SANDTON, SOUTH AFRICA – Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge has told a judicial inquiry that his sexual advances toward a subordinate were not inappropriate and insisted they should only be judged on whether they were welcome or not.
Testifying before the Judicial Conduct Tribunal on Wednesday, Mbenenge claimed he had been “led on” by court secretary Andiswa Mengo, who has accused him of sexual harassment. He maintained that their conversations were between consenting adults and dismissed any moral scrutiny of his behaviour.
Mbenenge is facing allegations stemming from a series of WhatsApp exchanges with Mengo, which included sexual innuendos and persistent requests for intimate photos. He admitted to asking Mengo 11 times for a photograph during their initial conversation in June 2021, at one point pleading with “plz”.
Asked by evidence leader Advocate Salome Scheepers if he believed Mengo had consented to the conversations, Mbenenge said, “She never rebuffed me. I was reading the room.” He further claimed Mengo had used “Ukumtsa” – a Xhosa term meaning feigned shyness meant to attract – suggesting her responses were flirtatious.
He told the tribunal that they had both agreed to delete the messages and denied that it was because he thought they were inappropriate. He said the deletion was for privacy reasons, as his family had access to his phone.
Scheepers challenged this, pointing out that Mengo had expressed discomfort and tried to redirect the conversations multiple times, at one point saying “no” several times to a suggestion that they meet for intimacy in East London.
Despite her responses, Mbenenge continued to message her, deleting one particularly explicit message shortly before she responded with “Jesu”. He replied with “Why put it this way, it’s delicious”, followed by “yours please” and wide-eyed emojis. Pressed on what that message might have contained, he denied sending explicit images but conceded it could have been “something sensual”.
“I wasn’t denuding her,” he said. “I just wanted to appreciate how she was made up.”
Scheepers argued that the persistent nature of the exchanges, especially within a professional hierarchy, amounted to sexual harassment. Mbenenge rejected that interpretation, stating, “I did not persist. I was satisfied when she did not send the pictures.”
He said he had crossed professional boundaries but framed his actions as those of a “social being” rather than a Judge President. Cross-examination is expected to continue today.
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