Cape Town - A domestic worker who accused her employer’s partner of racial abuse and assault has turned to the Equality Court for damages and to compel him to apologise.
Gloria Kente, 49, also wants André van Deventer, 35, to undertake that he will no longer hurl racial abuse at her.
Kente and her attorney, Peter Williams, filed an application with the court on Tuesday, seeking R100 000 in damages from Van Deventer and “an unconditional apology”.
The application followed Van Deventer’s brief appearance at the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges of common assault and crimen injuria.
The case was postponed to December 4 for further investigation. Van Deventer is alleged to have assaulted Kente, spat on her and used abusive language, calling her a “k*****” in June.
Kente had been employed by the family for eight years and alleged that Van Deventer had racially abused her for some time, but this escalated into assault in June, at the house they shared in Table View. Van Deventer no longer lives there.
In an affidavit, Kente said Van Deventer had moved in with his girlfriend in Parklands in 2006, where Kente also lived. Between that time and 2008, on a number of occasions Van Deventer used the k-word and called her a “pathetic k*****”, she said.
Kente said she had lodged a complaint with police in 2008, hoping the harassment would stop. Van Deventer had paid an admission of guilt fine and allegedly made his girlfriend fire Kente after the complaint, but she was reinstated after a challenge at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
On June 28, he grabbed her by her clothing and shoved her around, she alleged. This was after Kente asked Van Deventer to look after his 11-month-old baby while she took a shower.
“I don’t like k*****s. I don’t like you,” he allegedly shouted at her before spitting in her face. He is also alleged to have said: “You are a k***** and you will never change. You k*****s throw kaka at the airport... You don’t pay for the mess to be cleaned, because k*****s don’t pay tax.”
After this Van Deventer had accused black people of stealing “our land” and said that “f***** (Nelson) Mandela must f***** die in hospital”, Kente said in the court papers.
She said the abuse had left her hurt and humiliated. Her dignity had been impaired.
“Mr Van Deventer has consistently undermined my human dignity and his harassment has caused me immense pain and suffering, emotional and even psychological suffering,” she said in her affidavit.
Williams said there was a need for an effective deterrent for racial intolerance.
“We want the court to set a precedent by awarding substantial damages where people use the k-word or show racial abuse and intolerance.”
Cape Times