Mbenenge claims tribunal is out to shame him

Eastern Cape Judge President, Selby Mbenenge, has finally broken his silence, testifying on Monday for the first time before the Judicial Conduct Tribunal probing explosive allegations of sexual misconduct made by his former secretary, Andiswa Mengo.

Mbenenge, who took the stand in Sandton, conceded to exchanging flirtatious WhatsApp messages with Mengo, but denied ever abusing his position or sending unsolicited explicit material.

“I never sent K8, K8 has nothing to do with me. I never sent H1 and H2; I never sent to the complainant exhibits P and exhibits N or any part of my body,” he told the hearing.

Day one of Mbenenge’s testimony focused on four central themes: his personal life, the infamous 14 November 2022 incident, the nature of the WhatsApp exchanges, and the sexually explicit images that form part of the evidence.

Mbenenge’s legal team, led by advocate Muzi Skhakhane, accused the tribunal’s evidence leader, advocate Salome Scheepers, of orchestrating a “malicious campaign” to publicly shame the Judge President — an accusation Mbenenge reiterated during his testimony.

“I look at it as a campaign to shame me, it is lies, it never happened, the complainant knows as much as I do that it never took place,” he said.

Mbenenge denied ever sending nude images to Mengo, despite them being included in the tribunal’s evidence docket.

He further claimed that the tribunal’s scrutiny had taken a toll on his personal and professional life. He says while he has deliberately kept his family out of the spotlight, they have not been spared from the emotional fallout.

The tribunal also examined the WhatsApp history between Mbenenge and Mengo, including sexually explicit conversations and the use of emojis.

He admitted that the two engaged in late-night chats, some of which became graphic — including a discussion about sex positions during a Youth Day conversation in 2021. Mbenenge alleged that Mengo initiated or encouraged the explicit tone and assured him the messages would be deleted.

“I’m asking here whether she does delete, she responds at 17:57 that she deletes; firstly for space reasons, secondly ‘I don’t want this to be seen’. I trusted her , I trusted her bonafides,” the judge said.

According to digital forensic expert, Dr Vincent Mello, who testified in Mbenenge’s defence, the judge sent 97 of the nearly 200 emojis exchanged — suggesting what Mbenenge described as a “flirtatious dynamic.”

The expert also challenged the integrity of the WhatsApp image metadata presented as evidence.

“I don’t want to claim proficiency in emojis, in my answering affidavit to the JCC I made it very clear that I understand these emojis that she sent to me as flirtatious,” added Dr Mello.

The thorn in the flesh

At the heart of the misconduct inquiry is Mengo’s claim that Mbenenge summoned her to his chambers on November 14, 2022, and exposed himself — a claim he has flatly denied.

He also rejected the relevance of additional claims raised by Scheepers, including an alleged inappropriate hug involving a different court official.

“I must say, I’m at great pain to have to talk about chats between two consenting adults, it’s highly embarrassing for me to have to talk about this but I am charged with offence and I must put things into their proper prospective.”

Last week, Mbenenge’s witnesses took the stand — including former secretary Zintle Nkqayi, who testified she was with the judge at a bank during the alleged incident and produced a bank statement to support her claim.

Another witness, Dr Mello, questioned the authenticity of the WhatsApp evidence. However, parts of testimony from the third witness Unathi Sogoni were struck out as hearsay and irrelevant.

Mbenenge is expected to conclude his testimony on Tuesday, with advocate Scheepers possibly beginning cross-examination before the tribunal wraps up later this week.

If found guilty, Judge President Selby Mbenenge could become the third judge to face judicial impeachment in democratic South Africa. Written by Lebohang Ndashe