Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane has dismissed the statement that sexual harassment complainant ,Andiswa Mengo, scheduled an appointment to meet Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge in East London to tell him to stop pursuing her as just a lie. Mengo testified that rejecting Mbenenge's sexual advances wasn't easy because of the power the judge president has.

LABELLED A LIAR?

Sikhakhane was cross-examining Mengo on the eighth day of the tribunal hearing probing sexual harassment allegations against Mbenenge in Rosebank, Johannesburg. Mengo testified last week that she once told Mbenenge that she was in East London and wanted to meet to tell him to stop harassing her. She said he asked if they could be intimate. Sikhakhane said Mengo and Mbenenge were on good terms at the time and her claiming that she was fed up was untrue. "You could have easily told the respondents to stop because you had amassed the courage to do so. You testified that you wanted to meet him in East London because you had gathered the courage to face him." Mengo responded, emphasising that she only wanted to set the record straight with Mbenenge, saying that's the only reason she wanted to meet with him. "Council, you're not getting me. Yes, we had been engaging through text messages; however, I asked to meet with Mbenenge to tell him to stop sending inappropriate messages. I was for the longest time afraid to turn him down; the power dynamics were tricky," she said. Sikhakhane responded to Mengo, saying, "If you ask for money as you did, I put it to you that power can shift from the judge in his position of power to you, who has something compromising against him."

BODY SHAMING THE JUDGE

Sikhakhane disputed that Judge President Mbenenge sent an image of his private part to Mengo, as she testified in her evidence last week. The picture in question was sent in June 2021 and it was later deleted. She told the tribunal that the picture showed Mbenenge's private part with the same hair colour as his hair on the head. "Ms. Mengo, the picture you allege to be my client's private part has ruined his reputation. You used the same alleged picture to body shame my client. Experts did not find the alleged images of private parts on both your phones. " Sikhakhane argued that the images were sent to Mengo by someone else, not Mbenenge. The tribunal continues.