By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Legal Practice Council (LPC) has postponed the disciplinary hearing of Advocate Dali Mpofu SC, to a date yet to be determined.
Mpofu is appeared before the Disciplinary Committee of the Legal Practice Council(LPC) in Pretoria.
Mpofu is facing seven charges of breaching the code of conduct for legal practitioners — including bringing the profession into disrepute, impugning people’s characters and failing in his duty to the court.
LPC is the statutory body which, together with its provincial councils, regulates the affairs of and exercises jurisdiction over all legal practitioners (attorneys and advocates), both practising and non-practising, and candidate legal practitioners.
The chairperson of the committee, Daniel Mpanza confirmed that the matter had been postponed partly due to the outage. The second reason for the postponement was a late amendment to the charge sheet, which initially had seven charges.
Mpanza explained that two charges relating to former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela had been withdrawn. A third charge related to Chief Justice Mandisa Maya was also withdrawn.
“The chief justice didn’t want to proceed. It affects her and all those things. It’s personal,” Mpanza said.
The Legal Practice Council had initially complained about a comment Mpofu made during the interview of now Maya at the Judicial Service Commission.
It was on 2 February 2022 when then Supreme Court of Appeal president, Maya was in the hot seat before the Judicial Service Commission for the Chief Justice position.
“Now my declaration is that acting president, president Maya and I, we spent the nights together. Please explain that, commissioner. I know I’m not going to explain it, president.”
Mpofu clarified the remark during the interview, saying that he and Maya did pupilage together and were studying for an exam at the time.
However, the LPC said the remark was discriminatory and laden with inappropriate sexual innuendo, which was offensive, unprofessional and lacking decorum.
The charge will no longer be prosecuted.
The Legal Practice Council has retained and amended a charge related to a letter it believes Mpofu “caused” to be written to three judges. The judges were adjudicating a case involving former Old Mutual CEO Peter Moyo.
During the course of the 2021 case, the judges expressed concern about a number of procedural issues in the matter, including the late filing of documents. The court called on the lawyers to submit a practice note clarifying their main points or argument.
The Council for the Advancement of the Constitution’s executive secretary Lawson Naidoo spoke to journalists at the hearing and said he was concerned that the charge sheet had been amended without the knowledge of the complainants.
“We really don’t understand the basis on which some of the charges were withdrawn. For example the two charges that relate to Mpofu’s conduct in relation to advocate Thuli Madonsela and Chief Justice Maya. We’ve been informed that these two individuals don’t want to proceed but the complaint was laid by Casac. It was not dependent on the approval or even the evidence of those people.”