Cape Town – The office of the chief justice on Tuesday cautioned the media for “misleading” headlines concerning a speech by Mogoeng Mogoeng.

This follows the publication of an article by the Daily News, picked up by News24, stating that Mogoeng had “lashed out at his white brothers” in the legal fraternity.

In a statement to News24, Mogoeng’s spokesperson Lulama Luti wrote: “Please note that this headline is incorrect; totally misleading and it is without basis.”

Luti states that what the chief justice actually said was: “In case my white brothers in the audience were wondering whether I was racist or sexist; they should rest assured that I am not. If I were racist, then transformation would only benefit black women and if I were sexist, only women would be advantaged by transformation.”

Mogoeng was speaking at the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges’ conference on Women’s Day where some of the audience members were white males.

Luti said Mogoeng in fact felt “constrained to re-assure them that he was neither sexist nor racist”.

The chief justice did not at any point refer to impeachment proceedings in which he is involved, she said.

Luti said that Mogoeng rejected the generalisation because it could be misunderstood to suggest that a group of his “white brothers” or all his “white brothers” are behind the impeachment bid.

– News24