An employee at Dr JS Moroka Local Municipality in Siyabuswa, Mpumalanga, is claiming about R1-million in damages from the former municipal manager, claiming he was a sex pest who made her life a nightmare after she rejected his advances.
A tearful Esther Mahlangu-Mathibela told the Pretoria High Court last week of her three years - between 1998 and 2001 - of hell when she had to fend off the advances of George Mthimunye, who was her boss.
She said her ordeal had such an impact that she had to receive psychological counselling.
According to Mahlangu-Mathibela, Mthimunye removed her name from a list of employees selected to receive training as traffic officers.
She claimed that her former boss made her face disciplinary hearings nearly every month.
Mthimunye told Judge Jody Kollapen that he “vehemently denies” the allegations.
“At no stage did I meet her alone in my office,” he testified.
Mthimunye said the area where his office was located - near that of the mayor and other senior officials - was busy.
He also denied that he victimised her and made her life a misery.
Mahlangu-Mathibela, who at the time worked in the municipality’s community development division, had a different story to tell. She became so upset at one stage during her evidence that the court had to adjourn so that she could regain her composure.
She said on several occasions Mthimunye made sexual advances, including in his office and in the corridors.
“He used to stop me (in the corridors) and did things which indicated love, such as touching me. He said he would get me one day.”
She could not say how many times this happened.
“I told myself he will get tired and maybe one day get the message that I was (not) interested,” she said.
One of the incidents she found most upsetting was when he “summoned” her to his office.
She said he wanted to have sex with her and he took his shirt off.
“He came towards me where I was seated and knelt down. He touched my thighs.”
Mahlangu-Mathibela said she tried to dash for the door, but he tried to stop her. She eventually managed to get out.
“I told him he would not get what he wanted… I did not want to have sex with him because I was married,” she said.
She said she did not report Mthimunye’s alleged advances at that stage for fear of losing her job. She was also afraid to tell her husband.
Mahlangu-Mathibela said she went to Mthimunye’s office every time he summoned her.
“I respect my work and thus had to respect him and listen to what he said,” she said.
She was unhappy to discover that her name had been removed from the list of candidates who were due to go to traffic school and blamed this on Mthimunye.
She claimed he “punished” her for declining sex with him.
She eventually told her husband about the sexual advances and on his advice sought the help of a lawyer, who wrote a letter to the municipality, lodging her complaint. She said nothing was done about her complaint and her seniors avoided her “as they were afraid of Mthimunye”.
She was instead victimised by having to face disciplinary hearings for things she had not done and was eventually “reduced to sitting in the kitchen”.
“I cannot say I came to work. I received a salary for just sitting in the kitchen,” she said.
Mthimunye denied that he made sexual advances towards Mahlangu-Mathibela and also that he initiated disciplinary steps against her. He said as CEO, he had to act on the complaints by her other superiors regarding her conduct.
Mthimunye said he did not remove her name from the training list, but said Mahlangu-Mathibela informed her superiors that she would speak to her husband about the training but never got back to them. The training programme proceeded without her.
Judgment was reserved. - Pretoria News