Ex-JSC advisor disputes claim Zondo ‘not satisfied’ with Mbenenge sexual harassment complaint

A former Judicial Service Commission (JSC) official has denied that former Chief Justice Raymond Zondo was “not satisfied” with the sexual harassment complaint against Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge.

The Judicial Conduct Tribunal is continuing with the evidence of former JSC official Kutlwano Moretlwe on Thursday.

After three days of detailed testimony from digital forensic analyst Francois Moller, who examined two mobile devices, and forensic and legal linguist Dr Zakeera Docrat, who analysed the use of emojis, Moretlwe became the third witness to testify before the tribunal about what transpired when High Court secretary Andiswa Mengo lodged a complaint against Mbenenge.

Complaint

Mengo filed the complaint against Mbenenge, stating that his unwanted sexual advances made towards her between 2021 and 2022 were unwelcome.

In January, Mengo testified that Moretlwe, who is a Judicial Services Commission (JSC) law advisor, assisted her with her initial complaint against the top judge in 2022.

The tribunal also heard that former Chief Justice Raymond Zondo had not been “satisfied” with Mengo’s initial sexual harassment complaint.

During the proceedings, the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) placed a document before the Conduct Tribunal probing Mengo’s allegation.

Mbenenge’s advocate Muzi Sikhakhane questioned Mengo about how the sexual harassment complaint was laid at the OCJ.

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Misplaced complaint

Mengo relied on her WhatsApp chat history with Mbenenge to compile a complaint against him in Midrand in December 2022.

Mengo testified that she received communication from the OCJ that the complaint had been “misplaced” and that she had to lodge a new complaint.

She said she did not keep a copy of the complaint, which was corroborated by the testimony made by Moretlwe on Wednesday before the tribunal that Zondo had “misplaced” the complaint after it was lodged, which was why he asked her to make a new one.

“I could not recall that the complaint was misplaced. That’s why I kept referring them to go and check in my office, because I thought that there was a complaint there

“But it’s only when I listened to the proceedings of the tribunal, it’s only when I heard her saying that it was misplaced that it jogged my memory. Then I called the complainant [Mengo] that the chief justice had requested her to lodge a new complaint, and this time she was to write it on an affidavit,” said Moretlwe.

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‘Improved complaint’

Moretlwe testified that Mengo told her that she did not know how to do it [affidavit] “and I offered to help her”.

Moretlwe aimed to refute suggestions by Mbenenge’s legal team that Zondo had attempted to “improve” Mengo’s complaint against the Judge President.

“He [Zondo] informed me that he had misplaced the complaint, and therefore he had requested me to ask Miss Mengo to do a new complaint in the form of an affidavit.

In January, Sikhakhane described Mengo’s second statement to the JSC as an “improved complaint”, with evidence leader Salome Scheepers arguing that an “improved complaint” was not necessarily a correct description, as the tribunal had no idea what Zondo was concerned about.

Moretlwe earlier testified that when Mengo arrived at the Office of the Chief Justice in Midrand to make her complaint against Mbenenge on 7 December 2022, she informed her that, because she was making a complaint against a Judge President, “it will be brought to the attention of the Chief Justice for his consideration”

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