Boss accused of sexual abuse

FOUR Eastern Cape domestic workers have accused their former employer, the owner of an East London cleaning company, of sexual harassment.

And when they refused his alleged advances, the man apparently fired them.

The four women, who cannot be named to protect their identities because of the sexual nature of the complaints, have opened cases with the East London police.

The man, who has dismissed the allegations as “rubbish”, is alleged to have touched the women inappropriately and told one of them not to wear any underwear to work.

One of the women said her employer had made sexual advances towards her for the past three years.

“Our boss touches our bodies and always wants to sleep with us. I have always refused when he wants to have sex with me, sometimes he buys me lunch.”

She said the cleaning staff were divided into two groups and driven in different vehicles to clean houses by the employer and his wife.

“He told me to sit in the front and that is when he started to touch me. He pulls my working suit up and said I should not wear anything underneath,” she said.

The four claim to have been fired for refusing to sleep with him.

“He fired us because he said we steal items from the houses [that we clean], but we have not stolen anything.

“It’s just because we do not want to sleep with him and he is fed up and wants to employ new people whom he will take chances on.”

Asked why they did not report the matter when it first started, one of the women said she had started out in the boss’s wife’s group.

“I started working there in 2015. He then changed things and said I should be in his group,” she said.

Another woman said: “I told my colleagues about this but no one said anything.

“I will have to look for another job now because we can’t go back to that place.”

One woman said the man often bought them lunch.

“When I arrived I was in the second group because I was still new.

“I only started travelling with him last year in October.

“Whenever he tried to touch me I told him that I am a married woman and will not tolerate his actions.

“He asked me where my husband was and offered to help me pay for my children’s needs,” she said.

“I told other workers about this. He said we must not bring lunch and sometimes he gave us extra money.

“After we told him that we do not want his money he said he will fire us if we tell his wife about this.” One woman said their boss had accused them of stealing from his clients.

“He accused us of stealing jewellery worth over R22 000 and clothing from one of the houses. But that is impossible because he is always watching us when we work.

“He said he has proof and when we wanted to see that proof he could not show us anything.”

When contacted for comment, the man said the women were lying.

“That is total rubbish. The matter is under investigation, they have not been fired, they are on suspension until their disciplinary hearing. That is all I am going to say.”

Police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala confirmed that a sexual offence case had been opened.

Investigations were still ongoing and no arrests had been made, Mqala said.