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Pule Mabe’s sexual harassment accuser is set to get R50 000 in back pay after the ANC settled with her before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
This puts a lid on the repeated complaint that the ANC let its spokesperson off the hook lightly.
Kgoerano Kekana is no longer working as Mabe’s personal assistant and has since taken a new job in the ANC’s Johannesburg region at Masa House, as ordered by the ANC’s internal grievance panel that cleared Mabe in February.
The murky chapter saw Mabe voluntarily step aside from his duties in the ANC to take care of personal matters until the dispute was resolved.
He returned to work last Monday.
But those close to the CCMA process said all parties took a decision not to interrogate the merits of the sexual harassment allegations because the matter was already under investigation by the police.
Mabe has also lodged a fraud case against Kekana relating to the allegedly “false” academic qualifications on her CV.
City Press has seen a CCMA certificate of outcome of dispute dated last Wednesday, in which the commissioner declared the dispute between Kekana and the ANC over the alleged sexual harassment as resolved on February 27 2019 – the date on which the matter was referred for conciliation.
A copy of the settlement letter stated that “this agreement is in full and final settlement of the dispute referred to the CCMA”.
According to the agreement, the ANC undertook to reimburse Kekana “the salary difference from November 2018 to March 31 2019 in the amount of R10 000 per month”.
The party agreed to pay the total of R50 000 by the end of this month, failing which the matter would be referred back to the CCMA or an enforcement order sought in the Labour Court.
ANC general manager Phoebe Potgieter-Gqubule said: “The ANC as an employer will not comment on a CCMA conciliation agreement, which is between us and our employee”.
Mabe told City Press on Saturday that it was the ANC, and not him, that was taken to the CCMA so all queries should be sent to Luthuli House.
“The ANC is best placed to speak on this matter, but I maintain that I have never and will never sexually harass anyone,” he said.
Kekana’s legal representative, Advocate Brenda Madumise said she has been back at work prior the CCMA sitting, after having asked for and been granted a transfer.
“The matter of Mr Mabe sexually harassing my client is being dealt with by the police,” Madumise said.
In January, Mabe told the internal ANC grievance hearing that Kekana’s allegations were spiteful because he had blown the cover on her fabricated qualifications and consequently given her a pay cut.
Kekana claimed Mabe treated her badly after she complained about his alleged advances and that her salary was cut because of it. Mabe, in turn, said the complaint against him was motivated by the salary cut.
According to a 14-page letter outlining her complaint last November, Kekana claimed that Mabe forced himself into her bed on two separate occasions.
After she refused Mabe’s alleged sexual advances, he allegedly made her job miserable by reducing her salary and emotionally abusing her.
The grievance panel heard of three alleged incidents of sexual harassment that took place last July at St George’s Hotel in Tshwane and another at The Ranch Resort in Limpopo.
The panel ruled in February that the complainant’s version of events was not supported by evidence and, in contrast, Mabe’s version was “corroborated by witnesses whose relevant evidence the complainant did not refute or challenge”.
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