KZN traffic cop who sexually harassed female motorist at roadblock fails to get his job back

A senior KwaZulu-Natal traffic officer, who was fired for sexually harassing a woman motorist he stopped during a routine vehicle check, has failed in his bid to be reinstated.

Durban labour court judge Kesley Allen-Yaman has ruled his application to overturn the decision of an arbitrator at the general services sectoral bargaining council that his dismissal was fair, was out of time. She further ruled he had “no prospects of success” in his appeal.

The cop, she said in her ruling, was employed as a senior provincial inspector.

The incident which gave rise to his dismissal occurred in March 2015 in Scottburgh.

The motorist reported his conduct. He was charged with four counts of misconduct and was fired in October 2016 after serving the department for almost 30 years.

At the bargaining council, the officer’s union, the Public Servants Association (PSA), claimed the allegations were fabricated and the woman was a “habitual traffic offender and a pathological liar”.

But the arbitrator ruled his dismissal was fair.

Before judge Allen-Yaman, he said the arbitrator should have favoured his version over that of the woman.

He claimed he had stopped her during a routine vehicle check. He denied asking her “questions” about where she lived, who she lived with and if she was “on the pill”.

He said he had noticed a “for sale” sign in her rear window and inquired about the price. She had told him to call her on her cellphone to negotiate the price. The number was on the “for sale sign”.

Detailing the women’s evidence, Allen-Yaman said she had testified that while the traffic officer was writing a ticket, he asked for her address, which she gave him, and then he asked her who she lived with. He asked if he could visit her and told her he would pay her R600 fine if he could.

He then asked her for her cellphone number, which she gave to him.

He also asked what her initials on her driver’s licence stood for and she told him. When he asked her if she was on the pill, she grabbed the ticket from him and drove away.

The woman said she had been on her way to church when the cop stopped her. While at church, she received repeated calls from an unknown number. At one stage, she sent a text message to the unknown caller indicating she was in church and would return the call later.

“She received a call from the same number immediately afterwards. Believing it must be related to some type of emergency, she answered. The caller identified himself as the cop, whereupon she terminated the call,” Allen-Yaman said.

The calls continued until the following morning. In all, he called her 16 times.

The traffic officer admitted calling her “only six times” and said it was to discuss the purchase of the car.

The judge said the arbitrator had been correct to find the woman was a credible witness. This was because her version had remained consistent throughout the proceedings, backed up by her application for a protection order against him and statements she made to the police.

“It was equally not unreasonable for the arbitrator to have rejected his version that he had telephoned her only for the purpose of purchasing her motor vehicle, given the timing and incessancy of the calls, and in circumstances in which he had unwittingly admitted to having  made at least 10 calls while simultaneously persisting with his version he made only six.”

She said he had failed to appreciate the gravity of the offences, which was apparent from his affidavit in the review application in which he said “if by a stretch of the imagination one is inclined to believe those questions were in fact asked, there is nothing overly sexual about them or offensive”.

She said the labour appeal court had condemned sexual harrassment.

“The effect of his conduct on the complainant was unchallenged in cross-examination. Her telephone remained switched off for lengthy periods of time so as to avoid his calls. She became fearful of all traffic officials. She moved out of her own home to stay with relatives with whom she felt safer. She consulted with a psychologist and a psychiatrist and required medication for six months.

“Having been found by the arbitrator to have sexually harrassed her on the side of a public road while performing his duties, he was further found to have persisted in his harrassment of her by telephoning her repeatedly in circumstances in which it would have been patently obvious to him that his advances were unwelcome.”

Allen-Yaman said had the cop acknowledged any wrongdoing or demonstrated a “modicum of remorse”, the sanction of dismissal may have been considered harsh, given his long service.

“However, given his complete lack of contrition, the arbitrator’s conclusion cannot be faulted as being one which was unreasonable,” she said.

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