Issued by: Ministry of Labour
STATEMENT BY TITO MBOWENI, MINISTER OF LABOUR, TO THE IMAGO CONFERENCE,
JOHANNESBURG, 16 MAY 1995
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am deeply honoured and privileged to speak at this important conference. We have suffered under colonialism apartheid for more than three hundred years. The system was evil and unacceptable and had to be abolished. In the same way sexual harassment is unacceptable, there is no excuse for it and there is no place for such evil in any system especially in the kind of political economy we are building.
The responsibility to eradicate this form of exploitation ladies and gentlemen rests with all of us. The fact that the majority of the victims are women does not make it a "womens issue" as many men tend to view it. Let us all be clear that sexual harassment is an issue which falls very much in the realm of fundamental human rights, namely the right to dignity and respect and the right to feel safe and secure in the workplace and in society at large.
It is of concern to the Ministry of Labour that this problem exists and on such a large scale. A 1992 survey conducted as a joint project of the Institute of Directors, the Institute of Personnel management, Unisa Centre for Women's Studies, the Women's Bureau of South Africa and the ANC Women's league found that at least 76% of career women were subjected to sexual harassment during their working lives.
What is it in our society that results in such violation of human rights? To address this issue we need to examine the context in which it occurs. Sexual harassment is not about sex - it is about oppression and exploitation, it is about power relations, it is about sexism and attitudes related to sexism. This we experience in South Africa daily.
Women are till today predominantly viewed as inferior to men in most sectors of our society and this is so obvious in our labour market. The traditional roles of women as supporting the men in power are evident in almost every workplace. Certain jobs are seen as typically womens jobs and these are positions at the lower echelons of our economy in as far a power relations go - the most common examples are typists and secretaries. These positions are predominantly managed or supervised by men. Women are still largely absent in the corridors of power especially in corporate boardrooms. Black women being the most affected by this.
We need to change these attitudes. Not only is this old boys club mentality intellectually and morally unacceptable, it is irrational and undemocratic and a fetter to economic development.
The Comprehensive Labour Market Commission we appointed in February this year is charged with the task of among other things to investigate mechanisms aimed at redressing the discrimination in the labour market. In particular the CLMC will consider a policy framework for affirmative action in employment with due regard for the objectives of employment creation, fair remuneration, productivity enhancement and macro-economic stability. Rectifying the imbalances in our society is not confined to only those which relate to black citizens but to all sectors which have historically and traditionally faced discrimination - this includes women.
How do we deal with this issue. Firstly, it is important that a clear definition exists of what constitutes sexual harassment. There have been cases where the alleged aggressors have denied sexual harassment on the pretext that "I merely gave her a friendly peck on the cheek" or "all I did was reach out for the pen that fell between her thighs". Is sexual harassment only physical abuse? What about verbal abuse? These are questions which we need to collectively consider and provide proper guidelines which will assist policy formulation? I have seen some of the research done on this issue which lays the foundation for policy formulation, but we need to be more inclusive and draw in other sectors of our society to participate and contribute to the debate.
Secondly, employers can no longer be silent about the matter and pretend it does not exist. There is no justification in protecting people who may be guilty of sexual harassment or trivialising what is a very serious issue. Neither must those of us who are concerned with sexual harassment address the issue half heartedly nor only at the level of rhetoric. It is ironic that the Board of Directors and the Institute of Personnel Management were involved in a project to study sexual harassment, yet very few companies have policies to address the issue. Such projects are always encouraging and positive but it must not end there.
It is usually the victims on their own and not employers who fight sexual harassment at the workplace. It is high time that employers take responsibility to ensure that all their workers are not subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace. It is after all in the interests of employers to do this. The consequences of sexual harassment are fear, low morale, absenteeism, stress, poor work performance and low productivity. In seeking to build our economy, to increase productivity, improve quality and competitiveness, we must get rid of those elements which stand in the way. Let us not forget that we have an obligation to social justice in the workplace too.
With regard to law, sexual harassment is considered an Unfair Labour practice under the existing Labour Relations Act workers Although there is no legal definition of sexual harassment the Unfair Labour Practice definition is broad enough to cover sexual harassment since it addresses the adverse effects of any conduct both on the employee concerned and on the employment relationship.
Failing to act on complaints of sexual harassment could be construed as an Unfair Labour Practice and workers can bring an action against an employer "who knows or ought to know, and fails to take action/or takes inadequate action to prevent harassment". Where channels for complaint are inadequate the courts can also find the employer liable since the employers lack of knowledge is due to his/her own and not the workers fault.
The law as it exists is inadequate as it excludes major sectors of our population, such as the public sector, domestic workers and farmworkers. As you know more than 90% of domestic workers are women and in the public sector large numbers of women are employed in the nursing and teaching professions. The new Labour Relations Bill negotiating document which we released in February 1995 covers all these workers who were previously excluded. As the Ministry of Labour we are keen to see a new Labour Relations Act passed this year so that mechanisms for better relations at the workplace are put in place as soon as possible.
Laws on their own however, are not enough to address certain issues and sexual harassment is a case in point. The Unfair Labour Practice definition exists and covers sexual harassment yet only 7 cases so far have been filed in the Industrial Court. We have to question why in a country were a high level of sexual harassment occurs that the victims do not apply the law.
Fear and lack of awareness we believe are the main reasons for this. Fear of victimisation, fear of jeopardising their jobs or promotion opportunities. Also there is the uncertainty of their rights and courses of redress and feeling of embarrassment. It is terrible that people whose rights have been violated have to feel this way. We need to address this issue seriously through campaigns which educate our people on their rights and raise the issue of sexual harassment publicly.
The Department of Labour now has a directorate for Equal Opportunities. We have not as yet staffed this Directorate but we expect it to start functioning within the next two months. I urge you to use this structure in our Department to raise questions around sexual harrassment and together with us find concrete solutions. The Ministry and Department of Labour will give full support and co-operations to initiatives aimed at eliminating sexual harassment.
I thank you.