Wits widens sex inquiry

Almost two years after the first sexual assault claim against Wits drama lecturer Tsepo wa Mamatu surfaced, the university yesterday launched a high-level investigation into the matter.

This follows a Sunday Times report that Wa Mamatu, deputy head of dramatic arts at the university, allegedly sexually assaulted and violated former and current students during rehearsals, auditions and off campus over a period of six years.

Law firm Bowman Gilfillan has been appointed to lead the investigation, which will be completed within three months.

The university has made available four senior administrators - deputy vice-chancellor Helen Laburn, the registrar, Kirti Menon, deputy registrar Nita Lawton-Misra and the director of transformation and equity, Nazeema Mahomed - to receive complaints of sexual harassment from any student or staff member.

The Sunday Times reported that 10 former students had complained about Wa Mamatu's conduct.

Wa Mamatu has vehemently denied all the allegations, saying he has never had an improper relationship with any of his students.

One of the women alleged in a statement to Wits that Wa Mamatu raped her in a hotel room in Cape Town in 2011.

She reported the matter to the university, but it was not pursued because of a "lack of evidence", she said.

A 21-year-old second-year student told the Sunday Times she was in a rehearsal room with Wa Mamatu and three other students in 2010 when he told them to lie down and switched off the lights. He told them a story with strong sexual overtones and asked the students to touch themselves.

He allegedly knelt down next to the student, unbuttoned her pants and touched her intimately.

A fourth-year student said Wa Mamatu pushed his hands into her tracksuit pants, brushing his fingers over her hips and private parts in front of other students during a rehearsal in 2006.

Last year, the Wits student newspaper, Vuvuzela, ran an article about an unnamed lecturer in the politics department who sent sexually suggestive SMSes to students.

The article prompted a drama performance about rape and sexual abuse on campus.

After the performance, students stuck notes on Wa Mamatu's office door, saying "We know what you are doing" and "We'll expose you".

This led to Wits asking students who had experienced sexual abuse to come forward.

The institution had received three formal complaints against Wa Mamatu.

On Friday last week, the university placed Wa Mamatu on "special leave" in the wake of what it said was "new information" about alleged sexual harassment.

Yesterday, it also launched a campus-wide inquiry into sexual harassment, which will be completed in August .

The inquiry, led by Centre of Applied Legal Studies head Bonita Meyersfeld and Joe Mathibe, from an external law firm, will assess policies and procedures that should be in place to prevent sexual harassment.

"The investigation will also establish whether sexual harassment and quid pro quo relationships are commonplace at the university," acting vice-chancellor and principal Tawana Kupe said.

"It will also investigate whether staff and students are aware of the policy and procedures on sexual harassment and whether they feel comfortable reporting sexual harassment incidents."