Peet Viljoen, of Tammy Taylor fame, returned to the spotlight when he moved to Miami and launched a website with a SA address, offering his services as a lawyer despite being disbarred.

In the wake of the Legal Practice Council (LPC) confirming that he may not practise law, his website content was changed to label him as a ‘labour broker’ instead.

His wife, Melany, admitted to The Citizen that she made the changes. In ongoing correspondence with The Citizen, the Viljoen couple maintain that Peet’s 2011 disbarment was the result of his arrest in a criminal case that prevented him from attending court proceedings to defend himself, while continuously calling the LPC ‘useless’ and ‘corrupt’.

Kabelo Letebele, senior manager for communication and engagements at the LPC, confirmed that Peet was disbarred in 2011 and that he is not a legal practitioner in SA.

In 2011, the Law Society of the Northern Provinces (LSNP) asked the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) to disbar Viljoen after finding him guilty of ‘unprofessional, dishonourable and inappropriate behaviour’, concluding that he was ‘not a fit and proper person’ to practise law.

According to court records on the SA Legal Information Institute (SAFLII) website, Viljoen was one of seven accused facing 399 charges, including fraud, forgery, uttering and corruption.

In an email to The Citizen, Mel Viljoen stated that ‘five judges of the appellate court unanimously ruled that the Law Society acted in malicious litigation when they attempted to creatively bar Peet’.

However, the judgment preceded his disbarment.

Full report in The Citizen