Volleyball bosses ‘did know’ sex-pest coach was fired
● Volleyball SA’s (VSA’s) claim that it never knew that one of its top coaches had previously been fired for sexual harassment has been blown out the water by an old e-mail that resurfaced this week.
The Sunday Times last week reported that Gershon Rorich, the beach-volleyball coach for the African Games in Rabat next month, had been fired as volleyball coach by the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in May 2012 after admitting guilt to sexual harassment allegations by a female student on his team.
VSA president Anthony Mokoena insisted last week that his federation had no prior knowledge that Rorich had been fired by UJ.
But an e-mail sent from Gauteng Volleyball Union (GVU) president Clive Doren to attorney Siven Samuels, a member of VSA’s legal commission, on September 7 2012, refutes this. “They [UJ] indicate that they have parted ways with Gershon Rorich after the matter was dealt with internally,” Doren wrote in the e-mail that was copied to Tubby Reddy, VSA’s president at the time.
Asked about this, Mokoena said in a written response that VSA “did not receive any communication from UJ” and added that the UJ volleyball club had given Rorich a letter of clearance. “There was no communication from UJ that ... Rorich had admitted guilt or that he was fired from UJ.” said Mokoena, the VSA vice-president at the time.
The e-mail, in possession of the Sunday Times, also cast doubt on two other elements of VSA’s version of events.
Mokoena had said last week Rorich himself had alerted VSA to the allegations against him, and this claim was reiterated in a communique VSA issued to its members on Tuesday. The statement said Reddy, knowing Rorich had previously done national duty as a coach, decided “it was imperative that the matter be investigated despite there being no complaint from UJ or the player concerned”.
But an e-mail sent on October 5 2012 by Reddy to Doren strongly suggests it was the GVU that had spurred them into action.
“Your mail below bears reference,” Reddy wrote. “Given the delicate and sensitive nature of the case and allegations contained in this mail, it necessitated us to look at the best possible way to handle this in order to be fair to both individuals involved.”
Mokoena this week insisted that Rorich had raised the matter with VSA before the provincial body did. At the time VSA instituted a commission of inquiry where Rorich denied the claim against him.
The VSA statement said the commission’s attorneys felt Rorich could not be charged because the victim did not make a statement to police, nor did she want to testify at a disciplinary inquiry. “On Mr Rorich’s version of events one could not impute any guilt.”
But the chain of e-mail also includes an apology by Rorich sent to the victim on May 9 2012, the day he was fired by UJ.
“First and foremost I would like to apologise for everything that happened in PE,” Rorich wrote. “I feel real embarrassed for the incident. I know that things got out of hand and this was because I had too much to drink and couldn’t control my actions. For this I am very sorry. I let you down as not only a person but as a friend. I know nothing that I say will take the pain away.”
The victim, in her complaint to GVU, said Rorich, among other things, had made physical advances to the point that she had “to push and kick him off me”.
Rorich denied writing the apology as well as the allegations against him.