Rape victim 'unfairly treated'

2008-11-29 14:26

Johannesburg - A Johannesburg metro police officer who reported a rape case against her boss was unfairly treated, verbally harassed and intimidated, the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) found on Friday.

Commissioner Nicole Johnston found that the woman was forced to resign in April due to "intolerable and bad" working conditions she was subjected to.

She also found that the JMPD had failed to follow proper procedures to investigate the alleged rape reported in May 2007, or to take proper disciplinary steps against the top official accused of the rape.

It was for these reasons that they ordered the JMPD to pay the woman 12 months' worth of salary.

However, Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said the metro police would challenge the ruling.

"We view sexual harassment very seriously. But in regard to this case, we found no grounds for allegations against the senior officer following our internal investigations. We are going to challenge the ruling," he said.

The case was argued before the CCMA by the Women's Legal Centre, a Cape Town-based NGO focusing on women's rights litigation. It did so on instruction from People Opposing Women Abuse (Powa).

"It is appalling how state departments such as the JMPD, who are responsible for enforcing the law, fail to apply the law when dealing with their employees," said Cherith Sanger of the Women's Legal Centre.

She said the alleged rape victim, who had been working for the JMPD for six years at the time of the incident, was subjected to "unfair degrading treatment which violated her human dignity".

"She was discriminated against on the basis of her sex and gender in a male-dominated department operating on principles of patriarchy as illustrated by the treatment she was afforded subsequent to making an allegation of rape," Sanger said.

- SAPA