Fin24 reports that former Anglo Gold Ashanti (AGA) chairperson Sipho Pityana claims that the mining company offered to settle sexual harassment allegations against him, if he resigned as director.

This has been denied by AGA. Pityana dropped a bombshell on Monday, claiming that Absa nominated him to become the bank’s board chairperson, but that the SA Reserve Bank’s Prudential Authority (PA), which oversees the banks, vetoed him. Pityana contends that this was due to "undue influence" by current AGA chair Maria Ramos, who informed the board of the harassment allegations. Pityana says after he stepped down as the chairperson of the AGA board on 4 December 2020, the company then proposed to him that he resign as a director too. Pityana had stayed on as a director of the board after resigning as its chairperson to wait for the final report following an investigation into sexual harassment against him. According to Pityana, the board put forward a proposal that “if I were to step down, they would have to talk to the complainant, and they don't envision that there will be any problems. They were so confident that she would play ball. I don't know why." He said this was the reason why he did not cross-examine the complainant before a final report was issued. The settlement was concluded on 7 December 2020, two days before the AGA investigator issued her final report. The report found that Pityana had sexually harassed the complainant. Pityana disputes these allegations. An Absa report into the AGA investigation concluded that concluded that it was selective and flawed.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Londiwe Buthelezi at Fin24 (subscriber access only)

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