Association calls on judge to resign from post after Facebook comments

THE BLACK Lawyers Association (BLA) has demanded that Judge Mabel Jansen, who came under fire for alleged racist remarks made on Facebook last year which only came to light over the weekend, resign from her position as a High Court judge.

The BLA handed over a petition listing three demands at the North Gauteng High Court, among them a call for Jansen’s resignation with immediate effect, and an impeachment in terms of section 20 of the Judicial Service Commission.

In light of Jansen’s comments in a Facebook conversation with her friend in which she linked the prevalence of rape to black culture, the BLA also demanded a review of all criminal cases, especially rape and murder cases, involving black people over which she presided.

“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,” Jansen wrote to a Facebook friend, filmmaker Gillian Schutte.

Screenshots of the messages were circulated over the weekend by Schutte. According to the BLA, Judge Jansen broke the oath of her office that she will “uphold and protect the constitution and the human rights entrenched in it”.

The BLA disapproved of her actions and said her conduct was a capital offence for a judicial officer, which amounted to gross misconduct. “Judges are not a law unto themselves. Judges account to the people of South Africa through the constitution. There are codes and laws which govern how they should conduct themselves. We expect Jansen to be conscious to this moral expectation,” the BLA said.

The memorandum further stated that to generalise and conclude all black men were rapists was a racist remark outlawed by the constitution. – Leletu Gxuluwe and Songezo Ndlendle