The disgusting Norman Mashabane saga should be embarrassing for a number of politicians. Indeed, some of them, including the South African Minister of Foreign Affairs, should be so ashamed as to hide their faces for a whole year – or, at the very least, until the “16 days of activism against violence against women and children” ends.
Having followed the case from when allegations of sexual harassment were made against then Ambassador Mashabane (South African ambassador to Indonesia at the time), my own disgust reached new depths today when I heard that he has resigned his new position “to focus on the problems he is currently experiencing” according to Limpopo provincial premier, Sello Maloto.
Perhaps I should start at the beginning – or the beginning as some of us know it; there might be a beginning before this one. To quote from a South African Press Association report:
The incidents took place when he was South Africa’s ambassador to Indonesia.
Several complaints of sexual harassment was (sic) laid against Mashabane.
He was found guilty at an initial hearing in 2001 on a battery of charges that included stroking the buttocks of an employee, molesting a staff member in a lift and making suggestive motions with his tongue to another.
The panel recommended he be fired, but he appealed the judgement and was allowed to continue in his post pending the outcome.
In June 2003 another charge was laid against him, and he was again found guilty.
The findings were reversed by Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, acting as the appeal authority, who suggested that Mashabane was being dragged through the mud for exposing motor vehicle fraud at the embassy.
Lara Swart, a Foreign Affairs employee who made the allegations in Indonesia, ensured that the matter went to the High Court which, this week, overturned Dlamini Zuma’s ruling, thus confirming Mashabane’s guilty verdict and his dismissal.
Last month, November 2006, Mashabane was given a job as political advisor to the Limpopo Premier Sello Maloto. Maloto, of course, knew there was a court case pending, but – amazingly – chose to appoint the sex pest anyway. And Maloto’s response after the High Court’s ruling? Well, nothing really. Mashabane resigned and he accepted the resignation – even appearing together with Mashabane in a media conference. “He has asked to be relieved of his duties to focus on the problems he is currently experiencing,” said Mogale Nchabeleng, the premier’s spokesman.
That’s it??!? A man confirmed by the High Court to be guilty of repeated sexual harassment simply has his resignation accepted in a face-saving measure? Where is the moral outrage of our politicians – during these “16 days of activism” – for such crimes against women? Why didn’t Maloto kick Mashabane out on his backside with a warning never to show his filthy paws in that province ever again? Why even allow the thug to resign and act as if he is the aggrieved party? Heck, if anyone deserves to be treated with respect it is Lara Swart and the others he attacked, not their harasser and assaulter.
And the Minister? Well, she is pleased that she didn’t oppose Swart’s right to take the matter to court, said her spokesperson on the radio this morning. And when asked whether the Minister will apologise, the spokesperson responded: “Madam, you are pushing this too far.” Huh?
Woman gets molested.
Woman makes complaint against molester.
Molester found guilty.
Minister overturns verdict.
Court finds Minister was wrong and molester is guilty.
Shouldn’t Minister apologise to woman?
As long as South African politicians and officials continue protecting each other in this kind of vile manner – violating, in the process, any national sense of decency – we have no hope of overcoming the problems of crime and immorality in our society. No moral regeneration movement will help; no number of speeches from President Thabo Mbeki will make a difference. Mbeki should have this Mashabane clown taken out to the front of the Union Buildings in Pretoria and publicly whipped (a tongue-lashing, of course) by Ms Swart and his other accusers. Then Mbeki should sentence Dlamini Zuma to wear a niqab until the next election!
No comments:
Post a Comment