Eastern Cape Chief Judge Selby Mbenenge; (Judge is important)
The Attorney-General who accused Eastern Cape Chief Judge Selby Mbenenge of sexual harassment told the Judicial Commission court that he would have responded differently to his advances if he had not been in a position of power. He said he was deaf.
In testimony on Tuesday, 37-year-old Andiswa Mengo, a single mother, said she feared she would lose her job if she opposed a series of inappropriate messages from Mbenenge, including persistent requests for photos. said.
“First of all, I respected the fact that he was my boss. Second, I was scared because he's a man of authority. I'm a single mom, so I was scared of losing my job. '' said Mengo.
“So I don't know what he would have thought if I had spoken to him in a disrespectful manner.”
Evidence leader Salome Scheepers asked whether she would have reacted in the same way if she had received the same message from an equal colleague at work.
“No, I wouldn't have. If it were me, I would have told that person, first of all, I'm not interested in what you have to say, but on the other hand, there are a lot of people out there. I told you,” Menge replied.
The court began hearing her charges on Monday, just over a year after she filed criminal charges against Mbenenge.
At the outset, senior state advocate Scheepers said WhatsApp conversations between Mbenenge and Mengo were always initiated by the judge and, although they initially raised neutral topics, the tone was always sexual. He pointed out that it would become something.
She emphasized that Mengo tried to appease the judge while refusing to do so because he was deeply aware of the power imbalance in the relationship.
The second day of the Judicial Conduct Tribunal hearing featured text messages exchanged in mid-June 2021.
Mbenenge is the first judge to risk impeachment for sexual misconduct, but he insists his interactions with a fellow secretary were consensual.
He repeatedly tried to request photos of the complainant, at one point suggesting to her, “Go halfway and leave the rest for another day.”
Mengo said this reminded him of an earlier message in which he asked her to take off her shirt. She testified that she did not send him the photo, but instead uploaded a new photo to her WhatsApp profile.
She added that she was irritated by the fact that Mbenenge endlessly repeated the same demands and was humiliating in the nature of the texts. She said she also noticed that if she ignored him, the messages would continue regardless.
But many of Mengo's responses to the judge's messages were coy or vague, and Shepards repeatedly asked him to explain why he reacted the way he did.
For example, Scheepers said Mengo wanted Mbenenge to be clear about why she wanted a photo of her, but she simply never asked.
“Could you please explain to me why you didn't ask this question openly?”
She replied that she was having conversations with people who were much older and more experienced than she was and who understood what she was trying to say. Later, in the same exchange, she asked Mbenenge if he was prepared to pay, telling the court this was also to dissuade the judge.
“If a woman isn't interested, always include the word money to scare him away.”
The messages continued, and on the night of June 16, Mbenenge sent her a message that read, “Are you going to melt soon?”
She replied, “It depends.”
Asked by Scheepers to explain his response, Mengo said he was being sarcastic because he said the tone of the judge's message had changed.
“By quoting and changing the word melt, it became clear that the conversation was shifting towards disgust.”
The chairman of the tribunal, former Gauteng chief judge Bernardo Ngoepe, asked whether he meant that the way the conversation had unfolded had made her uncomfortable. Mengo replied that it was correct.
In a reply to Ms Mbenenge's email, she said she was cooking.
Ms Mengo told the court that this was ironic and intended to show that she was actually preparing the meals and that her life did not revolve around responding to messages from her. Ta.
The judge then sent a message: “If you're melting down, take a step forward.”
Mengo replied, “That means the marinade worked before it got hot.”
Mr. Ngoepe interceded, saying the message made no sense, and Mr. Mengo explained that he wanted to move the conversation to a safer, more neutral position.
“I didn’t want to entertain his unpleasant conversations.”
Mr Ngoepe asked whether her response to Mr Mbenenge's message was literal rather than double-minded.
“So, are you talking about marinade as marinade and heat as heat?”
Mengo said this was correct. Scheepers noted that Mbenenge sent a number of messages, which he has since deleted, and that Mengo had replied to one with a closed-lips face emoji.
Mengo said he sent this in response to a message from Mbenenge saying he was listening to his message. A message from the judge followed. He deleted several photos, including photos of sex acts. In yet another message, he referred to “Position 1.”
Ms. Mengo said she noticed this when she looked at the message again, testifying that this was a reference to the conduct in the deleted message.
“There were sexual photographs that I would have chosen,” she told the court.
She replied to Mbenenge with a message: “Stop riddles.” When asked why, she said she wanted him to be upfront about his intentions.
“I'll go with anything. But there's one word I like: Surprise.”
“Because I don't want to leave any room for argument with him. And when I use the word 'surprise,' there's certainly an element of irritation to me. ”
When asked again by Shepards why she reacted this way, she said it was because she wanted to end the conversation. Scheepers noted that it didn't work because more messages followed.
“I also took into account the fact that he is of advanced age, so I was not in a position to answer him the same way I would if we were the same age,” Mengo retorted.
Scheepers noted that the date of the exchange was June 16, a public holiday, and it lasted until 11:15 p.m. Mengo agreed that it was invasive and burst into tears.
“I felt like a human without dignity. He never respected me, not even his time. This happened while I was not working.”
At Schepers' request, Ngoepe adjourned the hearing an hour early, but warned that there were aspects of Mengo's testimony that were insufficient and the court would seek clarity.
“Speaking for myself, this page where we've been dealing with things like positions and kitchen heat includes some issues that don't really make sense to me. Over time, I've noticed that they've become more honest. I pray that it will be addressed and that it will be clarified,” he said.
“We need to make them clear, no matter how unpleasant they may be,” Ngoepe said.
The hearing was scheduled to continue on Wednesday.
