JOHANNESBURG – A Gauteng High Court Judge is under fire for suggesting that rape is part of the culture of black men.
Judge Mabel Jansen made the comments in a private conversation with a social justice activist on Facebook.The comments were then made public, sparking widespread criticism, and a campaign, calling for her resignation.
In them, Jansen claims she’s yet to meet a black girl who wasn’t raped by the age of 12.
She also says murder, the gang rape of babies, daughters and mothers are a pleasurable past time among black communities.
This has led to growing calls on social media, for Jansen to be removed from the bench.
She’s taken to Twitter to defend her Facebook post, saying that her confidential comments have been taken out of context.
What I stated confidentially to somebody in a position to help has been taken completely out of context and referred to specific court cases
— Mabel Jansen (@mabel_jansen) May 8, 2016
Among the cases she’s presiding over is Julius Malema’s tax case.
The Democratic Alliance, meanwhile, has said it will refer the matter to Judicial Services Commission’s (JSC) Judicial Conduct Committee for review. The ANC Women’s League has also lent its voice to the condemnation, with a media release expressing disappointment in Jansen’s apparent views of “defining rape as a black culture.”
It says her comments “are not in anyway assisting in fighting the scourge of sexual abuse in the country.”
– eNCA
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