WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT - the following story contains graphic content that may be upsetting to readers
An expert witness appearing before the Judicial Conduct Tribunal has identified two emojis used in the electronic communication between Judges Secretary Andiswa Mengo and Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge, that carried a sexual connotation as understood by Mengo, beyond the ascribed official meaning.
This comes as the Tribunal saw Mbenenge call his second witness, ICT Expert Dr. Vincent Mello, to the stand. Dr. Mello is expected to assess the use of emojis and the disputed images in the electronic communication placed before the landmark probe.
The landmark sexual harassment probe against Mbenenge has heard that over 90 of the emojis used by Mbenenge and Mengo were consistent with the Unicode except for two: the eggplant and peach emojis.
When probed further on their meaning by Tribunal member, Advocate Gift Mashaba SC, Dr. Vincent Mello said the following: