In South Africa, two staff members at Durban China Mall have been asked to resign for demanding sexual favours from women seeking jobs from the company.

Mall manager George Mystris made the announcement during a civil society-led march at the mall on Monday.

The Phepha Foundation said at least eight women had reported cases of sexual assault linked to the two.

The foundation said the alleged perpetrators of sexual assault at Durban’s China Mall had been harassing women.

“It’s been years since this thing has been happening. There are many women who have experienced the assault; the problem is that they are scared because they heard that these people are connected,” said a woman who claims to be one of the victims and has asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.

Police said they were looking into three cases, with one dating as far as back as 2017.

However, Mystris said he was not aware of the allegations until about a week ago and action had since been taken.

“The two people who were said to be wrong are not working for the company anymore. They’ve been told by the directors that they have to resign.”

Civil society organisations in the country have called for the reinstatement of women who were dismissed after refusing to comply with requests for sexual favours.