The Legal Practice Council (LPC) has been ordered to admit an attorney after initially seeking to block her admission due to a plagiarism case during her university studies and her dismissal from a previous job for falling asleep during a night shift.

IoL reports that the council barred Malesela Sharlotte Sebatsana from being admitted after disclosing that during her fourth year, while studying her law degree at the North West University, she was charged with plagiarism in one of the assignments.

She also revealed that in 2016, while working for the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) as a medical technologist, she faced disciplinary charges because she fell asleep during night shift. 

She was subsequently dismissed in 2016.

In her application, at the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), Sebatsana said she committed plagiarism when she was working on a group assignment in 2019. She pleaded guilty and took full accountability and as punishment, she had to forfeit the module involved. She had to register for one module the following semester in order to meet the LLB requirements.

She said that while working for the NHLS, she was also in law school, six months pregnant, and working night shifts, which contributed to her falling asleep on the job.

In response to these disclosures, the Provisional Affairs Committee (PAC) of the LPC, required Sebatsana to appear before the council to determine whether she is a fit and proper to be admitted as an attorney.

Sebatsana complied with these requests and in April 2023, she provided detailed documents relating to her disciplinary hearing at the NHLS as well as a 12 April 2023 letter from the university which confirmed her conviction.

The university confirmed that she has never committed further misconduct and she was fully rehabilitated and confirmed that she is indeed a fit and proper person for purposes of her admission application.

Having considered Sebatsana’s submissions the PAC recommended to the LPC that she be regarded as fit and proper to be admitted as a legal practitioner.

However, IoL notes that the LPC raised concerns that Sebatsana’s misconduct involved dishonesty and she showed lack of remorse for her actions with her previous employer because she even took the case to the CCMA.

Acting Judge JP Voster and Judge Elmarie van Der Schyff who presided over the matter said the LPC is a guardian of morals towards legal professionals, however, they have been unfair towards Sebatsana.

‘In our opinion, the decision by the applicant (Sebatsana) to proceed with this application despite the views expressed by the LPC cannot, in all the circumstances, be faulted...In view of the foregoing we are satisfied that the applicant is a fit and proper person to be admitted as a legal practitioner,’ read the judgment.

Full IoL report