Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

A senior Defence Force general has escaped trial so far for sexual harassment because he was illegally promoted.

The case has been dragging on for three years since a woman accused him of groping her breasts and rubbing up against her while he was the military attache to Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Under military law he is entitled to ask for two assessors of the same rank, culture and military background to hear his case with a military judge.

But so far the defence force has met with no success in finding officers with high enough rank.

Three of the 12 asked to hear his case said they were his friends, another three said they were unavailable and the other six said no.

Now Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge has taken up the woman’s complaint.

She said yesterday the case against SANDF inspector-general Major-General Mxolisi Petane was taking too long.

She was also concerned that Petane was promoted earlier this year to his current rank, in contravention of military policy.

Madlala-Routledge said she had raised her concerns with Deputy Defence Minister Mluleki George over fears that military courts were not equipped to deal with this kind of case.

The complainant worked for Madlala-Routledge when she was deputy defence minister.

Petane is a prominent former Umkhonto weSizwe soldier and is highly regarded in Cape Town.

The alleged incident took place in a Stockholm hotel room as a South African delegation was preparing to meet its Swedish counterparts for defence talks in October 2003.

Madlala-Routledge said she had been following the case and was very concerned about the delays.

She said Petane’s promotion from brigadier-general to major-general had weakened the prosecution’s case.

This was because it was now more difficult to find assessors of the same rank, culture and military background.

Shortly after his promotion, Petane requested the presence of two assessors to ensure that he would be given a fair trial.

Court manager Lieutenant-Colonel Tebogo Mufahothe confirmed yesterday that Petane had not been eligible for promotion under current military policy.

“He is supposedly unpromotable,” Mufahothe said, describing it as an “obvious oversight”.

When he appeared briefly in the Thaba Tshwane military court on Tuesday, the case against Petane was again postponed, as a result of the prosecution’s inability to provide two assessors.

Prosecutor Captain Desmond Thanjekwayo argued in court that there were only a few eligible major-generals in the defence force.

Of these, most indicated that they knew Petane or were friendly with him, Thanjekwayo reportedly told presiding military judge Colonel Brian Plaatjies.

Plaatjies is reported to have warned the prosecution that if two assessors were not found before the hearing resumes on January 23 and 24, the case would be struck from the roll.

Mufahothe said he was confident he would find the required assessors before the trial continues. “We are still fishing for assessors. We will get them. We have to get them, even if it means the intervention of various people,” he said.

Madlala-Routledge said George had admitted he knew nothing about Petane’s irregular promotion and would investigate the circumstances under which it was taken.

Meanwhile this week’s hearing has left the complainant angry and bitter, with her questioning why she was made to feel like the guilty party.

“Why has this case dragged on for three years?” she asked, noting that she was forced to sit outside the court before the delayed court proceedings started.

“He was also not properly marched into court, as the accused normally are. It was all about him and how the proceedings were inconveniencing him and his career,” she said.

She also noted that there had not been any women in court; not even a member of the SANDF chief directorate of equal opportunities had made an appearance to offer support.

Madlala-Routledge said military courts had obviously not kept pace with the transformation that was taking place in courts around the country concerning gender sensitivity.

“The total absence of any females in the military justice system dealing with the case is a matter of concern.”

She said there were moves afoot to “civilianise” military courts, which had so far ignored the standards of the outside world.

The Defence Ministry would not comment yesterday, and Petane could not be reached for comment.