaz Gaffoor, 34, who is a PR councillor in the party’s provincial office.
Shafiek, who has laid a complaint with the provincial office, alleges:
- Joseph and his wife exchanged ougat cellphone messages, in which they call each other “my love”;
- He found underwear and socks in his drawers that didn’t belong to him;
- He discovered a used condom containing semen next to his bed.
Shafiek says he found out about the alleged affair from colleagues at a party function in December.
The heartbroken husband from Rylands says: “As a couple and as fighters we had entertained Commissar Joseph in our home in the run-up to the [August local municipal] elections and our branch launch.
“I was under the wrong impression that Commissar Bernard Joseph and my wife were merely good colleagues. So it came as a shock to me when I discovered that they had been having an affair.”
Shafiek revealed screengrabs of messages Faranaaz had allegedly sent Joseph via Facebook Messenger on Shafiek’s cellphone, which read: “You love me, not only have a crush on me.”
Joseph does not deny this and says: “Agree with you my love.”
'EXPOSED': Alleged Facebook post and Messenger chats
In mid-2016, Shafiek says he noticed socks and CK and Hugo Boss-branded underwear in his drawers that were not his.
When he asked Faranaaz about it, she denied knowing anything about it.
“I walked around the bed to charge my phone and stepped into something wet, a used condom. There was actual semen inside. We don’t use condoms and she has been sterilised,” he says.
“She said it belonged to a client, promoting safe sex, at the time and she just had to store it.”
“She said it is spit and I must stop with my nonsense.
“Later that evening she came to me and gave me a hug and said that she will not cheat on me, but with smiles and laughing."
Joseph, who is married, has responded to the accusations saying there has never been anything other than friendship and support for his fellow fighter.
“There is no affair, but I will keep you informed of any developments,” he says.
“This is a domestic violence issue and the couple will be in Wynberg Court on a Protection Order.
“An interim protection order was already granted to Faranaaz in December 2016.”
Shafiek says this incident, which led to him being thrown out of the family’s home and kept from his kids, happened the evening he found out about her alleged jollery.
“I was asking her about it as we drove home and she tried to jump out of the moving car. I had to grab hard and pull her back in order to save her life, and she does this?” he says.
“This Commissar Bernard Joseph, who is supposed to be our leader and an example to all of us, has gone and broken up a 13-year marriage with three lovely boys.
“It pains me that Commissar Bernard Joseph takes out my children with PR Councillor Faranaaz like a happy family.”
Shafiek has lodged a complaint with the EFF offices, saying the alleged “actions of both Faranaaz and Joseph brings the party into disrepute”.
Faranaaz would only say “no comment” to the Daily Voice’s enquiries.
The EFF are yet to comment on the allegations.