Pretoria - A former employee of Unisa has accused a senior university official of sexually harassing her and then not renewing her contract after she failed to accede to his advances.
The employee, who submitted a letter to vice-chancellor and principal Puleng LenkaBula last month, detailed how she had allegedly been subjected to harassment and abuse of power by the academic, whose name is known to the Pretoria News.
The woman indicated in her complaint to the university that she had been hired on a fixed-term contract as the senior official in 2019, and reported directly to the alleged culprit.
During her employment, her superior made several sexual advances toward her, which she “vehemently rejected”, the woman said. However, he persisted with such behaviour, she alleged.
In January 2020, during an annual summit hosted by the man at Kievits Kroon, he allegedly offered to book her accommodation as he claimed to be worried about her safety.
She also said in her letter that she initially refused, taking into consideration his prior attempts. But after informing him of this, he allegedly promised not to make any unwanted moves and had simply offered as he cared.
“I then agreed to the offer, but as I was exiting the bathroom, I found him naked and he tried to force himself on me. I then pushed him back and told him that if he continued I would lay a charge against him.
“He immediately left the room and I did not report the incident since I thought that he got the message.”
Following the incident at the annual summit, the sexual comments subsided. However, she claimed that they continued passively, in that he attempted to kiss her, touch her breasts and comment about her body.
She further claimed that the man called her every day at odd hours, pretending it was a work-related matter, until she requested him to stop.
In the same year, following face-to-face graduations at Unisa held in December, he allegedly attempted to make sexual advances toward the woman, stating that he missed her.
“Knowing his past tendencies, I pushed back and one of my male colleagues who was in the vicinity witnessed his intentions.
“The next morning he told me that if I still wanted to keep my job I must consider that my behaviour towards him could be career-limiting.”
She claims she did her best to stay away from him in 2021, but on March 12 she received a call from HR informing her she had been suspended immediately for unspecified work-related transgressions. She said she was then subjected to a four-day hearing, but was cleared of any wrongdoing.
“Although an independent disciplinary inquiry exonerated me from any wrongdoing, he refused to renew my fixed-term contract which was already prepared and awaiting the necessary signatures pending the outcome of the disciplinary hearing.
“He suspended me on March 12, knowing very well that my contract was expiring at the end of April 2021, which had the implications that it would expire while I was on suspension,” she added.
In a report submitted to the Unisa council on March 19, LenkaBula informed the institution about the case, adding that they should expect future legal costs emanating from the matter.
She indicated that the case would have a negative impact on Unisa if women developed the perception that the university was an environment for various forms of abuse and violations.
LenkaBula added that there was a legal risk that the university could be sued for failing to act and to protect its employees.
“Furthermore, it can be implied that Unisa does not take compliance matters seriously. In the course of compiling this report, I have also discovered that the Unisa policy on sexual harassment is underdeveloped and does not take into account the latest case law and the progress made by women in the anti-gender-based violence movement in the country and globally.”
In light of this, LenkaBula indicated that she would be bringing forward a submission to the council to review and adopt a new sexual harassment policy for Unisa.
Pretoria News