The state-owned company responsible for the control of air traffic, the Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS), allegedly hid an explosive complaint detailing sexual harassment and racism that was sent to its top executives and the board in 2017.
The memorandum, written by an employee who left ATNS in 2021 after allegedly being pushed out through frustrations and constant threats, paints a grim picture of how sexual harassment and racism are rife within the organisation, which is based in Bruma in the east of Johannesburg.
Sunday World reported about another incident in February, where a female employee filed a case of sexual harassment by the company’s senior manager in air traffic management, Simon Zwane.
Zwane was sent packing two weeks ago by ATNS after his case was investigated.
This week, Sunday World saw a memorandum that was filed to the company’s human resource department by the complainant, who had been with ATNS for 17 years, where she revealed how she was allegedly sexually harassed and subjected to racism.
The complainant, whose identity is known to Sunday World but cannot be named to protect her, painted an explicit picture of the challenges they were subjected to by white racist men and horny black senior managers.
She pleaded for justice and for all the issues she raised to be investigated.
However, instead, ATNS allegedly decided to hide the memorandum that implicated senior member of ATNS management whose names are known to Sunday World.
The complainant joined ATNS as a student in pursuit of becoming one of the few black air traffic control officers in the country, however, she said since she was admitted to the Aviation Traffic Academy (ATA), which is the air traffic school owned by aviation company, in 2007, she experienced hell from the beginning.
“It was hard, constantly being reminded that you are black and not made out to be an air traffic controller by some of the instructors at the ATA, but we persevered,” the complainant said.
“The air traffic control profession had previously been preserved for white males in South Africa, and even 11 years after liberation, and ATNS, and
specifically ATA, are grappling with transformation.”
She said she and her group of trainees went through the ATA training pipeline and that they were confronted by white instructors with racist attitudes who did not like black people at all.
The racists also told them that they were not capable of becoming air traffic control officers, apparently because of the colour of their skin.
She also pointed out that at some stage, black students were removed from training positions. The complainant said that as black students, they raised objections but received no help.
The woman also made claims that two black senior staff members had made sexual advances towards her.
She said one of them would make sexual remarks about her breasts, make phone calls in which he made sexually explicit remarks and also send her sexually explicit text messages.
“He made overtures, inviting me to lunch. During lunches, he would comment about my body, expressing a desire to become intimate, asking to be hugged and kissed,” she said.
She said that she reported the man to human resources boss Dumisani Baai.
She also accused the second man, who was a senior manager then, of blocking her prospects of becoming an air traffic service assistant, claiming that he also openly made sexual advances towards her. She asked the company to intervene, however, no action was taken.
ATNS spokesperson Percy Morokane did not respond to specific questions affecting individuals implicated in the report.
“To this end, ATNS management confirms that it has independently investigated all allegations relating to sexual harassment and racism brought to its attention. The recommendations from the investigation are considered and acted upon. If the investigation report suggests disciplinary action, the necessary corrective steps are implemented per ATNS’ internal company policies and procedures.
“There are also cases where the outcome of the investigations indicates that the allegations are unfounded, resulting in no further action being taken. This applies to the 2017 case referred to in your inquiry.
“The company encourages anyone with information about allegations of racism and sexual harassment that were reported but not addressed to come forward. This information will be considered and acted upon by management. The ATNS board of directors is informed of cases of employee misconduct,” said Morokane.
He also said that ATNS was cautioning the media against publishing unfounded and untested allegations.
