Pretoria - Chilling confessions of sexual harassment and misconduct in the South African Police Service have emerged following the dismissal of a senior commander found guilty of the offences.
The commander was fired after admitting to sexually harassing administrative clerk Mapula Makwela and other female employees for the past two years.
SAPS spokesman Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale said that following the “jaw-dropping” confessions at the internal investigation, the commander was dismissed.
“Sordid and other details of how the officer touched subordinates and initiated sexually charged conversations with the affected employees emerged,” Makgale said.
“It was on the basis of this information that during the hearing on October 23 to 24 the commander pleaded guilty to his improper, disgraceful and unacceptable behaviour,” he said.
The commander, who cannot be named, admitted that it was not just Makwela he had sexually harassed, but several employees within the police unit.
He confessed that he sexually harassed “more than one” female employee in the working environment where he was required to lead by example for more than two years.
The commander agreed that between 2012 and this year while on duty at the department he conducted himself in an improper, disgraceful and unacceptable manner by fondling and touching female employees’ breasts.
A married father of five and employed in the police service for 22 years, he further admitted to fondling and touching their buttocks and their private parts and requesting them to return the favour, even demanding sex from the women.
The disciplinary committee said the disgraceful and unacceptable conduct he admitted to while on duty fell within the definition of sexual harassment which was viewed in a “very serious” light.
The fact that he is married with five children was an aggravating factor. When taking into consideration the nature of his job and the infringement, it was noted that he was a supervisor who abused his position of power and sexually assaulted junior female employers.
Pretoria News