Judge Mbenenge inquiry: Expert questions authenticity of explicit images

IT expert Dr Vincent Mello at the Judicial Conduct Tribunal on Thursday. Photo: Office of the Chief Justice

• On Thursday, ICT expert Dr Vincent Mello disputed the authenticity of explicit images allegedly sent by Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge to his secretary.
• The Judicial Conduct Tribunal is probing allegations of sexual harassment made by judges’ secretary Andiswa Mengo against Mbenenge.
• Mengo said Mbenenge had deleted the pictures, but not before she had saved them to her “favourites” on her phone.
• Mello said many of the pictures did not conform to the WhatsApp “template”.

Sexually explicit pictures, which judges’ secretary Andiswa Mengo alleges were sent to her by Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge, were placed in dispute on Thursday at the Judicial Conduct Tribunal into allegations of sexual harassment by Mbenenge.

Mbenenge admits sending many of the messages but claims he thought the exchange was consensual. But he disputed having sent certain pictures, including one of his penis. If the tribunal finds against Mbenenge, he could be impeached.

Dr Vincent Mello, an information communication technology expert, was called to give evidence by Mbenenge’s legal team.

He said many of the disputed images were not consistent with the WhatsApp “template” and did not reflect who had sent them and when.

Mengo, in her evidence in January, said Mbenenge had deleted them, but not before she had saved them to her “favourites” on her phone.

Mello skated around the issue of the interpretation of certain emojis, including a peach and an eggplant, sent to Mengo during the WhatsApp exchanges that form the basis of her complaint.

Mello, who is a member of the Unicode Consortium, which internationalises the usage and application of emojis and attaches keyword meanings to them, said, “In my analysis, they were used to mean the keywords ascribed by the Unicode [Consortium].”

He conceded, however, that Emojipedia (a website that serves as a comprehensive encyclopedia and reference source on emojis) ascribes the peach to mean a “bum” and the eggplant as a “man’s private part”.

Mello’s testimony counters that of legal forensic linguist Dr Zakeera Docrat, who gave a detailed analysis in May of the hundreds of WhatsApp messages. She had said context was everything and, in the case of the fruit and vegetable emojis, they were “clearly not drawing up a shopping list”.

Mello took a far more technical approach to the 189 emojis used in the messages, detailing the most commonly used ones and how many times each was used. Generally, he said, they depicted the definitions ascribed to them by the Unicode Consortium.

But under cross-examination, evidence leader advocate Salome Scheepers referred him to the “see no evil monkey” emoji, which Mengo used in reply to Mbenenge asking if they could meet in East London and be intimate.

In his statement, Mbenenge said he took this emoji to mean flirtation. However, Scheepers said, it was not ascribed that meaning by either the Unicode Consortium or Emojipedia.

“So it is not correct to say they only used the emojis in the standard way?” she asked.

Mello said he had not had access to that information, but then said, “Yes”.

Scheepers questioned Mello’s “linguistic” qualifications. He finally conceded that he had none. Scheepers also established that anyone can join the Unicode Consortium with no particular expertise or academic qualifications required.

Mello’s long answers led Tribunal chair Judge Bernard Ngoepe to twice suggest he rather answer yes or no.

Cross-examination will continue on Friday.

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