Legal Articles and Guides

Despite the high-profile reporting on the Lady R docking at Simon’s Town Naval Base and – in the dead of night – cargo being loaded on and off, President Cyril Ramaphosa would have us believe that he has no idea what was loaded – so much so that he has asked a retired judge to investigate.

Disbarred Advocate Malesela Teffo could soon find himself behind bars if he continues with his antics to pose as an advocate, as the Legal Practice Council (LPC) is set on asking the court to hold him in contempt of court following last year’s order in which he was removed from the roll of advocates.

Fidelity Fund senior legal adviser John Ndlovu believes heavy prison sentences and the forfeiting of assets should be the only way to deal with lawyers who steal from their clients using bankruptcy as a justification.

The NPA’s Investigating Directorate (ID) is in a race against time to be legally made permanent. A News24 report notes in October last year, when President Cyril Ramaphosa tabled his ‘implementation plan’ in response to the Zondo Commission’s report, he announced that the ID would be made a permanent body with powers similar to those of the disbanded Scorpions.

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has been placed at the centre of a Russia-backed Twitter campaign to bolster support for the attack on Ukraine.

The Jacob Zuma Foundation is challenging the appointment of Judge Raymond Zondo as Chief Justice and is demanding that President Cyril Ramaphosa reverse his decision to appoint him.

A company that consults to government and big business on ethics billed the National Lotteries Commission NLC more than R28m for media monitoring and ethics-related ‘interventions’ at a time when the NLC was overwhelmed with allegations of corruption, fraud and conflicts of interest.

Public Works Minister Sihle Zikalala yesterday said he has no time for dodgy service providers and those who attempt to disrupt construction projects.

The JSC ‘did not finish the discussion’ on whether to establish a tribunal to investigate potentially impeachable conduct by Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe on Friday, according to spokesperson Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC.

Western Cape High Court Acting Judge Phillipa van Zyl has ordered National Freedom Party (NFP) politician, Granville Carlson, who has ‘persistently instituted legal proceedings without reasonable grounds’ be gazetted as a ‘vexatious litigant’.

Former SAA board member and chartered accountant Yakhe Kwinana has been fined R6.1 m and barred from being a member of the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) following a disciplinary hearing.

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development has back-tracked on the planned indefinite closure of the Pretoria Deeds Office, which resulted in potential legal action to compel the office to resume its services.

The Hawks are investigating a Gqeberha lawyer for allegedly operating a law firm without a licence from the Legal Practice Council (LPC).

Mpumulanga businessman Jan Venter is facing accusations of swindling clients needing private investigation services, reports City Press.

The DA has demanded that the North West Public Accounts Committee summon all municipalities to account for failures to spend conditional grant funding, reports The Citizen.