‘No means no' is Eurocentric, South African lawyers say in harassment case
They also accused the expert of an 'imposition of whiteness' in her assessment of the case brought against Selby Mbenenge, judge president of the Eastern Cape, by a secretary in his court, Andiswa Mengo.
If found guilty, by the Judicial Conduct Tribunal in Johannesburg, Mbenenge, 64, faces impeachment.
Mengo, 41, has said that the judge repeatedly asked her to send him nude photographs, and sent her explicit ones of himself.
WhatsApp messages presented to the tribunal have shown that Mengo said 'no' repeatedly and never sent the judge any images, even using a Bible verse to refuse him.
'I don't know how much clearer you can be than when you say no to somebody and that you said a couple of times 'no, no, that's not possible, it's not going to happen',' said Lisa Vetten, one of South Africa's foremost academics on gender-based violence.
Lisa Vetten giving evidence to the tribunal
THE SOUTH AFRICAN JUDICIARY
However, lawyers for the judge questioned Vetten's testimony, saying that because she does not speak the language that Mbenenge and his secretary used on WhatsApp, isiXhosa, elements have been lost in translation.
'In the context of South Africa, an analysis of language is also riddled with an imposition of whiteness and English in interpreting vernacular,' Muzi Sikhakhane, advocate for the defence, said. 'You may actually miss the messaging in the conversation.'
Vetten replied that she had been given all the messages in translation by the tribunal and she did not believe Mengo had been a 'willing participant' in the exchanges. Although Mengo had at times replied, only saying that she was busy with work or cooking, Vetten said this was a way of fobbing off her boss without being rude.
The gender violence expert explained that because of the unequal power dynamic, within which Mbenenge was Mengo's superior, she was 'unable to be as open and direct' as she would have liked.
The defence argued that Vetten's evidence failed to take into account 'prevailing cultural practices', noting several isiXhosa words that stress 'persistence' and 'pleading' as an important part of courtship.
The tribunal was told that the judge had asked Mengo 14 times what her favourite sexual position was.
A forensic linguist has previously testified about the meaning of the salacious emojis the judge sent Mengo, explaining that his use of the peach, aubergine and dripping syringe emojis had 'sexual connotations'.
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