Boateng wife accused of bullying staff in Cape Town
THE wife of Britain's first black high commissioner is under investigation for allegedly bullying domestic staff at the official residence in South Africa, it is reported today.
Foreign Office ministers were reportedly alerted after complaints from black members of staff against Janet Boateng, whose husband Paul, the outspoken Left-wing lawyer, was given the South African posting by Tony Blair after he stood down at the 2005 election. Mr Boateng became Britain's first black Cabinet minister in 2002 when he was made Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
The Daily Telegraph reported that the dispute, said to involve verbal bullying, has become so bitter that a lawyer has become involved, threatening acute embarrassment for the government in post-apartheid South Africa.
Mr Boateng, 57, lives with his wife Janet, a former Lambeth councillor, and their five children in the High Commissioner's Cape Town nine-bedroom house, which has a four-acre garden. They also have an official eight-bedroom residence in Pretoria. There are 180 diplomatic and consular staff.
The Foreign Office said: "While a grievance has been raised by some members of the residence staff, it has not been made against Mr Boateng. It is an internal personnel matter being investigated in South Africa at the appropriate level with assistance from our legal adviser on local labour law issues."
