Worker forced to strip to prove sex

2011-08-31 22:21

Mbombela - Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant has condemned the "callous and demeaning" stripping of a female worker at a wholesaler in Mbombela to prove she was a woman.

"It is totally unacceptable for anyone to be made to suffer the indignity that Precious Msibi was made to endure," Oliphant said.

"It is even more unacceptable that this happened in the month that is dedicated as a special period to honour all women."

Msibi, 51, was forced to strip naked in front of colleagues - some of them men - two weeks ago by a human resources manager.

"Our Constitution, which is the supreme law of the country, guarantees all of us dignity and it seems Msibi's constitutional rights [have been] infringed."

Msibi told The New Age newspaper on Tuesday that the police had told her they would make arrests soon, but that nothing had happened.

"It pains me to learn that the police have also not taken any action against him," she said.

She said she had been humiliated.

"After all that has happened, I’m now practically out of a job. After this, I don’t see it fit for me to go back."

- SAPA