Dylan Bettencourt
Constable Tumelo Masenamela claims he was repeatedly sexually harassed by his station commander and he is now so desperate that he is suing Police minister Bheki Cele for R10 million.
Masenamela who spoke to The Sowetan took legal action against Cele last week and demanded he be paid damages for the emotional shock and trauma he experienced by his boss.
He is also demanding payment for medical costs including treatment for his mental health.
The cop told The Sowetan that Colonel Marike Galant, the commander of the Letlhabile police station in the North West, repeatedly touched him inappropriately despite asking her to stop. The incidents took place between 2018 and 2019.
Cele’s spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said the minister would be jumping the gun if he were to give a response on the matter without the necessary information.
The victim, however, claims that the police minister failed to advance the investigation when he reported the sexual harassment.
After reporting the incidents he faced in 2018, Masenamela said the only action the police took was to call a collective meeting for him to demonstrate how he was being inappropriately touched by Galant.
The officers’ lawyer Mabu Marweshe said: “This is a case where a superior, who is a woman, abused her powers by sexually harassing a junior and besides the fact that our client lodged a grievance internally nothing came of it”.
Galant has not commented on the allegations levelled against her.
Image source: @Sowetan
