A grandson of the late former president Nelson Mandela is expected to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday on a charge of rape.

Police confirmed on Monday that he appeared in court for the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl.

He had not yet pleaded to the charge of raping the girl at a pub in Greenside, Johannesburg, Brigadier Mashadi Selepe said.

Until he has pleaded, his name must be withheld.

Selepe said at the time that because he was charged with a Section 6 offence he had to remain in custody until his bail application was heard on Friday.

In terms of higher schedule offences, the Criminal Procedure Act places the onus on the bail applicant to show exceptional circumstances for release ahead of a trial.

According to the Daily Sun, the girl was raped in a toilet at the establishment last Friday.

Asked to comment on media reports that Mandela’s ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela had sent a bodyguard posing as a policeman to the girl, Selepe said the police had not received a complaint in this regard.

The Daily Sun quoted a family spokesperson as saying the girl’s father had tried to open a case with no success.

According to the spokesperson, Madikizela-Mandela asked the girl’s family to give her family time to deal with the issue.

The Sunday Sun reported that after a meeting at her home in Soweto, Madikizela-Mandela promised to hand her grandson over to the police. News24