Cape Town - A Clifton security guard is set to approach the Equality Court amid a harassment case against well-known estate agent Denise Dogon.
The application by PPA Security guard Zelikhaya Patrick Nyangiwe comes after the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court denied his application for a protection order against Dogon last month.
In his affidavit to the court, Nyangiwe, who is employed at the Eventide Residential Complex in Clifton, accuses the 75-year-old woman of racism and badgering him at work.
According to the affidavit, he claims the issues arose after a disagreement with her son, David, who requested information about trustees of the complex.
The guard says her son allegedly grabbed a work cellphone from him, which he refused to hand over, and was later approached by Dogon.
He claims he was harassed by Dogon who told him to “voet***” (go away) and to “stop jumping like a monkey”.
He further alleges that she told him she wanted him to leave the job and took a video of him in the parking lot.
In responding papers filed by attorney William Booth on behalf of Dogon, she denies the claims, saying she does not speak in that manner.
Dogon says there was no disagreement with her son, saying the alleged “jumping like a monkey” incident never happened.
She admits to making a video of the guard but says the notion that this was to harass him is “ludicrous”.
She explains that at the time, she was advised to video record potentially problematic issues in the complex amid a separate issue with other trustees.
In his affidavit, Nyangiwe also slams Dogon as a racist and says: “She is a racist. She is rude. She thinks Mandela went to Robben Island to free the baboons.”
“I would never say anything in reference to Nelson Mandela like free the baboons,” she responded.
“I am totally taken aback by the applicant’s assumption that he knows my thoughts as well as his comments about my mindset.”
According to the court record, Booth and attorney Bruce Hendricks, who represented Nyangiwe, argued extensively about whether the alleged actions fell under the ambit of the Harassment Act.
In the judgment, the magistrate said the alleged actions amounted to an insult and not harassment and dismissed the application for a protection order against Dogon.
“The conduct of the respondent, with respect, everything that is listed in the application, as I said, in my view may amount to sort of an insult or any other thing which may be conduct which I would say is not right. But to amount and constitute harassment, in my view, with respect, I beg to differ. In my view, there is no evidence to support an order with regards to a final protection order,” the magistrate stated.
Hendricks told the Cape Argus his client would now approach the high court and the Equality Court to adjudicate the matter.
‘’We will be approaching the Western Cape High Court to have the magistrate’s decision reviewed. In addition, we will be approaching the Equality Court to adjudicate the matter.”
Meanwhile, Booth says the judgment by the magistrate was clear.
“The judgment on harassment in terms of the act was very clear. We believe there is no basis for an appeal and we will oppose it vigorously,” he said.