CAPE TOWN - Activist and rape survivor, Revered June Dolley-Major, will be leading protest action outside the HeartFM studios on Wednesday, after it came to light that a former employee at the station had lodged four formal grievances against a manager relating to sexual harassment, and had to sign a non-disclosure as part of a labour settlement agreement.
The employee had lodged four formal grievances against a senior manager, relating to “sexual harassment, discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, as well as the negligent or intentional endangerment of myself and other staff members amid the Covid pandemic”, CCMA documents seen by the Cape Times stated.
In its conclusion, the documents read that “the employee will refrain from making any comments or reference to the employer on social media or any other platform”.
HeartFM said they took the complaint seriously and acted immediately.
“With respect to claims of sexual harassment, our response to the internal grievance complaint was immediate as we view such allegations extremely seriously,” managing director Reneé Redelinghuys said.
“As a station we certainly do not condone any form of harassment among employees, and we took the responsible decision to have the matter investigated immediately. The investigations (both internally and independently) could not affirm any of the allegations laid. The allegations could not be substantiated so the station holds the view that it has dealt with this matter appropriately, and does not believe that it has subjected the complainant or the respondent to any unfair treatment when dealing with the matter.”
The former employee meanwhile had also lodged a complaint with the Legal Practice Council (LPC) against the attorney who handled an internal process.
According to the documents among the reasons for the complaint are that the investigating attorney had allegedly: “belittled her, retraumatized her, insinuated she may lose her job for coming forward and later went on to falsify part of her testimony”.
When Dolley-Major named her alleged rapist, he approached the court earlier this year, to stop her from naming him in the public domain.
In a landmark judgment, the Western Cape High Court found in her favour – stating that the fears of irreparable reputational harm feared by her accused, were non-existent.
She said this situation was equivalent to a gag order.
“This is about one survivor supporting another, as part of my ’Say His Name’ campaign. My rapist took out a gag order against me, this is equivalent to a gag order. Her story has been very silent because of the non disclosure. This is what happens to survivors, we get silenced. The silencing of victims and ousting them is really not right. It does not mean if someone is found not guilty they are really not guilty, saying name, telling people watch out there is abuser in our midst,” she said.
“Activism should happen 365 days a year, because abuse happens 24/7, 7 days a week, it is a sad reality. Through this campaign, we are trying to say, lots of these people who rape are repeat offenders, maybe if we said their names victims like Tazne and Courtney would still be alive today.”
She said the protest would start outside the Heart FM studios in Sea Point at 11am. All Covid-19 protocols observed.
Cape Times