A former secretary of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Kutlwano Moretlwa, has suggested that high court secretary, Andiswa Mengo, was dishonest when she submitted her testimony before the Judicial Conduct Tribunal (JCT) in January this year.
Moretlwa hinted that Mengo was in possession of the initial complaint she drafted against Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge when she laid the official grievance against the judge in 2022.
But Mengo told the tribunal the opposite earlier this year and said she could not explain why the two copies were identical in nature.
Andiswa Mengo
The tribunal is investigating allegations of sexual harassment against the Eastern Cape’s top judge after the junior staffer accused him of making unwanted sexual advances towards her between 2021 and 2022.
The Judicial Conduct Tribunal in January this year heard that Mengo was forced to depose an affidavit in 2023 when the initial complaint she laid in December the previous year was allegedly misplaced.
But legal counsel for Mbenenge said it was not plausible that Mengo would provide identical documents without having sight of her initial complaint.
Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane probed Moretlwa on why this was the case.
“The second complaint, in certain parts, which is consistent with your version, is the same as the initial one, including mistakes, including spaces between where the word ends and where the fullstop is, identical, absolutely identical throughout except new things. Do you have any comments about what would cause that identical nature of the two?”
Moretlwa responded: “It can only be identical if you had a copy of the first one.”
Moretlwa is the official who facilitated the laying of the complaint and provided assistance to Mengo from 2022.
Her version of what transpired is in conflict, in some parts, with that provided by the complainant.
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