Vilakazi gets bail

Mohammed Allie
BBC Sport, Cape Town

Vilakazi has been suspended as Orlando Pirates captain

South Africa midfielder Benedict Vilakazi has been released on a US$1,700 bond after appearing in a Johannesburg Magistrate's court on Tuesday.

Vilakazi, charged with raping a 15-year old girl, made a brief court appearance and will appear again on 31 March.

One of South Africa's most gifted footballers, Vilakazi was Bafana-Bafana's man-of-the-match in their 1-1 draw against Australia in Durban last week.

He has 16 caps for the national team, after making his debut nearly three years ago against Saudi Arabia.

A statement released by Orlando Pirates, Vilakazi's club, said the player denied all the allegations made against him.

Prosecutors allege that the midfielder, who is married with two children, went to the girl's home on 27 January and asked to use the bathroom.

Once inside, he allegedly called the girl to the bathroom and raped her.

Pirates officials have announced that Vilakazi, who is the club's captain, is suspended from his post until the case is concluded.

"In the light of the pledge and the seriousness of the allegations it has been thought best that Mr. Vilakazi's captaincy of the first team be suspended pending the outcome of the case," the club said in a statement.

The Chairman of Orlando Pirates Football Club, Dr. (Irvin) Khoza, wishes that in accordance with the laws of the country, Mr. Vilakazi be presumed and treated as innocent until proven otherwise."

The rape charge come only a few months after Pirates renewed a pledge denouncing violence against women and children, saying it was "like waging a war on ourselves as a nation".

Vilakazi is the second Bafana-Bafana player in just over a week to have a brush with the law.

Last weekend Steven Pienaar spent the night in a Dutch jail, after his girlfriend laid a charge of assault against him.