The Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) has written to management at Duration Gold Investment (DGI) in Inyathi, Matabeleland North province, requesting information about a case of sexual harassment against a female employee at the mine.
This was after the Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Mineral Workers Union (ZDAMWU) wrote on 4 January to ZGC on behalf of the female employee, who accused her boss of sexually harassing her.
The matter has spilt to the courts, where Langton Mharira was charged with indecent assault. Mharira also filed a counter-assault charge against the female employee.
In the letter to the company management, ZGC Matabeleland regional co-ordinator Dalubuhle Sibanda said the commission received a complaint from a DGI employee who alleged she was sexually assaulted and violated by Mharira at the mine premises. Added Sibanda:
The complainant further alleges that she is facing continued victimisation at the hands of Mharira, who happens to be her immediate supervisor.
Such allegations indicate an unholy work relationship involving Mharira and the female subordinate. As you might appreciate, assertions of sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse cannot be ousted in such relationships where power dynamics are all at play.
The commission gave the mine 14 working days to respond to the letter stating measures that are being taken if the allegations are true.
The mining firm is yet to respond to the ZGC letter.
More: NewsDay Zimbabwe