ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe has volunteered to “step aside” as allegations of sexual harassment are being investigated against him, the party said on Tuesday.
The ANC confirmed that a complaint was lodged with the party’s Deputy Secretary General Jessie Duarte by a 26-year-old woman who worked as Mabe’s personal assistant.
The matter is set to be heard by a grievance panel later this week.
The complainant said she was employed by Mabe earlier this year despite him knowing she had no qualifications.
The ANC’s Human Resources department was also aware of this, she claims.
The unnamed woman, who is said to be an ANC Youth League member, said she was harassed by Mabe while they were on a work assignment.
She described two incidents where Mabe had acted inappropriately and visited her room and even climbed into her bed.
The woman said when she rejected Mabe’s advances, his attitude towards her changed.
He started becoming aggressive and made her working life miserable, and even cut her salary by R15 000.
But Mabe says the allegations are false: “I was raised by a single mother and I know what it means to protect and preserve the rights of women.”
Mabe said the recruitment of the complainant was part of boosting the work of his office.
“I believe in the energy of young people, whether they are young men or young women, so bringing that kind of a team to work within the department of information and publicity of the ANC was an important step towards nurturing talent and making sure that the movement could be able to invest rightly in the future,” he said.