Education
(1) What measures are in place to (a) investigate and (b) prevent incidents of bullying and harassment of female staff members in her Department by their male counterparts;
(2) whether there have been any complaints of bullying and harassment lodged by female staffers in senior management against their male counterparts between February 2019 and August 2020; if so, (a) what are the relevant details and (b) how were these complaints resolved?
(1) (a) The WCED has a policy of zero tolerance regarding these types of incidents, and investigations are prioritised.
There are two options available to deal with incidents of harassment: an attempt can be made to resolve the matter informally, or a formal procedure can be followed.
The formal procedure will be dealt with in terms of section 18 of the Employment of Educators Act, 76 of 1998 in the case of educators, or the Disciplinary Code and Procedure for the Public Service (Resolution 1/2003) for administrative and support staff.
Should the complaint not be satisfactorily resolved by the internal procedures set out above, the dispute resolution procedure can be followed by the complainant via the relevant bargaining councils.
(b) The Department presents various training/induction sessions to raise awareness on harassment and the consequences thereof.
Circulars are also issued to alert and sensitise officials on harassment.
Task teams have been established in collaboration with unions to adopt intervention strategies to address and curb instances of sexual harassment.
The Department of Basic Education has also issued a document titled “Protocol for the Management and Reporting of Sexual Abuse and Harassment in Schools”.
The WCED has also appointed dedicated Sexual Harassment Contact Officers to deal with any forms of sexual harassment in the workplace.
(2) (a) No complaints were lodged with the People Management Practices directorate by Senior Management Services staff members.
(b) N/A
