On Wednesday, Moretlwe informed the Judicial Conduct Tribunal sitting in Johannesburg that she was responsible for dealing with complaints against judges and writing acknowledgement of receipt letters to complainants.
Moretlwe is testifying because she received Andiswa Mengo, the judge’s secretary based in Makhanda High Court, in the Eastern Cape, when she filed a sexual harassment complaint against Judge President Selby Mbenenge.
She said she was called to attend to Mengo.
“It was very late in the afternoon, it could’ve been past 3pm, but we were about to knock off, if I am not mistaken.
“I asked the complainant if it was correct that she wanted to lodge a complaint against the judge; she confirmed,” explained Moretlwe.
Evidence leader, advocate Salome Scheepers, asked that Moretlwe paint the picture of what happened.
“After she confirmed, Miss Mengo then started to narrate what transpired. As she was narrating the events, she started getting emotional. We would stop so I would comfort her, for her to get her composure then continue.
“I realised that this was going to be a very long story, as she was narrating, I was typing the report. I remembered that she had said that she had not checked in at her hotel, which was closer to our offices. We left for the hotel for her to check in, and we went to her room, where we continued with the report,” she continued.
According to Moretlwe, in the evening, she wanted to go home, but she was not done taking the complaint.
“So, I saved the document on a memory stick, which I gave to Miss Mengo, and I asked her to continue and finish the complaint; we were going to meet the following day,” she added.
Moretlwe said she asked Mengo to send screenshots of the conversations with the judge president to her personal email because of the sensitivity of the matter.
“When we met the following day, we printed the complaint and bundled it up with the annexures. After that, we went to the Midrand police station with the bundle to commission it. After it was commissioned, Miss Mengo left.”
The state law advisor told the tribunal that she handed the complaint to the chief justice, Raymond Zondo at the time, who later informed her that he had misplaced the complaint.
“Then I called the complainant [Mengo] that the chief justice had requested her to lodge a new complaint, and this time she was to write it on an affidavit. Miss Mengo told me that she does not know how to do it, and I offered to help her,” said Moretlwe.
The tribunal hearing resumed on Monday after months of a hiatus. It is a culmination of a complaint by Mengo that Mbenenge made unwanted sexual advances towards her in 2021.
Previously, Mengo told the tribunal that Mbenenge used his power to violate her. She claimed he did this by sending her explicit pictures of his hairy private parts.
The hearing continues.
