Africa-Press – South-Africa. The ANC is insisting that the Western Cape’s social development head of department explain why it had no record of reports of sexual harassment for the past year, in spite of the accusations levelled at former Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz.
“The ANC in the Western Cape legislature is growing tired of DA antics to cushion those who may have knowledge of alleged sexual misconduct by former Social Development and Community Safety MEC, Albert Fritz, from accountability,” said ANC MPL Mesuli Kama in a statement.
The social development committee sat on Tuesday to update the members on the Western Cape government’s sexual harassment policy which dates back to 2011, and to hear what it is doing about gender-based violence, but the opposition ANC was not happy.
Premier Alan Winde has called for a review of the policy following the allegations levelled at Fritz, who was subsequently fired when an independent pre-investigation found that the claims against him could be substantiated.
Fritz held the powerful position of the DA’s provincial leader, and claimed the allegations were no more than a political smear. He has resigned as provincial party leader, but still retains some of his perks, to Winde’s chagrin.
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It was the second scandal leading to a change at the top, with the party’s former leader Bonginkosi Madikizela leaving when it was discovered that he did not have the Bachelor of Commerce degree he had claimed to have.
Madikizela is now set to be the premier’s advisor. Madikizela had also been the transport and public works MEC.
The department is key to navigating the intricacies of taxi operators’ requirements, but has its own new scandal, with the province’s traffic chief currently on trial for the alleged sexual assault of a colleague. He is still at work.
The Department of Social Development’s in-depth presentation on how it handles sexual harassment and gender-based violence was overshadowed by the ANC wanting to know why it could not just talk about Fritz. The ANC also wanted to know why it had no reports of sexual harassment against senior officials over 10 years, in spite of the policy.
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Department head Robert Macdonald was present, but neatly side-stepped questions regarding Fritz, focusing on questions related to policy implementation.
“We are still waiting for the head of department to account for MEC Fritz’s [alleged] sexual misconduct,” said ANC MPL Rachel Windvogel during the question-and-answer session.
“A lot of this occurred during his time in the department,” she said, referring to Fritz’s previous tenure as social development MEC.
‘Beautifully written presentations’
The opposition also questioned why the traffic chief was still at work, but the main witness against him is off due to the emotional strain of bringing the case. Another two cases were raised, but further details were not discussed. One news report linked a councillor to a complaint that he had touched a colleague inappropriately. The councillor has reportedly resigned.
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In response to the province’s gender violence prevention strategy, where Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez is pushing for a gender-based violence representative on all ward committees too, Kama was not placated.
“The experience of victims on the ground is not as glossy as we think,” he said.
“I always have a problem with these beautifully written presentations. What I want here is the current deliberate actions.
“If you check in the Western Cape government, it has a gender-based violence plan, but in terms of economic development… the complainant sits at home dealing with the trauma, and he [the accused traffic chief] keeps on working.
“And that sends a message to the victims we are not really dealing with these issues. There is a glaring disconnectedness.”
The committee is chaired by former community safety MEC Dan Plato, on a return to the legislature after being the the DA’s mayor of Cape Town.
It heard that the Social Development Department was trying to pull out all the stops regarding the prevention of gender-based violence, and the conditions that sometimes trigger it, such as substance abuse disorders.
The committee was told that in 2019, eight of the 10 police stations with the highest number of gender-based violence reports in the province were in Cape Town. They are: Mitchells Plain (83), Delft (54), Manenberg (50), Mfuleni (50), Cape Town Central (46), Kleinvlei (45), Bishop Lavis (44), and Gugulethu 43).
Sexual harrassment policy
After the presentations on Tuesday, Plato was asked again to get the social development head of department to take specific questions on Fritz.
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Plato refused, saying he did not want to compromise the investigation.
The ANC wants to know why it took so long for the allegations to come out, given that the anti-sexual harassment policy is used across the 13 departments of the Western Cape government.
The ANC and DA are often at loggerheads over whether party officials accused of crimes should step aside, or resign.
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