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Boatengs quit SA after bullying claims

Paul Boateng, the former Labour MP who became Britain's first ever black Cabinet minister, is returning from his post as Britain's High Commissioner in South Africa following claims that his wife, Janet Boateng, bullied members of their domestic staff. Mrs Boateng, a 52-year-old former Labour councillor in Lambeth, south London, is alleged to have verbally bullied black cooks, cleaners, gardeners and security staff at the High Commissioner's two residences - one in Cape Town, the other in Pretoria.

As reported here in November, soon after the allegations first arose, the Boatengs' estate manager, William Fenyane, claimed that Janet Boateng would routinely describe her South African employees as "lazy" and insisted that they refer to her as 'madam', a style of address dating back to the apartheid era.

Paul Boateng, who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury when Gordon Brown was Chancellor, was given the role of High Commissioner by Tony Blair after the 2005 general election. It was always a controversial appointment: some said it represented a breakthrough in the diplomatic service in that Boateng was not a member of the old school; others were appalled that someone with no diplomatic experience, and no special knowledge of Africa, should be handed such a high-profile job. (Continued below)

However, Boateng, the first black High Commissioner, has been credited with building up a close relationship with the ANC government. He will be replaced in the job by Nicola Brewer, 51, a former Foreign Office high-flyer who recently quit as head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission after causing controversy by suggesting companies should not be not required to conduct equal pay reviews during the recession.

The Boatengs are having to give up a life of luxury: the residence in Cape Town has a stunning view of Table Mountain and boasts nine bedrooms, a swimming pool surrounded by landscaped gardens and floodlit tennis courts. When John Major visited Cape Town as Prime Minister in 1994, he is reported to have been staggered by the opulence: "I've learned a lot in a few hours. For example, that the British High Commissioner lives in unimaginable luxury. And we pay for it." And that was before he visited the High Commissioner's other home, an eight-bedroom mansion in Pretoria.

This is not the first family problem Boateng, a barrister before he entered politics, has had to face since arriving in Cape Town. Three years ago, one of the Boatengs' five children, 21-year-old Ben, was accused of raping a teenaged girl on a Cape Town beach after a New Year's Eve party. He was cleared by police after an 18-day investigation.

People: Staff member talks of bully Boateng