Sexual Harassment
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is prohibited under the law; however, its enforcement is left to employers.
The Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment Cases in the Workplace defines sexual harassment as an unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that violates the rights of an employee and constitutes a barrier to equity in the workplace. In terms of this Code, sexual harassment may include physical conduct, verbal conduct and non-verbal conduct. This Code is not legally binding, but it provides useful guidance in the manner in which an employer should deal with allegations of sexual harassment, and encourages the development and implementation of policies and procedures to prevent sexual discrimination.
Employers may dismiss the perpetrators in some circumstances. Victims may resort to civil action and criminal prosecution, which allows tougher punishments for harassers. Harassment of a worker is a form of unfair discrimination. Sexual harassment is also prohibited under Protection from Harassment Act No. 17 of 2011. This act defines sexual harassment as a unwelcome sexual attention from a person who knows or ought reasonably to know that such attention is unwelcome; unwelcome explicit or implicit behaviour, suggestions, messages or remarks of a sexual nature that have the effect of offending, intimidating or humiliating the complainant or a related person in circumstances, which a reasonable person having regard to all the circumstances would have anticipated that the complainant or related person would be offended, humiliated or intimidated; implied or expressed promise of reward for complying with a sexually oriented request; or implied or expressed threat of reprisal or actual reprisal for refusal to comply with a sexually oriented request.
Employment Equity Act provides that if it is alleged that a worker contravened a provision of the EEA by, for example, harassing another worker, and the employer fails to take the necessary steps to deal with the allegations of sexual harassment, the employer is deemed also to have contravened the EEA. Section 60(3) of the EEA effectively holds an employer vicariously liable for the unlawful, discriminatory conduct of its workers.
Moreover, under the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, harassment refers to unwanted, persistent, or serious conduct that demeans, humiliates, or creates a hostile environment. It includes behaviour intended to force submission through actual or threatened consequences and may relate to sex, gender, or sexual orientation and is strictly prohibited.
Anyone who violates or fails to comply with the act commits an offense and, upon conviction, may face a fine or imprisonment of up to 12 months.
Source: §60(3) of the Employment Equity Act 1998, last amended in 2025; The Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment Cases in the Workplace, 2022; Protection from Harassment Act No. 17 of 2011; §1, 11 & 30 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA) No. 4 of 2000
Non-Standard Workers' Rights on Protection from Sexual Harassment - Platform workers
The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 2000 prohibits harassment. The law defines harassment as “any unwanted conduct which is persistent or serious and demeans, humiliates or creates a hostile or intimidating environment or is calculated to induce submission by actual or threatened adverse consequences and which is related to sex, gender or sexual orientation; or a person’s membership or presumed membership of a group identified by one or more of the prohibited grounds or a characteristic associated with such group.
