A Joburg woman has spoken of her horror at almost falling victim to a sexual assault by a man who promised her a job.
The man, known as “Steven”, was operating under the pretence that he was a recruitment official at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria.
The CSIR has denied that the man and his associate were representing the organisation.
In a desperate bid to find a job, the woman, who does not want to be named, told how in February she posted her profile on Gumtree in search of work.
Steven contacted her and requested they meet for a job interview in the Joburg CBD. At the meeting, he suggested she make changes to her CV.
She agreed and while she did so, he left, telling her she should contact him when she was done.
“I asked for his e-mail address so I could send my CV to him but he insisted that we go to his car (when he returned),” she said.
Once there, he approved her CV and said a woman called “Sherinne” would call her to set-up a follow-up interview at the CSIR’s office in Pretoria.
That same day, “Sherinne” called her from a private number and told her to come to Pretoria, but not to the CSIR.
“Sherinne told me Steven must come pick me up since CSIR will not allow me inside because it’s very secured. When I got to Pretoria I phoned Steven and he said that he would meet me in town.”
When he arrived, he told the woman the meeting had been cancelled as the CSIR directors were out of the country.
He took her to a bed-and- breakfast establishment and informed her that for her to get the job, she must go inside the room with him. “I refused and he started pulling me out of the car.”
Fortunately, a gardener working nearby witnessed the commotion and confronted Steven.
“I then ran to the gate and was able to escape.”
It’s been two months since her ordeal, but the woman remains traumatised, convinced Steven was going to rape her if the gardener hadn’t intervene.
She still hasn’t reported the matter to the police as she hopes to never come into contact with the man again.
“My advice for others looking for a job is to not trust anyone,” she said.
“Dealing with this is very hard for me and it’s really hard for me to try to find a job because it just opens old wounds.”
The CSIR said it was concerned about scammers using its name to swindle young people by promising them job placements.
CSIR media manager David Mandaha said this was not how the organisation recruited people. “CSIR vacancies are advertised in mainstream newspapers, are available on the website www.csir.co.za and promoted through the CSIR official social media platforms,” he said.
“Any meetings pertaining to the recruitment process after one has applied for a position advertised on any of the above-mentioned platforms will take place at the CSIR offices.”
Mandaha urged job seekers, particularly young people,not to engage with anyone claiming to be an employee of the CSIR.
“We also encourage the victims of this scam to come forward or report these criminal acts at the nearest SAPS station.”