Forensic linguist testifies Mbenenge sent emojis with explicit innuendos to Mengo

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC DETAILS OF A SEXUAL NATURE

JOHANNESBURG - A witness has testified that Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge sent emojis with explicit innuendos to High Court secretary, Andiswa Mengo.

Forensic and legal linguist Dr Zakeera Docrat testified before the Judicial Conduct Tribunal, explaining the meanings of emojis exchanged in Mengo and Mbenenge’s conversations between 2021 and 2022.

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She was the second witness to testify before the tribunal as it probed sexual harassment allegations Mengo had laid against the province’s top judge.

In 2021, Mengo initiated a meeting with Mbenenge in East London.

Mbenenge eventually agreed to the appointment, saying they could meet without being intimate after Mengo rejected the request.

In the message, the judge president sent emojis depicting an eggplant and a peach. But what does this mean?

Docrat explained that these were not just fruits and vegetables.

"In this context and in this chain, intimate is used then followed by a specific sequence of the eggplant and the peach, which will mean sexual intercourse and that, chair, is based on my interpretation that the eggplant is the penis – in this context – and the peach is the vagina."

Mengo responded with a sticker that was not depicted in the screengrabs before the Judicial Conduct Tribunal.

However, Docrat’s evidence again corroborated the evidence delivered by Mengo in January.