Police mum on charges judge president laid against his accuser

Police stonewalled releasing details of Eastern Cape judge president Selby Mbenenge’s criminal charge against a Makhanda high court official who accused him of sexual harassment — until three officers walked into her office on Friday afternoon to seize her cellphone.

A colleague of the official called this reporter when three police officers from the national anti-corruption unit arrived with a warning statement and took custody of her phone.

The police visit was confirmed by acting judge president Zamani Nhlangula, who is standing in while Mbenenge is on special leave granted by chief justice Raymond Zondo.

SA Police Services national spokesperson Brig Athlende Mathe also confirmed the investigation by specially-deployed national officers from police headquarters in Pretoria.

Mbenenge lodged charges of crimen injuria and criminal defamation against the court official at the Cambridge police station in mid-december 2023, in relation to her complaint of sexual harassment against him a year earlier.

Until Friday, police were mum on the criminal case, with provincial spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu suggesting local officers transferred the case to Pretoria, without noting any details.

However, national commissioner for crime detection Ltgen Shadrack Sibiya issued a deployment instruction on December 28 for officers — including Brig SP Shabalala, head of the national anti-corruption investigation unit and part of the team that interviewed the court official — to investigate Mbenenge’s complaint against her.

“The investigation has been escalated to national level for further investigation,” Sibiya wrote in a document seen by the Dispatch.

The development came a day after the Judicial Service Commission declined to suspend Mbenenge until a judicial tribunal dealt with the complaint against him.

Zondo’s office did not respond to questions on whether Mbenenge’s action of laying a criminal charge against a complainant did not constitute intimidation, or if he might ask the JSC to reconsider its decision not to recommend Mbenenge’s suspension.

JSC spokesperson Mvuzo Notyesi denied knowledge of the criminal investigation against the court official.

However, national commissioner for crime detection Lt-gen Shadrack Sibiya issued a deployment instruction on December 28 for officers to investigate Mbenenge’s complaint against her