Latest news with #EasternCapeDivision
Daily Maverick
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Makhanda High Court orders immediate halt to illegal Wild Coast building
The court order follows an April 2023 knobkerrie assault on activist and Goldman Prize winner Nonhle Mbuthuma and fellow women residents while attempting to halt building work inside the protected coastal zone. Two years after a group of women were allegedly assaulted on a Wild Coast beach, the high court has granted an interdict which bars the construction of any further illegal structures along this protected environmental landscape. In a ruling earlier this month, the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court in Makhanda ordered that local resident Nero Dlamini (or his agents or contractors) be restrained and interdicted from constructing any new buildings within 1km of the sea near Sigidi village. The order, granted on 8 May 2025 by Acting Judge V Sangoni, follows a heated confrontation about the erection of illegal structures close to the beach almost two years ago. Local activist Nonhle Mbuthuma (joint winner of the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize) and fellow women residents were allegedly beaten with knobkerries while attempting to halt building work on a new structure inside the protected coastal zone in April 2023. Mbuthuma has played a central role in opposing plans for dune mining and a new toll road along this northern section of the Wild Coast. Shortly after the confrontation, Mbuthuma secured a Rule Nisi (interim interdict) from the high court to prevent further building close to the beach at Sigidi that was in conflict with Transkei Environmental Conservation Decree 9 (which prohibits construction of any buildings without a special permit). In the most recent ruling, the court also ordered Dlamini to rehabilitate any cleared land. The Sheriff of the Court was also directed to dismantle any illegal structures, with the assistance of the SA Police Service if required. Though the application was opposed, Dlamini and his legal representatives did not appear at the latest hearing. DM
Daily Maverick
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Judicial Conduct Tribunal highlights contested gendered and cultural understandings of emojis
Complicating matters at the hearing are completely divergent understandings of a range of emojis, from eggplants to peaches, from a dripping syringe to 'pervy' eyes, that shot between the Judge President and the legal secretary. Much is invested in the process and outcome of the Judicial Conduct Tribunal of Judge President of the Eastern Cape, Selby Mbenenge. This week, postponing the tribunal until 30 June, the chair, retired judge Bernard Ngoepe, repeated evidence leader advocate Salomé Scheepers' statement at the start of proceedings in February that the matter was 'unprecedented in the history of South Africa'. The complainant, 40-year-old legal secretary Andiswa Mengo, has accused the head of the Eastern Cape Division, Judge President Selby Mbenenge, 63, of sexually harassing her in a series of WhatsApps in 2021. At her side is formidable advocate Nasreen Rajab-Budlender, while Mbenenge has advocates Muzi Sikhakhane and Griffiths Madonsela in his corner. Both men, too, are formidable, but in quite a different fashion. Complicating matters are completely divergent views on gendered, linguistic and cultural understandings of a range of emojis, from eggplants to peaches, from a dripping syringe to 'pervy' eyes, that shot between the Judge President and the legal secretary. Power dynamics Most professional workplaces in South Africa have protocols and principles governing the role of leadership in hierarchical structures. This is something Rajab-Budlender has pointed out from the start. Yet this obvious power imbalance appears not to have moved Mbenenge's legal representatives, who have argued that Mengo had agency. They objected to proposed evidence to be presented by gender expert Dr Lisa Vetten, questioning its relevance. On Tuesday, Ngoepe ruled that Vetten would be allowed to testify and that he would 'rather err on the side of caution'. The tribunal could decide afterwards whether it was indeed relevant, he said. Language in pictures Last week, forensic linguist Dr Zakeera Docrat gave expert testimony with regard on the contexts of the WhatsApps between the Judge President and Mengo and the meaning of emojis. The YouTube transmissions of the tribunal have been marked 'GRAPHIC CONTENT' as a pre-warning to those watching the live proceedings online. Docrat had testified that Mbenenge's use of a banana, peach, eggplant and dripping syringe emojis had 'sexual connotations' and indicated that he wanted to be intimate with her. 'This was not a discussion about vegetables.' Docrat, who speaks, reads and understands isiXhosa, testified that Mbenenge's advances were unwanted and Mengo's responses – often featuring 'hysterical laughing' and 'embarrassed monkey' emojis – were because she did not know how else to react to his advances as he was her boss. Mbenenge, through his counsel, has admitted sending some of the messages and claims the relationship had been consensual. However, he has denied sending her a picture of his penis or asking her for oral sex in his chambers. The outcome of this tribunal will send a message to women and men about working rights in professional circumstances. In a country plagued by misogyny and patriarchal proprietary inclinations, the ruling must protect those with less agency. DM
IOL News
05-05-2025
- IOL News
Mengo vs Mbenenge: Landmark sexual harassment case in South Africa's judiciary resumes
Digital forensic investigator and data analyst, Francois Möller, gave evidence at the Judicial Conduct Tribunal Hearing on sexual harassments complaints against Judge President Selby Mbenenge. Image: Supplied / Judicial Conduct Tribunal Proceedings in the Judicial Conduct Tribunal on the complaint lodged by Andiswa Mengo against Judge President Selby Mbenenge resumed on Monday. JP Mbenenge presides at the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court and was accused by Mengo - a judge's clerk - of sexual harassment, in which she alleges several disturbing communications from Mbenenge. The first witness called on Monday, Francois Möller, gave evidence at the Tribunal hearing, and it related to forensic data retrieved from two cellphone devices - a Samsung S20 and a Samsung A12 - each belonging to JP Mbenenge and Mengo, respectively. Möller is a digital forensic investigator and data analyst. His qualifications were not disputed by Mengo's counsel and panellists. Möller confirmed that he did a logical extraction of information from both devices, which included calls, contact information, media files, messages, and locations. He said that in the logical extraction of information from Mbenenge's device, they were able to retrieve 95 deleted messages, but he confirmed that these messages did not relate to this matter. On Mengo's device, Möller confirmed that they retrieved 275 deleted entries. According to Möller, after a specific data download was conducted on both devices, 855 chat messages were retrieved and specifying that these messages were exchanged between Mbenenge and Mengo. Andiswa Mengo during the tribunal against Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge. Image: Office of the Chief Justice / N Mabusela Möller confirmed that his forensic report resulted in a 433-page report which was extracted from the specific download. Evidence leader in the tribunal, Advocate Salome Scheepers, pointed Möller to several screenshots of pictures and conversations sent between the devices of Mengo and Mbenenge. Further, in relation to two WhatsApp stickers sent to Mengo, which Mengo claimed were sent to her by Mbenenge, Möller said due to the stickers being deleted by Mbenenge before Mengo could make a screenshot of the conversation, it could not be ascertained from which sender the stickers were received, although the stickers were saved in the WhatsApp sticker gallery. Counsel for Mbenenge, Griffits Madonsela SC, probed Möller about the private part picture that Mengo said she had received from the Judge President. Möller confirmed that the graphic picture had a timestamp of 09.05; however, 'there were not enough features' on the picture to conclude whether the picture was a screenshot or a WhatsApp message she received. This was because a search for messages between the devices showed no results. According to Möller, the information could not be retrieved through a forensic extraction from Mengo's device and could not be correlated with Mbenenge's device, as he could only perform a logical extraction from Mbenenge's device. The software used for extraction did not support a forensic extraction on Mbenenge's device, which limited their correlation efforts for WhatsApp conversations between the two devices. Mengo's counsel had no questions for Möller on Monday. Judge President Selby Mbenenge presides at the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court and was accused by Andiswa Mengo of sexual harassment. Image: Supplied / Judicial Conduct Tribunal Judges Matter said systems designed to address misconduct in the judiciary are not working effectively and said sexual harassment complaints need to be dealt with swiftly and sensitively, with a victim-centred approach. 'More often than not, perpetrators of sexual harassment are persons in positions of power. The complaint against Judge President Mbenenge is a classic example of this fact. The testimony given by Mengo was to the effect that she feared that if she spoke out against Judge President Mbenenge, she would lose her job. 'The power imbalances pose many difficulties for those faced with sexual harassment in the workplace... This will mark the first time in South Africa's history that not only a judge but also a Judge President will testify regarding allegations of sexual harassment made against him. It will be interesting to hear the Judge President's version of events, considering the extensive detail Mengo's testimony provided. "The allegations of sexual harassment against Mbenenge surfaced in January 2023. It is now almost mid-2025, and the complaint brought by Mengo is yet to be finalised. It is taking the judiciary almost three years to deal with a sexual harassment complaint. The fact that it is the first time a Judicial Conduct Tribunal is convened in relation to a sexual harassment complaint does not warrant such a lengthy delay in bringing the complaint to finality,' Judges Matter wrote. Representing Mengo, Women's Legal Centre, said the Tribunal 'is exposing the scale of sexual harassment in our legal system, the silence it's built on, and the power that protects perpetrators'. The Tribunal is expected to run until May 16. [email protected]
