Was
it ethical for Zwelinzima Vavi to have sex with a junior COSATU employee?
COSATU
secretary general Zwelinzima vavi has been accused of rape by a COSATU junior
employee (whose name has been withheld for ethical reasons). She claimed that
claimed that on January 25 2013 Vavi came to her office at COSATU house,
grabbed her, locked the door and forced himself on her.
This
was a private and very sensitive matter but everyone around the country was and
still is talking about it. People are asking questions like, is he guilty or
not? But the truth will eventually come out at some point. Vavi has been interrogated
a lot the public about these rape accusations towards him. Vavi issued a public
statement confirming that he had intercourse with the employee but denied rape.
“He in turn laid a complaint of blackmail and extortion against the woman and
her husband at the Sandton police station, claiming that the couple had
demanded R2million to let the matter go away.(Londa Lowen, 2012)
Now
after vavi admitted having intercourse with the COSATU junior employee the
public started to ask more questions as he was a public figure and leader to
most, so why would he commit such? Why would he have sex in the work place and
with a junior employee who is on the other hand married? Is it ethical for them
to have sex during work hours and in the place of work? This incident has been
viewed as a very unethical thing to do especially by someone who is a general
secretary, someone who is valued by a lot of people in the country. Now will
the public still respect and value him as they did before?
As
expected the Congress South African Trade Union (COSATU) central executive
committee took a decision to suspend Zwelinzima Vavi, its general secretary. An
internal board will now sit and find him guilty of bringing COSATU into
disrepute and he will permanently be removed from the leadership of COSATU. Some
people believe that he is really guilty of rape, they believe that since he had
powers he believed that he could abuse his powers then get away with it. Well Vavi
keeps denying rape repeatedly.
This
is an extremely intimate, private, personal and delicate matter that requires
great sensitivity and maturity to manage on my part. It involves dignity and
lives of private individuals. We all have constitutional responsibility to
defend each other’s dignity and integrity, Says Mr Z Vavi. Adultery (as wrong
as it is )is not the enemy here, the circumstances surrounding Vavi’s adultery
are the main concern. He could have sex with the employee somewhere else not at
the work place. Not only is vavi a product of men society, he occupies a
political position that take his inherent teachings from the society and
assists him to further fulfil them.
So
weather vavi is guilty of rape or not he still committed an unethical action by
having sex with a junior employee at their workplace as he admitted. Abuse of
women is a very serious offence. Abuse of power is very serious; no one should
be above the law. In this case vavi’s guilt has not been established. “we have
seen scandals like this before in South Africa” said political analyst
Somandoda Fikeni “sex scandals don’t have precedents of taking out leaders” he
said, adding that vavi’s political career will be weakened, if it survives.
Zwelinzima
Vavi says that he recognises that some people remain “unforgiving” about his
affair with a COSATU employee. He also said that he committed an error and he
apologised for it, but added that many people accepted his apology and many
remained unforgiving.
Bibliography
Linda
Lowen, about.com guide. September 18, 2012
newswall.co.za/news/latest/the-new-age…/vavi-s…sex…/a2va3.201067
www.enca.com/south-africa/vavi-pleads-privacy-following-sex-scandals
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