Aiding and abetting sexual harassment

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#NotOurLeaders

16 days of activism to end violence against women

For release: late Sunday 3 December 2017

AIDING AND ABETTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT

CASE 7: Getting away with it, with help from your friends – Malibongwe Ngcai and Basil Mase, Eastern Cape Government

On 1 June 2017 Malibongwe Ngcai started his job as general manager of corporate services in the Eastern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), and Basil Mase the general manager of strategic information management, also in COGTA. Both men had resigned their positions as senior managers in the Eastern Cape Legislature only one day before joining COGTA – so evading any sanctions arising from the disciplinary proceedings against them.  

In 2015 an investigation by the Neela Hoosain Commission appointed by the Legislature recommended that action be taken against Ngcai and Mase for demanding sex in exchange for jobs or promotion. But this was not the focus of the disciplinary enquiry conducted during 2016 and 2017. Rather, it was their bringing the Legislature into disrepute by challenging the Commission’s report in court and attempting to prevent implementation of its recommendation that prompted the disciplinary action. While the presiding officer of the legislature’s disciplinary hearing found them guilty of gross dishonesty, gross insubordination and breaching the trust relationship with their former employer, no sanctions could ultimately be ordered as the duo had left the employ of the legislature.

 This case raises two issues of policy:

• Resignation and shuffling of staff as strategies to evade disciplinary sanctions
• Appointing officials who have resigned in the midst of disciplinary proceedings to another arm of the state

 Gender violence specialist Lisa Vetten points to a similar matter involving an unnamed former senior manager at the national Department of Environmental Affairs: “He too simply resigned in August once allegations of sexual harassment by him began being investigated. In October he was employed at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – despite being accused of sexually harassing six junior employees and allegedly raping two women in his unit. Disturbingly, spokesperson for Environmental Affairs, Albi Modise, was reported as claiming that it was ‘not the duty of his department to give references about their former employees to new employers.’”

 “A significant policy gap enables this questionable shuffling of staff,” says Sam Waterhouse of the Women and Democracy Initiative. “Staff at legislatures, who are employed in a branch of government and paid with public money, are not governed by any specific law, except the standard labour laws. Interestingly, the regulations to the Municipal Systems Act recognise that some people resign in order to escape the consequences of internal disciplinary action. To address this the Regulations state that the Minister and provincial MEC must be notified if a municipal staff member resigns before the disciplinary hearing is completed. If this clause was applied across the public services and to staff at legislatures, it could assist in monitoring and preventing the movement across different branches of government of people accused of sexual misconduct.”

 Said Vivienne Mentor-Lalu of the Women and Democracy Initiative, “The lack of consideration for women’s safety in the workplace shows its low priority. This is rape culture. Women who report sexual violence are sidelined, never to be heard of again, while the men who perpetrate sexual abuse often get to quietly move on and prosper. Is patronage politics at play in these cases?”

Action must be taken

The #NotOurLeaders campaign is calling on the Eastern Cape Department of COGTA to immediately engage in an internal investigation and due diligence exercise with regards to the appointment of Malibongwe Ngcai and Basil Mase. COGTA spokesman Mamnkeli Ngam said in July 2017 that the department “was not aware” of any judgment against the two and thus could not comment on the matter. This is unacceptable.

• The ANC, which leads both the Eastern Cape legislature and the executive department where the two men are now employed, must publicly condemn the evasion of justice by the pair, and strengthen institutional safeguards preventing those guilty of sexual misconduct from taking up senior positions in government.  
• Parliament must prioritise policy development to address the gaps in law and policy regarding the conduct and discipline of staff at legislatures and within the public service.

For comment contact:

Lisa Vetten, gender violence specialist, 082 822 6725

Vivienne Mentor-Lalu Women and Democracy Initiative, Dullah Omar Institute, 082 494 0788

Sanja Bornman, Lawyers for Human Rights, 083 522 2933