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JOHANNESBURG. – The African National Congress’s national spokesperson Pule Mabe has requested the party’s Secretary-General Ace Magashule to accept his request for leave pending the outcome of the sexual harassment complaint laid against him by his former personal assistant.
The 26-year-old woman wrote to the party’s deputy secretary-general, Jessie Duarte, several weeks ago, outlining her claims.
The woman handed over a 14-page letter, which News24 has seen, detailing the alleged sexual harassment. She claims Mabe forced himself into her bed on two occasions earlier this year.
She confirmed the complaint saying it had been a “difficult four months” working in Mabe’s office.
She claims the governing party’s spokesperson wanted her to have sex with him after he gave her a job in his office. She also said he knew she did not have full qualifications for the role, but said she told Mabe she was working towards gaining her qualification.
The woman says she rejected his advances and that this resulted in her being ill-treated by the ANC’s national spokesperson.
“I could see there was a continuation in how Pule treated me and so on; it led to an unwarranted salary cut. That’s when I realised, if you don’t speak out you are going to go down for nothing,” she told News24.
Meanwhile, the ruling party spokesperson said he had taken the decision to ensure integrity and fairness in the internal process, and to remove any possibility of any perceived interference or influence.
“It is only fair and/or prudent that when we are faced with such serious allegations we put the interest of the organisation first and allow ourselves to attend to matters of concern without constraining the integrity and standing of the movement,” Mabe said in a statement.
On Tuesday, ANC Youth League branches from Alexandra, Midrand, Klipfontein and Modderfontein have joined calls for Mabe to step down.
A sexual harassment complaint is expected to be heard by a grievance committee at the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters on Wednesday.
“No one is above the law and no one is above the ANC. We will be waiting very patiently for the grievance committee to deal with this matter, said the league branches through a statement on Tuesday.
“We encourage Pule Mabe to do the honourable thing and release himself from his responsibilities.
“The mood is that of #PuleMabeMustResign,” the statement continued.
The branches also lauded the former personal assistant for taking a stand and encouraging other victims of such incidents to speak out.
Meanwhile, the sexual harassment accusations against Mabe have “caught the attention” of the Hawks, EWN reported on Tuesday.
The African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) has since asked its mother body to consider suspending Mabe from all ANC duties, pending the outcome of his sexual harassment case, EWN reported.
In a statement released on Monday evening, the women’s league says: “Whilst we take into account the principles of innocent until proven guilty, the ANCWL is resolute in supporting the victims of sexual harassment and wishes to reiterate this position.
“The ANC must also consider suspending Cde Mabe from all ANC duties, pending the outcome of the case. All shall be equal before the law and we are hoping for a fair and just internal disciplinary hearing as no one is above the ANC,” the statement reads.
The woman has dismissed the idea that she was being “used” as a pawn in ANC battles that are playing out at Luthuli House, saying she was an independent woman who had decided “enough was enough”.
The former assistant also said Mabe had created a difficult working environment, not only for herself, but the entire department of information and publicity at Luthuli House.
News24 also spoke to other workers in the department who described working with Mabe as “hellish” and “toxic”, accusing him of being difficult to work with.
However, a number of staffers who are close to Mabe claimed he was often undermined by older members who are linked to the unit’s previous leaders.
Others had previously raised concerns over the treatment of his assistant, claiming he often reduced her to tears.
“The working environment is completely toxic; the way he treats us is terrible. We are often shouted at and being told we were found at DIP (department of information and publicity), so we obviously serve (Gwede) Mantashe and Zizi (Kodwa),” said one staffer.
When News24 approached Mabe for comment, he initially claimed he knew nothing of the allegations or the woman’s appointment with the party’s grievance committee. Mabe later confirmed the complaint to News24. He said he would be willing to speak on Wednesday.
In a statement issued on Monday, the ANC confirmed that a complaint had been lodged at its headquarters last week.
“We have since established a Grievance Panel, as per our personnel manual, to ensure a fair process. The panel will hear the case later this week,” said the ANC’s head of presidency, Kodwa.
The party said it would not comment further until the finalisation of these internal processes. – News24
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