Cape Town - Amid claims of sexual harassment in an anonymous e-mail implicating senior DA leaders, party insiders say a decision is imminent in the sexual harassment case of a prominent DA MP who allegedly forced a party staffer to touch his “private parts” during a street protest in February in the CBD ahead of President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address.
The MP was called before the party’s Federal Legal Commission (FLC) after the woman staffer laid a complaint.
Now several high-ranking party members claim the FLC is to come back with a guilty verdict – a claim the party’s federal chairman, James Selfe, has denied, saying the matter has not been finalised.
“The FLC has held a hearing into the matter, but I have not yet received its findings. The findings and, if applicable, sanction will have to be considered in due course by the federal executive,” he said.
Selfe said the hearing had been concluded and the FLC panel was currently considering a sanction. “Until I receive the finding and recommended sanction, I am unable to provide any further information or comment,”
The woman at the centre of the case, who works at the party’s offices in Cape Town, claimed that the MP took her hand and put it on his privates during the DA’s march, moments before police dispersed the crowd using a water cannon.
It is understood three co-workers gave supporting affidavits confirming the woman’s claims.
The complainant in the case did not want to comment and said she had not yet been informed about the outcome of the hearing.
The MP involved was also not aware of the findings and rubbished the claims as mere gossip.
The news comes in the wake of DA MPs and senior staffers being named in a sex scandal that rocked the party at the weekend.
The MPs, three men and three women, along with other senior party staffers, were named in an anonymous e-mail detailing alleged sexual impropriety and office affairs.
The author, who said she was one of the women who were “treated like playthings”, went on to claim that the three female MPs had to sleep with one of the party leaders to get their positions on the candidate lists. But the DA’s Women’s Network (Dawn) has defended the female MPs, saying claims that they’ve slept their way to the top were “absolute rubbish”.
Dawn interim leader Denise Robinson said the party had strenuous processes for electing public representatives, including interviews and exams. “You are not just going to get into Parliament or even be a councillor, if you happen to sleep with somebody. People are not elected to office just because of their personal relationships.”
Robinson said those mentioned in the controversial e-mail were people with experience, expertise and were fit for purpose. “If you have an axe to grind you do it the proper way, you don’t go out spreading rumours and allegations.”
She said while Dawn had not called outright for a probe into the e-mail and its claims, it was closely monitoring the situation and developments that might follow.
“It is not up to the Women’s Network to go out on a witch-hunt. There have been conversations with the women who have been named. We are asking the author to come forward, to follow the rules and procedures and lay a charge if they were indeed sexually harassed or used,” said Robinson.
“Discussions and conversations about the allegations are taking place. I’ve had discussions with the federal chairman and we are in the process of looking at the matter.”
She said if members indulged in certain behaviour, even if it was consensual, the party’s code of conduct was clear that whatever they did should not reflect negatively on the party.
“We must make sure that we do not bring the party into disrepute. This is a serious matter and it is very unfortunate that this has come out at this time, while the party is heading to its elective congress. So one has to question the motive of whoever authored it.”
Citing the example of the DA MP who was charged with sexual harassment after the alleged incident ahead of the State of the Nation Address march, Robinson said: “The minute a complaint is lodged and a proper charge is laid, the party will investigate, but you cannot act on rumours with no proof.”
She said if the e-mail’s author was serious about remedying a problem then that person shouldhave done so through the proper channels.
Robinson said she had full faith in the party and its disciplinary structures, adding that if anything more than just rumours emerged, Dawn would take the matter further.
Cape Argus