Sun 02 June 2019
Dear friends, family comrades,
Muhammed Desai (27 May 2019, personal statement)
Below you will find the full press statement by the Board of BDS South Africa following the independent investigation into allegations of harassment made against me.
1. The advice that I received from my legal representative was to refrain from any public comment until all due processes are completed. Now that the independent investigation is complete, I am more able to speak about the issue and explore considering legal recourse that may be available to me.
2. After first being alerted to the complaint – notwithstanding that it was a Saturday and a long weekend, BDS SA Board Members met with the complainant within 7 hours (with one member flying from Cape Town to Johannesburg for the meeting).
3. While remaining the Director of BDS SA, I was however, suspended from the Board during the duration of the investigation. In addition, another Board member, due to his closeness to me, recused himself entirely from the matter in the interests of fairness and due process.
4. Even though the matter was dismissed by the authorities (as a “false case”), the Board of BDS SA still proceeded to appoint an independent advocate (Advocate Smanga Sethene) from the Johannesburg Bar to investigate the matter.
5. The Board of BDS SA was provided with the finding of the investigation this weekend. The investigation found that:
“… there is no rational basis in law to take any disciplinary action against Mr Desai. The allegations against Mr Desai premised on all the statements of the complainants, their witness and Mr Jeenah’s interview cannot be sustained and are unfounded.”
6. The report was critical of the Board of BDS SA for the delay in completing the matter.:
“Whenever allegations of sexual harassment are made, irrespective of who is involved, they must be attended to expeditiously without fear or favour. It has taken BDS-SA two months to attend to these serious allegations. The Board of BDS-SA should ensure that urgency in dealing with serious allegations in future must never be compromised. With the passage of time and if the allegations are not dealt with expeditiously, the victim, the alleged perpetrator and the organisation itself, are put in a state of suspended animation until a due process is finalised. This should never happen.”
7. It has been a difficult time, with considerable reflection on things that I could correct or be doing better, but I am deeply grateful to have been and continue to be surrounded by critical and reflective friends, comrades and family who, while they have been deeply supportive, did not for a moment allow me to escape hard questions.
8. I am humbled to be serving an organization like BDS-SA with its leadership, staff, supporters and partner organizations. I remain as committed as ever to the Palestinian struggle against Israeli Apartheid as part of my larger commitment to progressive internationalism within the context of a comprehensive commitment to create a more just and loving world.
9.With all my limitations, which I continuously seek to decrease – I plod on.
10. You are free to pass on the above personal message as well as the organisation’s statement below.
The Daily Vox first reported that US academic Sang Hea Kil and two others had laid a charge against Desai on March 26. Sexual harassment allegations against Desai surfaced following a night out in Melville on March 21 when three women, including Kil, claimed he had sexually harassed them.
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