A former teacher from a school in Belhar, Cape Town, has broken her silence about sexual harassment which she believes led to her losing her job at the school at the end of last year.
Kelly Manus, 26, alleged she had been sexually assaulted by a colleague when he “spanked” her.
In a two-part emotionally detailed account of her incidents, Manus said she lost her job due to two people and elaborated on the incident involving the male colleague and his wife - who happens to be a senior official at the school to whom the incident was reported.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has, meanwhile, confirmed Manus is currently employed by the department and said they had attended to the sexual harassment allegations.
Manus said the school principal attempted to “sweep the issues under the mat” while she was forced to work with the alleged offender who had victimised her.
Manus told in her viral social media posts how the male colleague had on November 23, 2023, “felt the need to lift his hands and hit me on my bum, so basically in plain words he spanked me”.
“He walked past me, I was shocked, I was triggered and felt inferior. I felt as though my rights were violated… I looked at him and I remember the first words he said, while pointing at me, was ‘You don’t tell me I can’t touch there, I’m not flirting’. That happened on a Friday,” said Manus.
According to Manus, she reported the matter the following Monday to the principal in the presence of the alleged offender.
“He did not deny that he did it, he said he did do it. The principal appeared very angry as I explained what happened and how I experienced it. I felt safe to report the matter to the principal because she was a woman and because gender-based violence is so prominent. I thought with her being in that position, she would help me… She (the principal) asked me ‘Ms Manus what do you expect me to do?’,” said Manus.
According to Manus, the feedback from the principal was devoid of empathy and detailed the male colleague’s alleged response which included him allegedly saying he “did the same to his daughter and she has no problem with it”.
Meanwhile, Manus’s permanent post at the school was said to be pending after the previous principal informed her the application had been submitted and the “conversion was approved”.
However, at the end of last year, Manus said she was released from her teacher duties which she had held in a growth post while teachers who started teaching at the school after her, were permanently employed before her.
WCED spokesperson, Bronagh Hammond, said the department had taken action in the sexual harassment case and the alleged offender was “cautioned”.
“There are always two sides to every story. With regards to the teaching post, the teacher did not qualify for conversion of her contract post to a permanent post. This has been checked by the WCED. The school therefore did not err in this regard.
“The contract ended at the school on the 31st of December 2024, and the school followed the relevant procedures. The matter is therefore concluded. The teacher is, however, employed by the WCED in 2025.
“With regards to the sexual harassment allegations, the WCED did take action. Insinuating otherwise is completely false. The teacher did lay a complaint last year regarding sexual harassment. The WCED Labour Directorate requested to meet with her to initiate formal proceedings.
“The teacher indicated that she did not want a formal disciplinary hearing. The WCED continued to engage in the matter informally given the allegations. The educator was cautioned. There have been no prior or subsequent complaints regarding this educator,” said Hammond.
Manus’s viral post garnered attention online, which has spurred a picket to be held at the school on Friday morning.
Further inquiries to Manus were not answered by deadline.