Lobby group faces another sex scandal

Equal Education rocked by fresh allegations

EDUCATION Advocacy group Equal Education (EE) has been rocked by another sex scandal after its general secretary was forced to resign after similar allegations surfaced. It has emerged that another senior management staff member is being investigated after he allegedly offered a job to a volunteer in exchange for sex.

In a statement released by EE, it said it became aware by the allegations on social media.

“We are aware of statements made on social media, of personal experiences and other expressions of concern, regarding both current and past instances of sexual harassment and related misconduct by persons associated with EE,” the organisation’s national council chairperson, Yoliswa Dwane, said.

Dwane said the organisation deemed these allegations as serious.

“We encourage any person willing to come forward and share information about these matters with the independent investigation panel established by EE (and) to do so as soon as possible,” he said.

It’s not the first time a case such as this has emerged. EE secretary-general Tshepo Motsepe resigned in April after

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allegations surfaced that he had allegedly sexually harassed several women in the organisation. Motsepe has denied the allegations against him and said he was pressured to resign from the organisation.

“I have requested for a process to unfold because the way they have handled this is wrong, because I have more questions than answers. I don’t even know these women,” he said.

Motsepe said that pressure mounted for him to resign after colleagues came to him and started sending him messages. “They told me that I am making the working environment tough but I insisted that I want a process,” he said.

He requested a process be implemented at the end of last month and they invited him to do representations, but a date has not yet been set.

Motsepe said it’s been a tough few weeks for him and his family.

“For my wife it was very difficult telling her, because then she had questions whether I really did it or not. It’s very tough,” he said.

EE’s national council has appointed Leanne Jansen-Thomas as the interim national co-ordinator.

The organisation has existed for more than 10 years.

It has been at the forefront of a number of significant court cases and has garnered massive support from other social activists.

Axolile Notywala, general secretary of the Social Justice Coalition, said they were shocked when they heard about the allegations.

“We were shocked, of course, but we will support the organisation because we believe their work is very important,” he said.

Social activist group Unite Behind’s Matthew Hirsch declined to comment on the matter, saying it wasn’t the organisation’s place to comment despite it being affiliated to them.