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Gender equality commission holds the Department of Water and Sanitation accountable for handling of sexual harassment issues

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CGEIOL News reports that on Monday the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) gave the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) a stern talking to when it came to addressing concerns of sexual harassment and their sexual harassment policy.

The DWS management appeared before CGE in an accountability session, held in Cape Town, where they intended to provide a clear account of progress made on its previous commitments to advancing gender equality and transformation in the workplace - specifically, focusing on addressing concerns surrounding sexual harassment. In October 2024, the CGE initiated its own investigation into policy failures and structural gaps in managing sexual harassment within DWS in the Western Cape. The purpose of the investigation was not to focus on the allegations of sexual harassment or prove their existence, but rather the broader issues relating to the DWS failure to create a safe and harassment-free workplace.

Most of Monday’s accountability session dealt with over-reliance by the DWS on an outdated sexual harassment policy, and also on two cases of sexual harassment the DWS had dealt with over the past 24 months. After the presentation by the DWS, CGE CEO, Dr Dennis Matotoka, gave the department a wake-up call. “There's something fundamentally wrong at a leadership level. There is no intentional commitment to transform the workplace at a leadership level,” Matotoka noted. Matotoka also questioned the policy review framework of the DWS, saying that “it can’t be for two years, you have failed and or neglected to develop or amend a sexual harassment policy”.

  • Read the full original of the extensive report in the above regard by Theolin Tembo at IOL News


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