Mbenenge has been on special leave since 2023. The Judicial Service Commission recently found him guilty of gross misconduct over sexual harassment.

Disgraced Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge, who has been on "special leave" since 2023 after allegations that he sexually harassed a junior secretary at the court, is to be placed on formal suspension.

His "special leave" status, repeatedly confirmed by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), differed from the usual rules, where judges facing gross misconduct charges are immediately suspended pending the ruling of a Judicial Conduct Tribunal.

The JSC did not immediately suspend Mbenenge because he was already on special leave. However, at its meeting in June, it resolved to recommend to President Cyril Ramaphosa that Mbenenge be suspended now that he had been found guilty of gross misconduct and impeachment proceedings had been initiated.

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In January, after hearing evidence that included salacious messages and sexual emojis between Mbenenge and secretary Andiswa Mengo, the tribunal ruled that he was only guilty of a "degree of misconduct".

But in April, the JSC refused to rubber-stamp the tribunal's finding and recommended that he be impeached.

The JSC said the tribunal had not properly understood the power balance between the judge president and a secretary, and that sexual harassment was an "affront to the propriety of judicial office and the values underpinning...