The Legal Practice Council has succeeded in its application to have attorney Zoleka Ponoane struck off the roll of attorneys after it was discovered that she had convinced a magistrate to let her write a ruling in a damages case where she was representing the plaintiffs.

The Daily Maverick reports that the case has been making its way through Eastern Cape courts for a decade, and every judge dealing with it has expressed outrage at the debacle.

In 2012, Ponoane represented several men claiming damages against the SAPS for allegedly being assaulted and unlawfully arrested.

The facts in this case are that an elderly woman was raped and murdered in her shack in Sterkspruit.  A group of residents in the area then attacked and burnt down the home of a suspect.

Police then arrested six suspects who had allegedly been involved in the arson and mob justice.

Each of the detainees later initiated a claim for damages against the Minister of Police.

After the witnesses were led, the magistrate reserved judgment.

In November 2012 Magistrate Linda Blessing Vowana prepared a four-page unsigned draft judgment and sent it to Ponoane who then called Vowana to discuss the matter with him. Vowana has since died.

The legal team for the police argued that during their conversation, an agreement was reached that Ponoane would rewrite the draft judgment. It was neither sent to the Minister’s attorney, nor was he informed of Ponoane’s involvement in rewriting the draft ruling.

DM notes that the reasons for this conduct have not been stated in court.

On 30 November 2012, Ponoane then faxed the rewritten judgment to Vowana. The judgment was 10 pages in length with significant amendments and additions.

In a statement made later to the police, the magistrate stated that he considered the 10-page judgment the ‘final, official judgment’.

The signed draft judgment never found its way to the court file. Vowana said he destroyed his manuscript after it was typed.

He did not even inform the police’s attorney that he had asked Ponoane to ‘rewrite’ his judgment.

‘With these scandalous anomalies not having been explained we are unable to accept the innocence with which this behaviour sought to be deceptively imbued,’ Judge Mbulelo Jolwana remarked when the court was asked to review the judgment Ponoane wrote.

They ruled that it must be set aside.

Judge Avinash Govindjee said Ponoane awarded damages of up to R80 000 and interest to each of the men who sued the police.

This was the full amount claimed by them despite Vowana having dismissed their assault claim. However, in the judgment she wrote, Ponoane added a detailed cost order even though the magistrate had made no cost order.

‘Deeper scrutiny of her document reveals that the amount awarded to one of the plaintiffs was R60 000 in circumstances where his claim, as amended, was for R50 000. In addition, Ponoane had no compunction in stipulating the full figures (or, in one case, more than the figure) that had been claimed, despite the assault claim having been dismissed.

DM notes that Ponoane has apologised for her conduct, but Govindjee said he thought it was done in an attempt to avoid being struck from the roll.

Full Daily Maverick report