8 July 2025
Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge testified at a Judicial Conduct Tribunal over allegations he sexually harassed court secretary Andiswa Mengo. Photo: Office of the Chief Justice/ S Lioners.
Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge, who is accused of sexually harassing a court secretary, says he has been publicly humiliated and it is all lies.
“I have been publicly labelled as a sex pest. It’s a campaign to shame me,” he told the Judicial Conduct Tribunal probing secretary Andiswa Mengo’s allegations, on Monday.
Mbenenge largely took command of the proceedings, with his advocate, Muzi Sikhakhane, sitting back and letting him run his own case.
Mengo has claimed that Mbenenge sexually harassed her in a series of unwanted sexually explicit WhatsApp messages. She alleges he also asked her for oral sex in his chambers and sent her a picture of his penis.
While Mbenenge admits to the documented WhatsApp exchanges, he hotly denied the alleged incident in his chambers or ever sending her the picture.
After detailing the many “challenges” he faced after becoming Judge President in 2015, just two years after being appointed a judge, he was asked by Sikhakhane: “The accusations you are here about leads to a description of you as a barbaric, sexist misogynist. What is your personal view of women?”
Mbenenge said the labels were “hurtful”. He said he respected and valued women.
He said it was true that he “became interested in a relationship” with Mengo, and the messages were “flirtation”.
“The notion that a judge cannot have affection, or may not be interested in somebody, is a fallacy.
“What is important is that adults are free to engage in whatever relationship as long as there is consent,” he said.
“I know of judges who married their secretaries. Heavens did not fall.”
He said there were no power dynamics at play because he was not Mengo’s supervisor. He had no role in the appointment of secretaries, other than his own. He also had no role in their annual performance reviews.
He said amid media attacks and being labelled a sex pest, he has had to “find myself”.
“I have never claimed to be a perfect person. None of us in this room is perfect. But this tribunal is not about whether I am perfect or imperfect.”
Mbenenge then turned to the alleged incident in his chambers. He said he had tried to demonstrate that it was a lie over and over again to evidence leader advocate Salome Scheepers, “in the hope that sense would prevail and this thing would be abandoned”.
He repeatedly called the allegation defamatory, malicious, and part of a smear campaign.
“I don’t mind being accused of things I did, but not things I did not do. This is a lie. I didn’t do it.”
He pointed out that Mengo could not recall when it had occurred, but stated it was either on the afternoon of 14 November 2022 or the following day.
Mengo had, however, been specific that it occurred after his secretary had left for the day.
He said his “smoking gun” was the register kept by security at the court to monitor laptops. It showed that on 14 November, Mengo left before his secretary.
He provided a detailed explanation of his movements on that day, backing it up with records from his state vehicle’s tracker.
The following day, he had only been in chambers in Mthatha from 9am until noon, when he left for East London. Tracking records also proved this.
He said it was incumbent on the evidence leader – who is not a prosecutor but who should remain unbiased in an inquisitorial process – to properly investigate the allegations to ensure there was merit to them.
“The whole universe is watching about something that is a lie,” he said.
He also denied ever sending Mengo a picture of what she assumed was his penis. He said the screenshot – which he described as “this creature” – had a timestamp of 9.05am, while she claimed to have received it during one of their chats after 10pm.
“I never sent it, it has nothing to do with me,” he said.
Mbenenge then started talking through the documented WhatsApp messages in detail.
He claimed that Mengo had also sent him pictures of herself, which she had deleted. She had also deleted the reference to “deleted” messages.
The view by Gender Based Violence expert Dr Lisa Vetten that Mengo had rebuffed him at least 12 times, was not true, he said.
In an apparent dig at Vetten, he said her perspective was based on Western notions.
“She (Mengo) was playing along. She was happy with the conversations. I interpreted her use of the monkey emoji [covering its eyes] as being ‘Ukumtsa’.”
The isiXhosa interpreter explained that this meant “when you show interest in a lady, they don’t look you in the eye, and that is flirtation” – a pretence of shyness intended to be alluring.
“It is highly embarrassing, but I am charged with this offence and must put things in a proper perspective through the prism of a Xhosa man chatting with an adult woman. She was giving me a hard time. In our culture, it is understood that you are not going to get a yes, as early as yesterday.”
“I am wary of notions and concepts from the West that are imposed on us as Africans.”
He said Mengo had been a willing participant in what became “highly sensual” chats about sexual position preferences.
He said they were two consenting adults who had agreed to delete their chats.
“I trusted her. There was an understanding. It’s implicit that we were both of the view that it was related to two adults who were interacting.
“She assured me that she was deleting and now the public ends up being privy to it. It’s quite an embarrassing thing.
“I did not see this day coming.”
He said for those people questioning if he was doing his job, and not just chatting to Mengo, he noted that he racked up 28 reported judgments since his appointment as a judge.
“I love my work. I miss it,” he said.
He will continue giving evidence on Tuesday.