Black men accused of rape may not get fair trial from Judge Jansen - submission to JSC

11 May 2016

Cape Town – Any black man accused of rape could face prejudice from Pretoria High Court Judge Mabel Jansen, an advocate has submitted in a complaint to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

Advocate Vuyani Ngalwana SC on Monday laid a complaint against Jansen in his personal capacity, and in his capacity as Johannesburg branch chairperson of Advocates for Transformation.

"The learned judge has by these racially prejudicial utterances shown herself to be manifestly prejudiced against black people in general and black men facing rape or sexual assault charges in particular," he said in the complaint, of which News24 had a copy.

The complaint followed an uproar after Jansen made comments about the prevalence of rape in "black culture".

The controversy started after journalist Gillian Schutte posted excerpts of written exchanges with the judge a year ago.

Jansen, referring to cases she had presided over, said: "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 also said: "I still have to meet a black girl who was not raped at about 12. I am dead serious."

Ngalwana questioned in what context Jansen felt it permissible to make "prima facie racist and sexist remarks about black people", "racially profiling all black women as brain washed", while "black men are reprobate murderers with sexual appetites that know no age boundaries". Should the JSC find this context wanting, he said a process to remove her from office in terms of the Constitution was unavoidable.

He submitted that her remarks were racially offensive, prejudicial, constituted gross misconduct, and were in breach of the code of judicial conduct and the oath of judicial officers."By these utterances, the learned judge has unjustifiably violated the human dignity of all black South Africans."

This article first appeared on News24, see here.