Andiswa Mengo, the secretary at the centre of Eastern Cape judge president Selby Mbenenge’s harassment case, on Thursday told a judicial conduct tribunal he “persistently” made sexual advances towards her.
Mengo testified for the fourth day at the tribunal investigating the complaint she laid against Mbenenge.
She filed the complaint in 2023, accusing Mbenenge of making “unwarranted” sexual advances towards her at work and on WhatsApp conversations from June 2021 until November 2022.
The tribunal is the first to probe a sexual harassment complaint against a judge. If found guilty Mbenenge could be impeached for gross misconduct.
The judge has denied any impropriety on his part, arguing that communication between him and his subordinate was “consensual”.
On June 20, 2021, Mbenenge had asked Mengo on WhatsApp whether they could be intimate after she had requested to meet him in East London.
An emotional Mengo told the tribunal of the series of messages between the two. She made several attempts to snub the judge president, she said.
According to the judicial conduct committee, which referred the matter to the tribunal, Mbenenge did not deny he asked the secretary if they could be intimate.
She initially responded to the request by referring Mbenenge to a bible verse, Psalm 1:1 from the isiXhosa version of the bible, telling him to pay attention to the first word, which is “no”.
When asked by evidence leader Salome Scheepers why she did not directly answer Mbenenge, she said she believed he would understand her response as a “church leader”.
Mbenenge, however, asked her to remind him of the verse.
She then directly responded to his question with a “no” written in bold capital letters, adding that “we should meet but not become intimate”.
The judge president responded: “What if we melt, which is not impossible”. To which she responded saying “it is impossible”.
Mengo told the tribunal her direct rejection did not deter Mbenenge from continuing to talk about the matter. Later in the conversation Mbenenge said the two could meet without becoming intimate.
According to the WhatsApp screenshot she provided to the tribunal, Mbenenge then asked her if there would be “privacy” at her home in East London.
Mengo was also asked by the judge president if she can “control herself”. She said she could control herself to which he answered, “OK let me oblige”.
After that she told the judge president she needed to iron her uniform and said her goodbyes.
Mbenenge sent her two messages, which were subsequently deleted, to which Mengo replied saying “Jesus”. She told the tribunal that one of the deleted messages was a picture of a male private part.
Responding to her Jesus comment, Mengo said Mbenenge responded saying: “Why put it this way? Looks delicious?”.
Mbenenge had also sent her a message saying “yours please”.
Mengo said she believed the judge president was asking for a picture of her private part.
Mbenenge has denied asking Mengo to send him explicit pictures and sending her “crude pictures”.
On June 21 2021, Mbenenge asked if Mengo could meet him in East London.
She said that day she was working in Bhisho, about 60km from East London, and the meeting did not take place.
Scheepers asked Mengo why she did not meet Mbenenge, she said it was: “Because he had shifted the intention of the meeting”.
She previously testified that she wanted to meet him and tell him the communication was making her uncomfortable.
Scheepers also asked Mengo about one of her exchanges with Mbenenge, in which she had complimented him saying he was “handsome”.
Her comment saw Mbenenge sending more pictures until she expressed that he was somewhat exaggerating matters.
A few days later, after Mengo made no mention of their meeting or reply to his WhatsApp texts about it, Mbenenge asked her on June 29 2021 about the meeting.
Mengo responded “Are you still on that matter? I was scared of you that day [the initial day he asked for a meeting].”
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