A Zimbabwean Woman Has Been Arrested After Staging Naked Protest for Alleged Workplace Sexual Abuse at UNISA
"Nudity is a sign of my dignity that l have been stripped of. I have nothing more to protect. My dignity is gone."
Gugu Ncube, a former employee of the UNISA Center for Early Childhood Education, staged a naked protest Wednesday to call out her former boss and the alleged sexual abuse she suffered at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, News24 reports.
According to Ncube, her boss at the center (previously sponsored by University of South Africa) approached her for sexual favors and unsolicited advances in exchange for remaining an employee. Now without a job, she notes that claims that she resigned were not true.
"I want the UNISA management to show the country, Thuma Foundation, Commission For Gender Equality and other interested parties, my resignation letter they claim I tendered," she says to News24. "This is my demand."
When asked why she decided to stage a naked protest to amplify her demand, Ncube states, "Nudity is a sign of my dignity that l have been stripped of. I have nothing more to protect. My dignity is gone."
Ncube also demands South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to pay attention to this issue, citing that she was mistreated when she initially reported her boss to the police.
"I have seen first-hand [a] commissioner sitting on my supposed tribunal taking bribe money to discredit me," she continues. "I have seen corrupt police come to arrest me unprocedurally because my abuser has money to pay them. I will be heard."
Watch her cry for justice in the clip below.
Shen was then violently arrested and charged with public indecency, according to police spokesperson Captain Daniel Mavimbela.
UNISA reiterates in a statement from Professor Mandla Makhanya, principal and vice chancellor, that the UNISA Center for Early Childhood Education was previously sponsored by the institution and that Ncube has "misconstrued" the issue and "attempted to drag its name into the dispute" between herself and the center regarding her termination of employment.
"...Despite repeated attempts by the university to clarify that UCECE is an independent entity established in terms of the Trust Property Control Act; and thus operates autonomously, including entering into and terminating employment relationships," Makhanya says. "Accordingly, Ms. Ncube was never an employee of UNISA."
Makhanya adds that when Ncube initially brought the matter to the univeristy in 2018, that they moved to suspend the staff members who were UCECE board members and her accuser, as well as provide counseling. "After thorough investigation, it was established that there was no basis to charge the staff members concerned with the alleged offenses."
Read the full statement below.
Police say Ncube is due to appear in court soon as Africans rally in support on social media.
