Thursday 14 March Gugu Ncube appeared at the Pretoria Magistrate court on charges of public indecency after she took to The Union Buildings Semi-naked in pursuit of getting a message across to the president. A placard she was holding asked the President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene as she was allegedly fired by UNISA management after reporting her boss on allegations of sexual harassment.
Gugu Ncube felt aggrieved even more by the way she was dragged away from the Union Building by the police. She claims all she intended was not to cause any harm but express how she felt after, she was fired for refusing to sleep with her boss and deciding to report the matter with management.
Videos of Ncube being dragged and carried into a police van by a group of female police officers went viral on social media, with people questioning the fairness of her arrest. Ncube’s case was postponed to April 10. Mpho Nefuri, Ncube’s lawyer criticised the manner in which the arrest was handled and said Ncube might have to consider suing the state.
Yesterday, police spokesperson Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said he could not comment on Ncube’s arrest as the case was with the courts. Dlamini said Ncube could lay her complaint before the magistrate if she felt aggrieved.
Unisa vice-chancellor, Professor Mandla Makhanya, released a statement denying that Ncube had been employed by the university saying that she was bringing the institution into disrepute. Makhanya said Ncube was a former employee of a company called Unisa Centre for Early Childhood Education that was previously sponsored by Unisa. He said some Unisa employees were suspended after Ncube laid a complaint of sexual harassment in 2018.
Ncube said it’s not fair that she’s been portrayed as a criminal for trying to fight for her rights, while men are hailed as heroes for doing the same thing. She has added police have not taken any action against Khoi-men who have been demonstrating at the Union Buildings, dressed in the same “semi-nude” state as she was, at the time of her arrest.
BY: DAVE BALO.
