Eskom body search outcry

Eskom in the Eastern Cape is investigating claims that its security personnel body- searched eight staff members, five of them women, while looking for a missing cellphone last week.

The alleged incident took place last Monday at the power utility’s Beacon Bay offices in East London at 1pm three hours after the phone was reported missing to the head of security.

Eskom spokesman Zama Mpondwana said Eskom took the allegations seriously and was conducting an investigation. “Eskom views the allegations in a very serious light and confirms that they are already under investigation,” said Mpondwana.

The incident left five women traumatised with some seeking medical assistance to deal with the trauma.

Speaking to the Daily Dispatch on condition of anonymity as she feared victimisation, one of the staff members who was searched said she felt humiliated and could not believe that a state-owned company as big as Eskom could expose its employees to such degrading mistreatment.

She said an armed female guard was waiting for her in a manager’s office.

The guard said she was looking for “something”.

“I was told to remove my jacket. The guard then patted me down, her hands went over my hips, inner thighs, into my armpits and down the outside of my chest.”

According to the staff member, the employees who were stripped and searched in an identical manner, were also not told what had been lost.

“I felt that my privacy was invaded.”

Another employee said the guards were seen searching through employees’ vehicles in the company parking lot.

But the group found out that it was a phone that had been left in the toilet by another staff member.

She said they were shocked when the security guards barged into their office instructing that they go to an office upstairs to be searched.

“Security guards stormed into our office accompanied by their manager. The guards were carrying guns and wearing bulletproofs . Everything happened very fast. We were told that there was an item that had been lost and that they were there to look for it. One security guard closed the space and stood sentry. We were then taken to our supervisor’s office where we were told to take off some of our clothing items, ”said the staff member.

The staff members are among 33 working in the dispatch department. On that day there were eight staff members present who were working the morning shift. Across the hall was another department which shared the same toilet where the phone was allegedly left and never seen again.

The Daily Dispatch understands that following an outcry, some officials from the national office visited the Beacon Bay offices and held a meeting with the staff members. In that meeting the staff members were told not to contact the media as Eskom would handle the issue internally.

“I feel humiliated and ashamed to even walk along the corridors because people know that we are those ones that were stripped by security guards,” said the staff member.

Another employee who was searched said they were not even told what was lost, or when it was lost and how it had anything to do with them.

“We were taken into an office which is a floor above us belonging to the control department’s manager. We were told to go in one by one so that we could be searched. When I got into the manager’s office a guard in a bullet-proof vest was waiting for me. He simply told me that he was looking for something. He told me to remove anything that was in any of my pockets he searched. After that he told me to face the wall and continued to touch me,” said another staff member.

Eskom national spokesman Khulu Pasiwe said the investigation was still ongoing and that he would respond comprehensively after establishing the facts.

“Eskom is investigating the matter and will respond comprehensively after establishing all the relevant facts,” Pasiwe said.