The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr. Naledi Pandor approved on Friday, 24 May 2019, the appointment of a Ministerial Task Team to advise the Minister on Matters relating to sexual harassment and gender-based violence in public universities in South Africa.
The Task Team is appointed for a period of 12 months, starting in June, 2019.
The appointment of the Ministerial Task Team is part of the Department of Higher Education and Training’s response to an open letter written by a group of academics to the Minister in March 2019.
Following the open letter, Minister Pandor met with the group of academic to discuss the proposals they made. The meeting agreed that addressing sexual harassment and gender-based harm decisively will allow for a focus on “fundamental academic questions” and restore “academic cultures that “respect freedom and citizenship of all”.
In addition to appointing the Ministerial Task Team to advice on Gender Based Violence in Universities, the Department of Higher Education and Training, has released the Policy Framework to address Gender-based Violence in the Post-School Education and Training sector for public comment.
Once in place, the Policy Framework will provide an important frame for addressing many of the concerns that the academics raised with her.
The vision of the Policy Framework is that “everyone has the right to live, study and work freely and safely in PSET institutions without any fear of sexual/gender-based intimidation, harassment, abuse, rape or other forms of sexual/gender-based harm”.
