Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge has vehemently denied that he forced conversations with Makhanda judges’ secretary Andiswa Mengo.
Mbenenge, who is facing allegations of sexual harassment, revealed these facts during his cross-examination at the Sandton judicial tribunal.
He was being grilled by evidence leader advocate Salome Scheepers on Wednesday.
According to Mbenenge, Mengo initiated a conversation and informed him that she was insulted by the court manager; however, he did not want to be involved as the judge president.
In her testimony, Mengo said she later saw Mbenenge hugging the court manager she had reported him to.
Scheepers asked how Mbenenge could claim he did not want to assist Mengo, given that he was interested in her and pursuing a relationship with her.
“In as much as I was drawn to that, I chose to exit,” he responded.
Scheepers said Mengo testified that she was not feeling good when she had the altercation with the court manager; however, she melted when Mbenenge gave her words of encouragement and needed a hug for emotional support.
“Seeing that she had already said she was not herself and wasn’t feeling like herself, why did you continue with the flirtatious conversation?” she asked.
“A hug is a hug, and it can serve as a stress reliever. With a dancing and a hug emoji, she said it would be better if she got a hug,” Mbenenge responded.
Complainant asked to take off her jacket
Scheepers further told the tribunal that Mbenenge asked for naked pictures of Mengo about 11 times. She said Mengo testified that she felt undressed.
“Why did you ask for her to take off the jacket after she had sent you pictures?” she questioned the judge president.
“I wanted her to remove her jacket because I wanted to appreciate her appearance. It was obstructing my view of how she looked,” Mbenenge responded.
“I also disagree that she felt naked based on the interaction here; these chats were unwanted, and she said she would take these photos later.”
Additionally, Mbenenge alleged that Scheepers’s annexures do not tie in well with some of what she is putting to him.
“With all respect, JP [judge president], I think you’re now arguing,” said Scheepers.
“What I’ve been trying to explain is that she had all the assistance under the sun; she went to the office of the chief justice to report the matter, and she was assisted by a qualified legal person, but what we have here still does not tie well,” he replied.
Proceedings briefly disrupted
While the proceedings were ongoing, a duo dressed in Kwanele Foundation T-shirts stormed the conference room with a placard reading “justice for Mengo”; however, presiding retired judge Bernard Ngoepe asked them not to disrupt the proceedings and told them to leave.
“Any member of the public is allowed to come and sit in but not turn this into something, perform some things, and disrupt us,” Ngoepe said.
Scheepers continued, saying Mbenenge had been deleting messages; however, that is not the case on the side of Mengo.
“That is speculation. There were messages, and they were highly sexual, and they were deleted, but you cannot say that the complainant didn’t delete any,” he said.
