Mbenenge tribunal: Use of emojis and their meaning take centre stage
Advocate Salome Scheepers began with her cross-examination of information communications technology (ICT) expert, Dr Vincent Mello, before the fact-finding body in Sandton, Johannesburg.
Mello is the second witness to be called in defence of the senior judge in the misconduct probe against him after Mengo accused him of making unwanted sexual advances towards her between 2021 and 2022, mostly on the social media platform WhatsApp.
However, Mbenenge said he understood Mengo's usage of the emoji with the monkey covering its eyes to be flirtatious.
But Scheepers said the meaning attached to it in the Unicode data laboratory and Emojipedia is different.
'Ms Mengo informed me that she was going to be in East London and I asked her if we could be intimate. Her response was to quote a biblical verse, but at the same time attached two emojis depicting a monkey closing its eyes with its hands, which I understood to be flirtatious.'
'Nowhere in Unicode or in Emojipedia, the meaning flirtatious is attached to this emoji. Is that correct?'
Replied Mello: 'Yes.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The South African
2 hours ago
- The South African
Rassie Erasmus responds to accusations of 'cheating'
In a scathing column written by former British & Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland in The Telegraph this week, he openly – although without any real evidence – accuses Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks of spying on the Lions back in 2021. The Springboks secured a hard-fought 2-1 series win during that tour which was filled with controversies and challenges, and Gatland has now thrown another bombshell into the mix. Gatland suggested Erasmus was spotted with details of the team's tactics, and that he was told the Lions were being filmed from a house overlooking our training pitch. 'Our suspicions grew in the first Test, when Lukhanyo Am hit Elliot Daly with a massive man-and-ball tackle, reading a move that we had not used before during the tour matches,' Gatland wrote. 'Because there were no supporters in the stadium, we could hear what was being said in the Springboks' coaches box. We could hear the messages being relayed to their physio on the pitch about the moves that they thought we were doing. 'Rassie was also on the pitch acting as a 'water boy,' carrying a piece of paper. One of the photographers got a picture of him holding the page standing beside Faf de Klerk, their scrumhalf, and after the game, we enlarged the photo which showed that there were some of our moves and calls on it.' Taking to social media, Erasmus laughed off that example of the tackle by highlighting how it was a simple move with one skip pass that Am would have had no trouble reading without any inside knowledge. Rassie Erasmus also made two more sarcastic posts, jokingly suggesting that they could have also been subjected to 'spying' when they had to be evacuated from their hotel prior to a Test match in Wales due to a fire alarm. The former Lions coach went on to suggest that the famed touring team had been filmed and photographed from a covert location. 'The first Test experience seemed to confirm our fears. We just didn't know how they could have so much information on us. We started training indoors in a gym to negate the suspicion we had of being watched. But we still felt we were being filmed. 'Our concern was that they were using a long-range lens to video us from somewhere nearby. 'Later on, well after the tour had finished, I talked to someone who is well-connected in South Africa, who told me that a house that overlooked our training pitch had been rented for the duration of the series and that a long-lens camera had been placed in the top corner of the house to record us. 'It was so frustrating because you go on tour with plans to use different moves and options, but if the opposition knows what they are, they can plan to defend them. I am not sure in other sports like football it would have the same impact. I think there is a lot of it going on in the game at the minute.' Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The South African
19 hours ago
- The South African
Ethekwini municipal official shot dead returning home in KZN
Gunmen fatally shot a 51-year-old Ethekwini municipal official on Thursday evening, 3 July 2025, while he was driving home to Mhlasini, KwaZulu-Natal. Gunmen ambushed the victim, a Deputy Superintendent in the Department of Roads and Stormwater, in Redcliffe. The Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) Operations Centre received multiple calls for assistance at approximately 18:51, reporting a shooting at the intersection of Hazelmere Drive and Quarry Road. RUSA officers and paramedics rushed to the scene and found the man slumped in his blue Hyundai i10. He had been shot several times and died before first responders arrived. The gunmen shot the victim's 32-year-old girlfriend in the buttocks and grazed his work colleague on the back while they were in the car. The three were on their way home when three men standing by the roadside suddenly opened fire. The passengers fled the vehicle as the attackers approached and kept shooting at the driver. The gunmen fled on foot in an unknown direction. Police recovered 13 spent 9mm cartridges from the scene. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
Eyewitness News
20 hours ago
- Eyewitness News
Mbenenge tribunal: Use of emojis and their meaning take centre stage
JOHANNESBURG - Evidence leader in the judicial conduct tribunal investigating allegations of sexual harassment against Eastern Cape Judge President, Selby Mbenenge, has asserted that it's incorrect to suggest that the top judge and high court secretary, Andiswa Mengo, always used emojis with the intention to convey the standardised meaning attached to them. Advocate Salome Scheepers began with her cross-examination of information communications technology (ICT) expert, Dr Vincent Mello, before the fact-finding body in Sandton, Johannesburg. Mello is the second witness to be called in defence of the senior judge in the misconduct probe against him after Mengo accused him of making unwanted sexual advances towards her between 2021 and 2022, mostly on the social media platform WhatsApp. However, Mbenenge said he understood Mengo's usage of the emoji with the monkey covering its eyes to be flirtatious. But Scheepers said the meaning attached to it in the Unicode data laboratory and Emojipedia is different. 'Ms Mengo informed me that she was going to be in East London and I asked her if we could be intimate. Her response was to quote a biblical verse, but at the same time attached two emojis depicting a monkey closing its eyes with its hands, which I understood to be flirtatious.' 'Nowhere in Unicode or in Emojipedia, the meaning flirtatious is attached to this emoji. Is that correct?' Replied Mello: 'Yes.'
