DA calls for inquiry into allegations of sex for jobs

The DA has written to the Commission for Gender Equality, requesting an immediate investigation into claims of sex for jobs linked to temporary positions in the Eastern Cape.

Speaking at a media conference on Monday, DA provincial leader Nqaba Bhanga said he had been invited by residents in Enoch Mgijima municipality, who told him how they had had to sleep with certain individuals in order to get jobs or houses.

"I was invited by a lady there who told me that she could not get a house because she was not willing to sleep with an official," Bhanga said.

He said those with power imposed themselves on vulnerable people who needed jobs.

"Since last year [DA Women's Network provincial leader] Ms [Georgina] Faldtman and I have picked up issues during our travels throughout the Eastern Cape.

"During this time, we have been informed of many incidences of vulnerable and struggling women who have had to use their bodies as CVs to get work.

"We came across at least three examples of Extended Public Works Programme sex-for-jobs allegations in Komani in the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality," Bhanga said.

DA Women's Network national leader Nomafrench Mbombo said most women who were coerced into sex were too afraid to report it.

"They don't want to be viewed as willingly participated because they ... received a house," Mbombo said.

Bhanga said if the DA were elected into power, it would introduce legislation allowing for the prosecution of people who demanded sex in exchange for jobs, and the imposition of a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.