Jean-Jacques Cornish

Storm over high court judge’s racist remarks on social media

The opposition Democratic Alliance has referred to South Africa’s judicial services commission racist remarks allegedly made by a judge over social media.

The High Court judge, who is a white woman, says in a Facebook  exchange with a friend that rape is apart of black culture.

Judge Mabel Jansen says  in her message that black men believe a woman is there to pleasure them.

She adds that this is is seen as an absolute right and a woman’s consent is not required.

Jansen holds that she  still has to meet a black girl who was not raped at about 12 years old

Concluding that murder is also is not a big deal, she says   gang rapes of baby, daughter and mother are  a pleasurable pastime.

The Democratic Alliance  has reported the messages

to the country’s Judicial Services Commission to be investigated.

The party says the judge’s  comments are hurtful and demeaning and undermine the dignity of South Africa’s people.

The women’s league of the ruling African National Congress says the judge’s  racist comments misrepresent facts about black culture.

Jansen says her postings, made  confidentially to somebody in a position to help,  have been have been taken completely out of context .

She says the real issue… is the protection of vulnerable women and children.

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Jean-Jacques Cornish is a journalist and broadcaster who has been involved in the media all his adult life.

Starting as a reporter on his hometown newspaper, he moved briefly to then Rhodesia before returning to South Africa to become a parliamentary correspondent with the South African Press Association. He was sent to London as Sapa’s London editor and also served as special correspondent to the United Nations. He joined the then Argus group in London as political correspondent.

Returning to South Africa after 12 years abroad, he was assistant editor on the Pretoria News for a decade before becoming editor of the Star and SA Times for five years.

Since 1999 he’s been an independent journalist writing and broadcasting – mainly about Africa – for Talk Radio 702 and 567 Cape
Talk, Radio France International, PressTV, Radio Live New Zealand, Business Day, Mail & Guardian, the BBC, Agence France Press,
Business in Africa, Leadership, India Today, the South African Institute for International Affairs and the Institute for Security Studies.

He has hosted current affairs talk shows on Talk Radio 702 and 567 Cape Talk. He appears as an African affairs pundit on SABC Africa and CNBC Africa.
He lectured in contemporary studies to journalism students at the Tshwane University of Technology and the University of Pretoria.

He speaks on African affairs to corporate and other audiences.
He has been officially invited as a journalist to more than 30 countries. He was the winner of the 2007 SADC award for radio journalism.

He’s been a member of the EISA team observing elections in Somaliland, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Tunsiai.

In October 2009 he headed a group of 39 African journalists to the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Peoples’ Republic of China.

In January 2010 he joined a rescue and paramedical team to earthquake struck Haiti.

He is immediate past president of the Alliance Francaise of Pretoria.

Jean-Jacques is a director of Giant Media. The company was given access to Nelson Mandela in his retirement years until 2009.
He is co-producer of the hour-long documentary Mandela at 90 that was broadcast on BBC in January 2009.