'Sister' lecturer in harassment furore

18 June 2017 - 00:00 By PREGA GOVENDER

A senior lecturer at the University of Zululand allegedly fondled his colleague's genitals and, on another occasion, tried to drag the man into a toilet stall on campus because he wanted his "urine checked".
Respect Mondli Miya was hauled before a disciplinary hearing this week after a staff member and a fourth-year male nursing student lodged separate complaints of sexual harassment and unprofessional conduct against him.
Miya is facing seven charges, six of which involve sexual harassment and unprofessional conduct.The allegations include:
• Touching the staff member's genitals while the men were seated close to each other in a lecture room waiting for students to arrive for registration earlier this year;
• Making unwelcome advances to the staff member during a strategic planning meeting last year;
• WhatsApping a photograph of himself wearing a dress and heavy makeup to the student after calling him and asking him whether he could keep secrets; and
• Slapping the student on the bottom in front of a secretary in February.The complainants' names are known to the Sunday Times.
The seventh charge relates to Miya - a lecturer in the nursing sciences department - taking time off work without permission.
In their statements, which were submitted to Professor Thokozani Mhlongo, the head of department for nursing science, the men said they were traumatised by the incidents.
The staff member said he had pushed Miya's hand away when he touched his genitals, and then moved to sit away from him. "I was very uncomfortable," he said...

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