Officials said that a member of the small South African research team at a remote southern pole base accused a colleague of assault and asked to intervene.
The DFFE, which supervises the base, said in a statement – but they had no plans to return any of the team to the home.
In the statement sent to CNN, in response to the allegations submitted in an e -mail from the research team, DFFE said: “The alleged perpetrator has shared a good mind in more psychological evaluation, and he showed remorse, and he is cooperating with a good mind to follow any recommended interventions.”
DFFE said it had received complaints about the alleged assault on two members of the Overwintering team from nine on February 27, and was more investigation into a claim of sexual harassment. The administration did not mention the names of the concerned.
The intervention was revealed after a report issued by the Sunday Times newspaper in South Africa in detailing an email from the team that accused the man of attacking its leader and asking for help.
“His behavior has escalated to a very annoying degree,” the author wrote in the email, according to the Sunday Times.
Names have not been revealed by the newspaper. CNN independently did not confirm the reported email contents.
South Africa is the only African nation that runs a research station in Antarctica, the world The coldest continentIt was established in 1960. Antarctica, known as Sanae IV, usually includes a team of scholars for 13 months, adding that the current group was sent on February 1.
His statement on the allegations of the attack said: “The administration confirms that there are no incidents that require the return of any of the nine team members from the Overwintering team to Cape Town.” “If such incidents occur, the department’s management team has replaced a member of the Overwintering team as an immediate effect.”
This is not the first case of the attack involving the South African mission team. In 2017, at a research base on the remote island of Marion, a “member of the research team” was reported that he destroyed the laptop of another colleague with an ax due to the love triangle in which they participated. according to South African parliamentary control group.
DPP explained that members of its research tasks be evaluated before the campaigns “to ensure that they are able to deal with isolation and can work and live with others in the space restricted to the rules.”
However, he added, “It is not uncommon that as soon as individuals reaches very remote areas where the scientific rules are, a preliminary control of the environment is required.”
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