Andiswa Mengo told the judicial conduct tribunal on Wednesday that her boss, Eastern Cape judge president Selby Mbenenge, sent her explicit pictures of himself.
The sexual harassment inquiry could lead to Mbenenge’s impeachment should he be found guilty. This is the first tribunal investigating a sexual harassment complaint against a judge.
Mengo, a secretary, became emotional when she was asked by evidence leader advocate Salome Scheepers whether she remembered some of the WhatsApp messages she received from Mbenenge on June 21 2021, which were subsequently deleted.
She said one of the deleted messages from the judge president contained a picture of his private parts taken in a toilet cubicle. Mbenenge has disputed sending “crude pictures” to Mengo.
Mengo said there was no face in the picture. The deleted messages were followed by a message saying “BJ”, which she understood to mean “blow job”.
Earlier, she testified Mbenenge had requested naked pictures of herself. According to the judicial conduct committee, which referred the matter to the tribunal, Mbenenge denied asking Mengo to “expose her upper body”.
The judge also denied any impropriety on his part, arguing that communication between him and his subordinate was “consensual”.
Tribunal chair retired judge president Bernard Ngoepe said that while the hearing was being held in public, the messages relating to the explicit pictures would not be released to the media until the tribunal delivered a ruling on the matter.
Mengo testified that she had once commented on Mbenenge's picture that he was “cute”. Scheepers asked why she made compliments to the judge president.
“In that picture he did not look the way he looks now, he looked younger. He did not have the blemishes. His complexion was also lighter,” she said.
When further questioned why she made the remarks by Scheepers, she said she could not answer.
Mengo also sent “happy father’s day” wishes to Mbenenge in 2021. When asked about this, she said she had also sent messages to other male law professionals she worked with.
The tribunal heard that Mengo had asked to meet Mbenenge in East London. She said she had wanted to talk to the judge president about his advances towards her. She said she had not been comfortable with his conduct.
The tribunal adjourned. The hearing will continue on Thursday.
Scheepers said on Monday the heart of the case was an issue of the power dynamics between a junior and a judge president.
The complainant would provide testimony that would establish that the engagement between her and the judge president occurred without her consent, Scheepers said.
“Her account will clearly demonstrate that the interaction was not flirtatious but rather was unwanted by her. She will testify that she tried to make this clear to the judge president but [he] intentionally disregarded her boundaries and persisted in his pursuit of a sexual relationship with her.”
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