Tshwane lecturer loses appeal against dismissal over sexual harassment claims

A Tshwane North TVET College lecturer has lost his fight against dismissal after an Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) arbitrator found that he had sexually harassed a student and compromised the integrity of college assessments.

Nkotsane Ephraim Malepe, a former civil engineering lecturer at the college’s Mamelodi campus, was dismissed following disciplinary proceedings involving allegations of sexual harassment and assessment irregularities.

He then challenged his dismissal as unfair before the ELRC, which on Monday dismissed his application

ELRC arbitrator Gcina Mafani found that Malepe repeatedly pursued a student through WhatsApp after she had rejected an invitation to go out.

The arbitrator said the case had to be considered in the context of the power imbalance between a lecturer and student.

“I find that there was persistence after rejection and that the academic relationship was brought into the proposed private interaction. That conduct crossed the professional boundary,” Mafani found.

Malepe denied sending inappropriate messages and disputed the authenticity of some of the WhatsApp communications.

However, the arbitrator found that the evidence, including testimony from the student and another student who had seen some of the messages, supported the department’s version.

Mafani also found that Malepe compromised the integrity of ‘building drawing’ assessments by allowing students to improve or rewrite answers using marking memoranda, failed to properly invigilate assessments and allowed a student to write on behalf of another.

The award further found that assessment scripts went missing and that students were not properly given access to their marked work, or adequate feedback.

Malepe denied the assessment allegations, while several students who testified in his defence said they had not witnessed misconduct or favouritism.

The arbitrator nevertheless concluded that the department of higher education in Gauteng had proved the misconduct on a balance of probabilities.

“I find the dismissal of the applicant by the department of higher education Gauteng to be appropriate. This application is dismissed,” the arbitrator said.