POINT OF ORDER | After Mbenenge verdict, we must seize opportunity to transform judiciary

From now on, following a Judicial Conduct Tribunal finding that Eastern Cape judge president Selby Mbenenge is not guilty of gross misconduct but has fallen short of standards expected of a member of the judiciary, the judiciary’s standing has become higher and its opportunities greater. The field lies open, in ways it does only after the appointment of new leadership, for a decisive implementation of the Code of Judicial Conduct and the August 2025 Sexual Harassment Policy for the South African judiciary. One of the most trenchant sections of the 169-page findings of the tribunal, chaired by retired judge Bernard Ngoepe, states that Mbenenge’s conduct concerning 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. It also found that Mengo omit­ted from her ori­ginal com­plaint flir­ta­tious and sexu­ally sug­gest­ive mes­sages she had sent the judge pres­id­ent.

What is more, she could not prove an alleged in-per­son incid­ent at the court­house involving inap­pro­pri­ate beha­viour on the part of Mben­enge. Those find­ings, the tribunal said, under­mined her claim that she was an unwill­ing par­ti­cipant in the exchanges. Now that the tribunal’s findings are out, all South Africans have more reasons to work together to transform the judiciary and society, and we must seize the opportunity.

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In the past, several opportunities to make radical change to SA’s judiciary and society at large have largely been squandered. As a result, the work of rebuilding confidence has become harder than ever, as the continuing rise of sexual harassment and gender-based violence cases makes clear. The judiciary leadership has already undertaken “safeguarding the integrity of the courts and protecting the dignity of all who serve within them” by launching the policy in August 2025.

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