The newly-appointed municipal manager of Siyathemba Municipality, Thomas van Staden, who was acquitted of sexual harassment charges, has attributed the allegations that were levelled against him as being part of a plot to tarnish his name.
THE NEWLY-appointed municipal manager of Siyathemba Municipality, Thomas van Staden, who was acquitted of sexual harassment charges, has attributed the allegations that were levelled against him as being part of a plot to tarnish his name.
He said the complaints were lodged against him by two of his subordinates in December 2020 and February 2021 when he was the chief director of human resources at the Northern Cape Department of Education.
“According to the allegations, their ordeals started when my predecessor left for the Western Cape in 2015. The false and malicious sexual harassment allegations against me were widely reported. However, no one reported on the R1 million defamation case I opened against one of the complainants in 2021,” said Van Staden.
He stated that he was acquitted on September 20.
“The court believed that the complainants and witnesses did not present any credible evidence against me. The statements from the complainants and the witnesses were poor, contradictory and lacked credibility.”
He was convinced that the allegations arose as it was speculated that he was the likely candidate to replace the former HOD of the Department of Education, Tshepo Pharasi, when his contract expired in August 2020.
Van Staden believed that senior managers in the department had colluded to discredit his name.
“This was done to ensure that I would not be considered for the position. Given the nature of the allegations, I decided to request the HOD and the MEC to institute an internal disciplinary process to test the veracity of the allegations. The four-year delay in the finalisation of the internal disciplinary hearing is proof that these allegations are false and baseless.”
The regional spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Mojalefa Senokoatsane, said the acquittal was based on “material contradictions” of the evidence of the complainants.
“The witnesses called could not corroborate their versions, as they were single witnesses to the incidents. There were contradictions in their statements as well as new evidence that was introduced during the trial.”
He added that the court found that the evidence was “of poor quality and unreliable”, to such an extent that a reasonable court, acting carefully, could not convict the accused.
“The court consequently granted the application for discharge,” Senokoatsane said.
Northern Cape Department of Education spokesperson Geoffrey van der Merwe said that Van Staden had resigned with effect from October 1.
“Unfortunately, his disciplinary hearing was postponed to a new date, outside his employment period at the Department of Education,” said Van der Merwe.
“As he is no longer employed at the department, he is not obliged to be present at the proceedings. However, it is our understanding, as indicated in his resignation letter, that he will still participate in the process to its conclusion.”
Van der Merwe added that while they were unable to comment on whether the decision of the court would have any bearing on the outcome of the disciplinary matter, they assumed that Van Staden’s representative would raise it during the hearing.
“The presiding officer will make a decision in this regard.”
