Botswana Sector Educators Union (BOSETU) has dismissed the alleged sexual harassment of a union employee as mere witch-hunt on the union leadership and management.
This is according to the union’s Human Resource Department report on the matter seen by this publication. Recent newspapers reports stated that an employee who has been sexually violated by one of the union’s leaders. It was alleged that the affected employee was scared to report the matter for fears of losing her job.
The employee was said to have fallen victim to sexual harassment during the ANTUSA games which were held in South Africa in March this year.
In an internal Memo dated July 23, 2024, the Human Resources Manager Jabulani Makwanda noted that given the gravity of the matter, his office intended to conduct an inquiry and get to the bottom of things in view of satisfying itself on the matter as reported by the newspaper article.
“In light of the aforesaid, we wish to invite any staff member who may have experienced any sexual harassment in the workplace to approach my office to allow me to conduct and complete an inquiry on the same.
“The inquiry shall be absolutely confidential and the identity of employees in the said inquiry shall NOT be revealed. We would like to keep the invitation open for three days from Wednesday 14th to Friday 26th July 2024 within which my office will be conducting relevant interviews on the matter,” Makwanda said.
Makwanda has since issued a Report in which he dismisses the sexual assault claims.
“Given the gravity of the matter, the Human Resources office was tasked to establish the truthfulness of these allegations and to establish if there is any prima facie case for further investigations.
“The Department issued a Staff Memo inviting members of staff who have or may have experienced the sexual harassment as alleged in the publication, if true, to come forward to report the matter so that it can be investigated formally.
“Members of staff were given three days, from the 24th to the 26th of July of 2024 to do so,” the Human Resource Manager Jabulani Makwanda said in the Report.
He said the days and time allocated for members of staff to officially report the matter to HR elapsed without any aggrieved employees showing up. According to Makwanda in light of the aforementioned, the allegations are therefore deemed unfounded, untrue, and malicious to cause damage to BOSETU's Management and Leadership. Management therefore would like to close this matter, he said adding that the leadership will guide accordingly.
According to insiders, the allegations were an in-house propaganda as BOSETU gears for its National Executive Committee, (NATEX) elections. The NATEX which is chosen every three years, oversees BOSETU.
The NATEX is responsible for setting the strategic direction of BOSETU and ensuring that its policies and activities are aligned with vision and mission. There are 15 positions that are being contested for. The elections shall be held on the 31st August 2024 at the Elective Congress.
In June this year, Anna Motswakgalagadi, the Chairperson of BOSETU Electoral Committee released names of candidates who are to contest in the upcoming BOSETU Elective congress as per Article 7.1.1 of the BOSETU Electoral Policy.
The chairperson stated that by such correspondence candidates are at liberty to publicly start their campaigns as per Article 13.1 of BOSETU Electoral Policy.
This is according to the union’s Human Resource Department report on the matter seen by this publication. Recent newspapers reports stated that an employee who has been sexually violated by one of the union’s leaders. It was alleged that the affected employee was scared to report the matter for fears of losing her job.
The employee was said to have fallen victim to sexual harassment during the ANTUSA games which were held in South Africa in March this year.
In an internal Memo dated July 23, 2024, the Human Resources Manager Jabulani Makwanda noted that given the gravity of the matter, his office intended to conduct an inquiry and get to the bottom of things in view of satisfying itself on the matter as reported by the newspaper article.
“In light of the aforesaid, we wish to invite any staff member who may have experienced any sexual harassment in the workplace to approach my office to allow me to conduct and complete an inquiry on the same.
“The inquiry shall be absolutely confidential and the identity of employees in the said inquiry shall NOT be revealed. We would like to keep the invitation open for three days from Wednesday 14th to Friday 26th July 2024 within which my office will be conducting relevant interviews on the matter,” Makwanda said.
Makwanda has since issued a Report in which he dismisses the sexual assault claims.
“Given the gravity of the matter, the Human Resources office was tasked to establish the truthfulness of these allegations and to establish if there is any prima facie case for further investigations.
“The Department issued a Staff Memo inviting members of staff who have or may have experienced the sexual harassment as alleged in the publication, if true, to come forward to report the matter so that it can be investigated formally.
“Members of staff were given three days, from the 24th to the 26th of July of 2024 to do so,” the Human Resource Manager Jabulani Makwanda said in the Report.
He said the days and time allocated for members of staff to officially report the matter to HR elapsed without any aggrieved employees showing up. According to Makwanda in light of the aforementioned, the allegations are therefore deemed unfounded, untrue, and malicious to cause damage to BOSETU's Management and Leadership. Management therefore would like to close this matter, he said adding that the leadership will guide accordingly.
According to insiders, the allegations were an in-house propaganda as BOSETU gears for its National Executive Committee, (NATEX) elections. The NATEX which is chosen every three years, oversees BOSETU.
The NATEX is responsible for setting the strategic direction of BOSETU and ensuring that its policies and activities are aligned with vision and mission. There are 15 positions that are being contested for. The elections shall be held on the 31st August 2024 at the Elective Congress.
In June this year, Anna Motswakgalagadi, the Chairperson of BOSETU Electoral Committee released names of candidates who are to contest in the upcoming BOSETU Elective congress as per Article 7.1.1 of the BOSETU Electoral Policy.
The chairperson stated that by such correspondence candidates are at liberty to publicly start their campaigns as per Article 13.1 of BOSETU Electoral Policy.
