A doctor accused of groping his colleagues has told a jury that he gave "friendly shoulder massages" and made "cheeky" remarks but said: "It was just banter."
In these messages, he said: "Hi, I'm sorry to have caused you distress. I was joking and just made some banter that went too far.Kubwalo is meanwhile accused of having touched the bottom of the third woman. This reportedly occurred "when they were walking from one part of the hospital to another, passing through some doors".
Kubwalo said that one of these people was the complainant whose genitalia he is alleged to have touched, with the massages having happened "once or twice" in a reception area. When asked whether he had "instigated" this, he responded: "It would be when we were chatting. "They sit down in between having had a stressful delivery and would talk about a lot of things. Gossip tends to be people who know each other outside of work.
"The first thing I said was, because I saw her try to cover herself, I said 'do you want me to tuck you in?'. As a caring gesture and a little bit tongue in cheek, that’s what I said to her." Kubwalo said that he was also going to the toilet and that he and the woman, who he described as a "good friend", "left together and walked together". Ms Weekes asked him: "She said you were following her quite deliberately, were you deliberately following her?"
Ms Weekes asked him whether he had "realised she was upset". Kubwalo said: "Not until I heard about it.Kubwalo told the court that he was called into a meeting with a hospital director in which he was informed that the colleague had "complained of inappropriate behaviour towards her". He said of this: "I was confused."I hadn’t thought it was anything serious. The fact that she reported it, I understood that she was more offended.