Mbenenge halts impeachment proceedings with interim interdict

Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge Picture: Gallo Images Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge has secured an interim interdict stopping parliament and President Cyril Ramaphosa from proceeding with impeachment against him. The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria granted the interim interdict on Friday, 31 July. This comes as Mbenenge and his legal team are reviewing and trying to set aside the misconduct findings of the JSC against him.

Hefiled a review applicationin June. The findings are linked to a sexual harassment complaint lodged by the senior judges’ secretary, Andiswa Mengo. He is the first senior judge in South Africa to face possible impeachment over allegations of sexual misconduct.

On Monday, theJSC recommended to Ramaphosa that Mbenenge besuspended. The JSC says that in accordance with section 20(1) of the Judicial Service Commission Act, the commission met on 7 July 2026 to review written submissions on whether Mbenenge should be suspended in terms of section 177(3) of the constitution. “At this meeting, the JSC resolved to advise the president to suspend Judge President Mbenenge from his duties pending the decision of the National Assembly as contemplated in section 177 of the Constitution,” the JSC confirmed.

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Mengo accused Mbenenge of sexually harassing her through WhatsApp messages, inappropriate comments and gestures about her appearance, as well as during an incident in his chambers in November 2022. She also alleged that he had repeatedly asked her to send explicit images and had sent his own in return. Mbenenge has maintained that the interactions were consensual and has denied sending an explicit photograph of himself.

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