Eastern Cape judge president Selby Mbenenge said on Wednesday he could not recall what picture he had sent via WhatsApp to high court secretary Andiswa Mengo to which she had responded “Jesus”.
But Mbenenge said one thing he was absolutely sure of was that the picture he sent and then deleted was not a photo of his penis.
Mbenenge is defending himself against Mengo’s claim that he had made persistent and unwanted sexual advances towards her between 2021 and 2022.
The proceedings, which are being screened live, have attracted thousands of viewers.
Mengo had earlier testified that her response, ‘Jesu’, had been an indication of shock at the photo depicting what she assumed was the judge president’s penis.
Mbenenge battled to explain under cross-examination from evidence leader advocate Salome Scheepers why he had then responded to Mengo’s horrified exclamation with the words: “Why put it that way? It looks delicious.”
He said he could only speculate he had sent her a photo of something similar to the peeled banana emoji he had sent her before.
Scheepers also quizzed him on the fact that he followed up the deleted message with the request “yours please!”
“Let’s look at the probabilities. What could ‘yours please’ refer to.”
Mbenenge replied: “I know what it did not refer to. I did not send a picture of private parts.”
He said he must have sent a picture of “something juicy” maybe of a couple “cuddling” and wanted her to reciprocate with a similar picture she had sourced.
Mbenenge persisted in his view that his sexual conversation had been reciprocated by Mengo at all times and that “not once” had she ever rebuffed him.
He has rejected GBV violence expert Lisa Vetten’s contention that Mengo had repeatedly let him know in various ways that the conversations were making her uncomfortable.
Scheepers asked Mbenenge about a WhatsApp conversation in June 2021, when he had asked Mengo if they could meet and be “intimate”.
She had responded that her answer was contained in the first word of a particular bible verse in the Xhosa version of the bible. That word was “hayi” (no).
She repeated her cryptic bible reference by putting “HAYI” in capital letters to make sure he understood.
Asked if this was not a rebuff, Mbenenge replied that it was “fact specific” and not a general rebuff.
She was only declining to be intimate at this specific time on this specific request.
She had said she wanted to meet him face to face to talk but not to be intimate.
Even after this, Mbenenge had persisted in the sexual conversation asking her that when they met face to face “what if we melt?”.
She had not responded.
He further prompted her saying: “It is not impossible.”
She had replied: “It is impossible.”
Mbenenge said the four “no’s” contained in this conversation were all fact specific and referred only to his request to be intimate on that particular occasion.
The proceedings were briefly interrupted on Wednesday afternoon by protesters silently bearing anti-GBV protesters.
Tribunal chair, retired judge Bernard Ngoepe, said the public was welcome to come in and listen but that they should not try to turn the proceedings into theatre.
Daily Dispatch
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.