The Legal Practice Council (LPC) said it will oppose an application filed by Advocate Dali Mpofu to set aside the remaining four professional misconduct charges laid against him by the LPC.

Mpofu has filed papers with the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, in which he states that the charges are baseless, frivolous, and part of a racist or right-wing campaign to tarnish his name and professional standing.

LPC spokesperson Kabelo Letebele said while the legal watchdog has not yet filed papers in opposition to the application, the LPC is in the process of preparing and filing a response in opposition to Mpofu’s application.

“The LPC, through its executive committee, considered the application and resolved to oppose it,” he said.

Letebele did not want to comment further on the LPC’s stance in the matter. Mpofu’s disciplinary hearing started with seven charges, of which three were withdrawn.

This left four remaining, contained in an amended charge sheet. It is claimed that he had brought the legal profession into disrepute through his public statements and courtroom behaviour. It is also claimed that his conduct on occasion in court was disruptive and disrespectful.

Another charge accuses him of impugning the character of senior figures, including former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, during the parliamentary impeachment inquiry into Busisiwe Mkhwebane.

He faces a disciplinary hearing following a complaint lodged against him by the South African Constitution (CASAC), which accused him of professional misconduct.

Mpofu will ask that a full court (three judges) hear his application, as he said it raises publicly important questions.

He said in an affidavit that in 2021, he was “mischievously” accused by certain quarters of having crossed the professional line in the proceedings before the Zondo Commission. The matter was elevated into charges before the LPC, where he was found not guilty.

In the wake of this, a former chairperson of the General Council articulated certain false, malicious, and gratuitous insults against him during an interview, Mpofu stated. As a result, he said, he laid a complaint against the former chairperson.

According to Mpofu, there has since been a “crusade and vendetta to vilify, crucify, and demoralise” him, which he said led to him facing misconduct charges.

He further claims that a “large number of his right-wing detractors who are in clear pursuit of ulterior and political motives” are out to harass him because of his uncompromising political views or a “deep hatred” for some of the controversial political figures whom he repeatedly represents.

While he did not know who all the complainants are behind the disciplinary hearing he is now facing, he does know that CASAC, which he calls a right-wing organisation, is the main complainant.

He said CASAC has “habitually” litigated in a “partisan” way against some of his clients, such as former president Jacob Zuma and Mkhwebane.

“This organisation is known for its anti-Mpofu bias,” he said, claiming that this led to the “baseless” charges against him.

Mpofu said the legal implications of all of this will later be canvassed in a further supplementary affidavit by him, which will be done once all the relevant information is at hand.

“Suffice it at this stage that there is evidence of a well-coordinated and concerted racist or right-wing campaign to tarnish my name and professional standing as a practitioner who represents unpopular causes to the peddlers of the said campaign, which is doomed to fail.”

Mpofu also argues that the charges against him are legally unsustainable because they rely on rules of the code of conduct, which only came into force in December 2023.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za

Source link