SowetanLive reports that the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) has subpoenaed the spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education following his alleged sexist tweets.  

Elijah Mhlanga and director-general Matanzima Mlweli were called to a meeting by the CGE following Mhlanga's tweets last month.  Commission spokesperson Javu Baloyi said the CGE met with the two after it had been inundated with complaints as a result of the tweets associated with the #readtolead campaign.  Last month, Mhlanga posted a series of pictures of semi-naked women apparently in an effort to encourage the public, and particularly young people, to read.  In the first picture of a woman wearing a grey body top revealing her oily breasts and most of her body, @ElijahMhlanga wrote:  "Reading for leisure is also therapeutic. It relaxes the mind, body and soul."  The second picture is of a naked woman lying on her stomach and reading a book.  He wrote: "Let's make reading sexy.  Don't just do it as a habit, you can do it every day.  It feels good when you get into it."  Baloyi commented that the CGE believed that the right to education should be fulfilled free from discrimination, objectification and harassment.

• Read the full original of the above report by Yoliswa Sobuwa at SowetanLive
• Read too, Basic Education Department’s Elijah Mhlanga agrees to gender sensitisation training, at EWN

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