Johannesburg - The outrage over high court Judge Mabel Jansen's racist remarks escalated into a legal and political firestorm on Monday, with calls for her to be impeached and for a review of the rape cases involving black people she has presided over.
In the Facebook post of a conversation she shared that surfaced on Sunday, Judge Jansen suggested that rape was an ingrained part of black culture.
Leading the charge against her was the Black Lawyers Association (BLA), which called for Judge Jansen to be impeached.
“The BLA noted with disgust and disbelief the media reports over the weekend attributing repulsive racist utterances to Judge Mabel Jansen,” said Lutendo Benedict Sigogo, the president of the association.
The BLA called on Judge Jansen to resign from her position with immediate effect.
“In the event that she does not resign, BLA will take the matter up with the judicial conduct committee of the JSC (Judicial Service Commission) in order to put in process her impeachment proceedings.”
The BLA also called on the Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Dunstan Mlambo, to review all the criminal cases (rape and murder) that Judge Jansen had presided over in which black people were accused or were victims, and urged that she be placed on administrative leave with immediate effect.
Judge Mlambo was, however, unable to comment.
His secretary said Judge Mlambo looked for Judge Jansen when he arrived at work but she was absent. Sources said Judge Jansen’s husband had died over the weekend.
Judge Mlambo was also unable to comment as he was preparing for a trip to Israel and would be back in the office only next week.
Gillian Schutte, an author, journalist and documentary film-maker, revealed a conversation she had with Judge Jansen which immediately made waves.
Schutte said she had decided to reveal what Judge Jansen had said since she holds such a high position and holds people's futures in her hands.
Also read: ‘Why I made #MabelJansen comments public’
People on Twitter were also quick to call for case reviews.
In the conversation with Schutte, Judge Jansen allegedly said it was in black men’s culture to rape women, and that black men saw raping women and babies as a pastime. “In their culture a woman is there to pleasure them. Period. It is seen as an absolute right, and a woman’s consent is not required,” she told Schutte.
“Murder is also not a biggy and gang rapes of baby daughter and mother a pleasurable pass time (sic). They are simply now in a position to branch out and include white woman (sic),” she wrote.
According to media reports, Judge Jansen said her words had been taken out of context.
Meanwhile, a petition that was launched demanding Judge Jansen’s resignation from her position had garnered 3 121 signatures at the time of publication.
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation also condemned Judge Jansen’s remarks and said it had written to the South African Human Rights Commission, calling on it to investigate the cases.
“We are also calling on the Judicial Service Commission to investigate Mabel Jansen’s comments and assess whether she is fit to hold judicial office,” said the foundation’s director Neeshan Balton.
Judge Jansen is presiding over Julius Malema’s SA Revenue Service tax case.
EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said a statement would be released on Tuesday.
The DA said it would refer Judge Jansen to the JSC’s judicial conduct committee. That, said the DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach, would determine whether an investigation was in order into Judge Jansen’s alleged racism on Facebook.
“Given the gravity of this complaint, it is important that this committee is apprised of all the facts in this regard and satisfies itself that Judge Jansen indeed acted in contravention of her judicial oath,” said Breytenbach, adding that the party had requested the SAHRC to investigate.
The ANC Women’s League, ANC Youth League, IFP and Cosatu expressed outrage over the judge's remarks.
But Judicial Service Commission (JSC) secretary Sello Chiloane pointed out that the only way interested parties could file complaints against a judge was through an affidavit or an affirmed statement.
Once either of these two documents had been submitted to it, the matter would be tabled for scrutiny before the Judicial Conduct Committee.
“If the committee is of the view that the allegations warrant impeachment, they will request the chief justice to appoint a judicial conduct tribunal.
“That tribunal will investigate and report on the findings,” Chiloane said.
However, if the submissions do not warrant impeachment, the judge could then be issued with “some kind of sanction like an apology, a reprimand, a written warning or to attend some kind of training, depending on what the findings are”.
Chiloane’s assertions were echoed by Wits law professor Cathi Albertyn, who said: “If there were to be actions taken, it would have to be through the JSC, and the commission would need to call an inquiry, go through an investigation and then make its determinations.”
Late on Monday, Chiloane said the JSC had not received any formal submissions.
The Star