Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka has called for perpetrators of “sextortion” to be charged with corruption, arguing that such conduct constitutes gratification as envisaged in the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.
Gcaleka was speaking on Wednesday at the second University of Stellenbosch Symposium on Gender Inequality and Anti-Corruption in Bellville, Cape Town.
The three-day symposium forms part of the University of Stellenbosch’s School of Public Leadership’s commemoration of Women’s Month.
Gcaleka said South Africa’s anti-corruption legislation did not require gratification to have monetary value, meaning sexual corruption could arguably already be regarded as corruption under existing law.
“South Africa’s anti-corruption statute does not require a gratification to have a monetary value, meaning sexual corruption is arguably already corruption under existing law,” she said.
“What is missing is not the offence but the charge, the prosecution, the record and the count.”
Sextortion is defined by international anti-corruption and accountability bodies such as Transparency International and the International Association of Women Judges as the abuse of entrusted power for sexual rather than financial benefit.
Gcaleka also proposed that reporting channels for such conduct should exclude the offices of the perpetrators.
She said allegations should instead be reported through appropriate authorities, with the exclusion of the perpetrators’ offices aimed at eliminating potential interference.
