Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge escapes gross misconduct charges, but faces criticism from a Judicial Conduct Tribunal, highlighting a concerning gap between judicial conduct standards and expectations within South Africa’s legal system. While Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge has been found not guilty of gross misconduct, he was found by a Judicial Conduct Tribunal to have fallen short of standards expected of a member of the judiciary. At the weekend, the tribunal, chaired by retired judge Bernard Ngoepe, released its 169-page findings stating that Mbenenge’s conduct with regard to court secretary, Andiswa Mengo, “fell short of the standards expected of a judicial officer”.
Mbenenge was found guilty of contravening Article 5.1 of the Code of Judicial Conduct, which mandates that a judge should always act “honourably and in a manner befitting judicial office”. The fact that Mbenenge had initiated and conducted a “flirtatious relationship” with Mengo at her place of work and during work hours was also dishonourable, the tribunal found. Meanwhile, the Women’s Legal Centre, which represented Mengo at the tribunal, issued a statement noting that “we are currently supporting our client”, who needed time to process “both the outcome and the deeply disappointing language used in parts of the report”.
The centre was awaiting instruction from Mengo and noted that she reserved her right to consider further legal recourse, “including the possibility of taking the tribunal’s findings on review”. It was “important” that the tribunal had found Mbenenge guilty of misconduct or inappropriate conduct, the centre noted. “This finding affirms that the conduct complained of was unacceptable and improper, and that Ms Mengo’s complaint was not without merit”.
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The process was not yet concluded, added the centre, as the report now proceeded to the Judicial Service Commission, mandated to consider it in order to make a final determination. “There remains scope for further submissions to the [Judicial Service Commission]”, the statement concluded.
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