Power, Privilege, and Predation: Sex-for-Jobs Scandal Rocks Eastern Cape

The brazen scandals in Bhisho - be it aging sex pests with chronic diseases molesting young interns or financial/political misdemeanours taking centre stage instead of service delivery - they all never cease to amaze me.

It is so because the provincial seat of the failing Eastern Cape government has always been in the news for all the wrong reasons - for years now.

I’m writing this blog post following Friday's (October 11) decision by ANC provincial chair and premier Oscar Mabuyane to place public works & infrastructure (DPWI) head of department (HoD), Thandolwethu Manda, on leave pending an investigation into “rape and sexual abuse allegations” circulating on social media platforms.

Mabuyane had this to say: “Noting the seriousness of the allegations levelled against HoD Manda and the position he holds in government, I have considered the options available to me in line with the applicable public service prescripts. I am convinced that placing him on leave will best serve the provincial government.”

“Additionally,” the premier continued, “I have appointed prominent persons to constitute an investigating panel that will take a deep dive into these matters focusing primarily on DPWI. The panel includes, Mr. Petros Majola, Ms. Pamela Tshwete and Ms. Yvonne Badi”.

The premier called on all those who have experienced “sexual abuse and/or harassment in the workplace to use the panel that has been appointed”. “I also call on anyone who has experienced this kind of abuse to report the matter to the police for investigation, ensuring perpetrators face justice.”

The rape culture is institutionalised in Bhisho where powerful men – married, widowed and single alike - have carte blanche to women’s bodies, raping them at will to supposedly advance their careers. The sex-for-jobs phenomenon has been going on for decades in the provincial capital, where managers have made it the norm to demand sexual favours from their vulnerable subordinates, personal assistants (PAs) and interns to promote them to senior government positions.

These scandals have been reported at length by the media including publications such as the East London-based Daily Dispatch, alas, with no consequences for the perpetrators who continue to roam the corridors of power at Independence Avenue in Bhisho.

In December 2014, the Eastern Cape DA Women’s Network (Dawn) called on the department of cooperative governance & traditional affairs (Cogta) to act against officials implicated in the sex-for-jobs saga and demanded that sex offenders be named and shamed.

However, a subsequent whitewash report by Cogta cleared senior managers’ alleged involvement in the scandal, effectively spurring the vicious cycle to continue, with many wannabe sex offenders watching closely and thinking they could, perhaps, also get away with it.

The Daily Dispatch reported a decade ago about how two men had their marriages falling apart after discovering their wives had been sexually involved with their superiors with promises of promotions.

The newspaper reported about how one of the men, a police officer, was raising a child that was not his, saying he had decided to have a vasectomy and that two years after the procedure, his wife told him she was pregnant.

“I did not understand it and it is then that she confessed to what I had been suspecting for years,” the police officer was quoted as saying.

“She told me she had sex with the man for a better job because she needed the money. At that time she wanted to change her car and I couldn’t afford one.” Needless to say, their union ended in a divorce.

Now, to a more unique story: There is a Gauteng-based senior government official I know personally. He got a senior state job in the Eastern Cape. On his first day at work, he was approached by a subordinate who introduced herself as his PA. And the employee said something along the lines of, “I can also be your girlfriend, if you want, because I was both a PA and a girlfriend to the guy who was here before you”.

The married official was shocked to the core and declined her advances, protesting that he was a happily married man, but the PA retorted that his predecessor too was a married man. There you have it, sex-for-jobs arrangements have been perfectly institutionalised in the largely rural and impoverished province, where a government job is a guaranteed ticket out of poverty.

The Eastern Cape seems to have perfected the insidious art of tying senior management roles to generous perks including PA-cum-girlfriends as some of the benefits. The said government official did not last even a year in Bhisho as he promptly returned to Gauteng, taking up a senior post in one of the government departments.

The latest scandal involving Manda, who describes himself as “an enthusiast with eagerness towards continuous improvement”, in his LinkedIn profile, is just a tip of the iceberg. In the provincial government website, Manda - who portrays himself as a "change catalyst" - is described as possessing 13 years’ senior management experience “predominantly in local government”.

There are, no doubt, many Mandas traversing the hallways of power in Bhisho looking to prey on their next victims, while powerful men and women look the other way. You might be wondering why they have gone out of their way to rape interns and married women? Well, because they can and they are rest assured nothing will happen to them. Ever heard the phrase absolute power corrupts absolutely?

These incidents highlight the need for a legal framework to be put in place to criminalise sex-for-jobs arrangements and for those found guilty to be included in the national register for sex offenders.

There is also a need for more training and awareness initiatives targeting vulnerable women and job seekers, and other support systems for victims, including psychosocial support and legal assistance to take the sex pests on through the rigours of the justice system.

With Mabuyane having set up a panel – comprising Majola, Tshwete and Badi - to investigate the very serious allegations against Manda, the ball is now firmly in their court. They dare not disappoint.

Majola is a respected community activist in the Eastern Cape, who is widely quoted on issues of social justice, while Tshwete is a former deputy minister and ANC politician, and Badi is former Hawks provincial head.

However, gender justice and social activist Anele Mda has called on Mabuyane to, among other things, publish the scope of the investigating panel, the terms of reference of the investigation, the time-frame, and declare how victims would be protected and how whistleblowers would remain safe.

Mda said the premier also needed to declare how much has been set aside for the investigation, "as we all know how money gets embezzled under the disguise of doing honourable things".

"The culture of sexual harrasment and exploitation within our government is one that must be confronted with tenacity and urgency. We expect this panel to approach the investigation with the seriousness it deserves, acknowledging the trauma endured by victims and the broader implications for our society," Mda said in her letter to Mabuyane on Tuesday (October 15).

"Your leadership on this issue will demonstrate a commitment to justice and integrity, fostering a safer and more equitable workplace for all employees in the Eastern Cape government. We await your prompt response and hope to see concrete action that prioritises the rights and dignity of our workers."

Indeed, Majola, Tshwete and Badi must prioritise genuine justice for the victims of the enduring sex-for-jobs scandal in Bhisho, ensuring that its findings are thorough, unequivocal, transparent and a deterrent, rather than succumbing to a whitewash that would only perpetuate the systemic injustices faced by vulnerable women.