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| ©Photo: Ken Katsurayama / japanesegarden.org |
South Africa's ambassador to Japan, Smuts Ngonyama, has been attempting to reach a settlement with his former domestic worker Tandiswa Tokwe after her wife, Nokwazi Ngonyama, allegedly assaulted her. Tokwe quit her job and flew home recently after being assaulted by Ngonyama's wife. Since Tandiswa left the Tokyo residence and the country, Ngonyama has been urging her not to press charges against her wife and to sign a non-disclosure agreement, both of which Tokwe has refused to do. She has insisted on an unconditional payout from him for the rest of her contract period.
Nokwazi Ngonyama allegedly attacked Tokwe on 14 July. After the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) heard of the incident, Ngonyama and his wife apologised to her and she briefly stayed on in her job. However, she grew increasingly terrified of Ngonyama and on 27 July, she quit the job and left Japan. She is now back home in East London, an unemployed single mother struggling to make ends meet while waiting for a payout from Ngonyama for the rest of her contract period.
Ngonyama is a political appointee to the post in Japan, although he was previously SA's ambassador to Spain. Before that, he was the spokesperson for the ANC, but left the party after then president Thabo Mbeki was ousted by the ANC in 2008. Ngonyama then joined the Congress of the People (Cope), but resigned from that party in 2014.
Nokwazi Ngonyama is a former director of the Department of Social Development and an investor. The incident took place at the ambassador's residence since May 2019, and Tokwe had been working in the ambassador's residence since May 2019. She told Daily Maverick that Nokwazi Ngonyama offered no reason for laying into her with a broomstick, beating her three times on her thighs and arms.
Tokwe received medical treatment, and a certificate from a Tokyo clinic diagnosed her with an external injury of the thighs, forearms, and elbows. Ngonyama wrote to Dirco Director-General Zane Dangor on 27 July, expressing his "deepest apologies and sincere regret for a recent and unfortunate incident that took place in our Official Residence." He characterized it as "a physically violent incident involving my wife and the domestic assistant" and said it was a "sequel to an attitude that for some time was perceived as a show of disrespect on the part of the concerned assistant."
Tokwe co-signed the letter to Dangor, but the matter did not end there. On 27 July, Tokwe tendered her resignation and flew home from Japan. She said she had resigned in the first place because she no longer felt safe and signed the apology letter only because she was "terrified" of Ngonyama.
In a settlement dispute, Dirco dispatched human resources officer Lungisani Ntombela to Tokyo to investigate the incident. Ngonyama agreed to pay Tokwe R195,231 — the five months of her outstanding salary until her contract expired at the end of December. Tokwe would also have to undertake not to take any legal action against Ngonyama or his wife and not to disclose the terms and conditions of the settlement to any third party, including the media.
In a cover letter, Hole accused Ngonyama of conflating the employment contract with issues related to a possible claim for the assault on Ms. Tokwe. He suggested an amicable settlement and suggested Ngonyama make a settlement offer. Ngonyama did not respond to this letter until Tuesday, 12 September, when he claimed he had not received it before. Hole said Ngonyama had referred to the counteroffer during several calls to Tokwe since 4 September in which Ngonyama had tried to "twist her arm" to accept his 30 August offer, which included Tokwe's agreement to waive her legal and disclosure rights.
Daily Maverick heard a purported recording of one of these conversations between Ngonyama and Tokwe on 6 September in which he rebuked her for rejecting his settlement offer and getting her lawyers to send him a counteroffer. In the call, Tokwe tells Ngonyama she refuses to sign his settlement offer because that would mean giving up her rights to any future claims for the assault. Hole accused him of "harassing, badgering" Tokwe to sign the 30 August agreement and warned Ngonyama that if he did not immediately pay Tokwe the R195,231, she had been advised to:
Register a criminal case against Nokwazi Ngonyama for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm; report Ambassador Ngonyama's conduct to the director-general of Dirco and to the minister; lodge a claim against Ngonyama with the CCMA; and file a civil claim against him and his wife in the high court.
In a reply to Hole this week, Ngonyama asked for more time to resolve the issue, insisting that he was trying to find a lasting solution on the issue at hand. Dirco spokesperson Monyela said that Ntombela had said she didn't want to press charges and was comfortable with the 30 August settlement offer from Ngonyama.
