Van Vuuren will appeal

[caption id="attachment_125209" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Edmund van Vuuren[/caption]

Chief whip cites cultural differences, writes Tremaine van Aardt

The DA’s Eastern Cape chief whip in the Bhisho legislature, Edmund van Vuuren, has until September 18 to provide written representations to the party’s legal body in respect of any sanction after being found guilty of sexual harassment.

Van Vuuren initially faced four charges and was found guilty of one – sexual harassment – following an internal disciplinary process conducted by a panel from the party’s Federal Legal Commission (FLC) in East London on Tuesday.

The complaints were brought by a 25year-old woman.

However, Van Vuuren argued that the complaints arose from an incident that was simply a clash of cultures.

The party’s provincial leader, Nqaba Bhanga, said the matter had been referred to the FLC as Van Vuuren was a senior public representative. “This was in the interests of justice,” he said.

“As is customary in these circumstances, Van Vuuren was afforded the opportunity to make representations in respect of an appropriate sanction, and he has been given until September 18 to present written representations,” Bhanga said.

“Even though Van Vuuren has been found guilty, this is by no means the end of the process. Van Vuuren still has to be sanctioned. Even after this has happened, he will have the opportunity for an internal appeal, both against the verdict and the recommended sanction.”

Speaking about the verdict yesterday, Van Vuuren said he would be appealing and would continue to act in his capacity as the party’s chief whip in the legislature as well as shadow MEC for education, unless instructed otherwise.

“This whole thing is as a result of a clash of cultures. The two-minute phone call which resulted in all of this was simply because I referred to her [complainant] as ‘darling’ and ‘sweetheart’ at the end of the conversation.

“In my culture those are normal words used in any circumstance, whereas in her culture it might have a sexual connotation. And if that was the case I should have been informed about that before being faced with charges,” he said.

“I sent her an apology letter which seemed to further aggravate the whole situation. Which is simply customary in my culture to apologise to someone if you have offended them and it is simply good manners.

“But again in her culture she might have seen it as an admission of guilt, which was definitely not the case.

“I will definitely appeal as this is affecting the strong reputation I have built. I am very angry about this – I can’t understand how this amounted to sexual harassment.”

Tuesday’s meeting comes four months after The Herald’s sister publication, the Daily Dispatch, published a dossier in which the complainant accused Van Vuuren of sexually harassing her.

Attempts to contact the complainant were unsuccessful.