News24 | PODCAST | The Lead: Consensual sexts or unwanted advances? Mbenenge under fire, with Karyn Maughan

From sexually-charged WhatsApp texts filled with questionable emojis, to more serious claims of unwanted sexual advances at work. A tribunal in Sandton has been tasked with addressing a complaint levelled by a court secretary against a very senior judge president in the Eastern Cape.

Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge remained under cross-examination this Wednesday over allegations that he sexually harassed a former court secretary, Andiswa Mengo.

The now 41-year-old’s 2022-based complaint led to a tribunal brought by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), and if Mbenenge is found guilty of sexual harassment, he could be impeached.

Mengo alleges that Mbenenge sent her unwanted pornographic material and an image of a man’s private parts.

But now, 64-year-old Judge President Mbenenge denies this, insisting that their salacious “flirting”, now fully exposed to the public, was always consensual.

News24’s specialist legal journalist, Karyn Maughan, has been closely following proceedings at the Sandton-based JSC tribunal for us, listening in on the judge president’s cross-examination this week. She tells The Lead she doesn’t think the judge president will face the chop.

All while Mengo faced two death threats.

Later in the show, Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala was caught with a cellphone in his prison cell.

Finally, toy company Mattel reveals its new Barbie with type one diabetes.

You can send show host Graeme Raubenheimer a short voice note with your questions or thoughts on this episode to our official The Lead WhatsApp line, that’s: +27 72 562 3179. Mail your comments to thelead@24.com. Editions drop on Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

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