Never back down: The woman who brought down a disgraced politician

Nomawele Njongo is one of those women who is not afraid to grab the bull by the horns.

As a 21-year-old in 2006, she landed a job as an ANC parliamentary administrative assistant after university, and felt fortunate to work in the House and mingle with the country’s top politicians.

But her joy was short-lived after her boss, the then ANC chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe, allegedly invited her to his home at the Acacia Park parliamentary village in Cape Town one evening, under the pretext of delivering food to his guests.

When she arrived, there were no guests. Goniwe was alone and, she alleges, he invited her to his bedroom for a sexual encounter.

But the brave young woman, who was pregnant at the time, flatly refused Goniwe’s advances and stormed out of the house. She later reported the matter to Goniwe’s colleagues.

Goniwe was dismissed by the ANC after being found guilty of abusing his office by trying to score sexual favours.

Njongo recently published a book, titled Abortion by the Womb of Democracy: Surviving Political Sexual Masculinity in SA, in which she chronicles her sexual harassment ordeal.

The book also examines gender-based violence and highlights what men in power put women through in the workplace.

Today, the soft-spoken Njongo is famously known as the woman who brought down the disgraced top politician after the sexual harassment scandal broke in 2006.

Tracking down the Eastern Cape-born Njongo was a daunting task.

She admits to having been very busy promoting her book, which was launched late last year.

Speaking to City Press this week, Njongo said that penning her memoir had been a remarkable journey that had generated mixed emotions in her.

“I had to go back and open old wounds,” said Njongo.

“I reflected on my life journey. I giggled and wept, too. But it has been an amazing journey and I am happy with the good reception it has received. The book has been flying off the shelves since the launch.”

She believes that much work needs to be done to ensure women do not fall prey to sexual assault at the hands of powerful men in South Africa’s workplaces.

“There are still many women who suffer sexual harassment in silence at these workplaces. They become silent because either they are scared of losing their jobs or they fear that no one will believe them,” she said.

She recounted to City Press how furious Goniwe became when she refused to indulge him.

“I think it totally took him by surprise that I was standing my ground and refusing to sleep with him. Perhaps he had had his way with other women before and had not come across a woman who confidently said no to him.”

Goniwe allegedly told her: “Bendikuthembile ndicinga ukuba uyintombi yomXhosa. Ungade wale ukulala ne-chief whip yakho ingathi ucelwa ngumntu o-ordinary? [I thought you were a real Xhosa girl. How can you say no to your chief whip as if I am an ordinary man?]”

Describing the period as “the most traumatic chapter of my life”, Njongo said the incident turned her life “upside down”.

She suddenly had many enemies in the political arena and often drew stares when she walked the corridors of Parliament.

To add to her woes, she and her family received a number of death threats.

“It was the scariest period of my life. I did not know who I could trust any more because even certain people from my hometown of Lusikisiki turned against me. There were murmurs that I was being used by former president Jacob Zuma to destroy Goniwe’s political career.

“This was a rumour that I found ludicrous because there was no such thing going on.”

But, added Njongo, what hurt her most was seeing some women mobilise against her.

“It was painful. The very people who I thought would be in my corner and would defend me started calling me names.

“And I even had to endure being excluded from deployment and not getting promoted.”

She says she is unemployable – as if the incident has left her “blacklisted”.

But there is one woman whose support she is grateful for – former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor.

Njongo described Mentor as her rock: “She is not only a mother to her own children, but also to young women like me. I will forever be grateful to her for all the support she gave me.”

Njongo said it hurt her to see women continuing to suffer sexual assault at the hands of prominent men in society.

“The worst part is that these abusers live among us all the time, and these are people who hold powerful positions in political, business and even religious spaces.

“Some even chant ‘Stop gender-based violence’ slogans with us, but our plight is just a mere song to them,” she said, adding that men needed to stand up and protect women.

Njongo said that, by writing the book, she hoped that her story would inspire women from all walks of life to stand up for themselves.

* Abortion by the Womb of Democracy is available at Exclusive Books countrywide

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