Case Law[2022] ZAGPPHC 685South Africa
South African Legal Practice Council v Mafuwane (28636/2022) [2022] ZAGPPHC 685 (14 September 2022)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria)
14 September 2022
Headnotes
in trust until the masks were sourced and could be delivered. The respondent paid the said amount into his trust banking account. There was no agreement
Judgment
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## South African Legal Practice Council v Mafuwane (28636/2022) [2022] ZAGPPHC 685 (14 September 2022)
South African Legal Practice Council v Mafuwane (28636/2022) [2022] ZAGPPHC 685 (14 September 2022)
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sino date 14 September 2022
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG
DIVISION, PRETORIA
CASE
NO.: 28636/2022
REPORTABLE:
NO
OF
INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES: NO
REVISED
14
SEPTEMBER 2022
In
the matter between:
SOUTH
AFRICAN LEGAL PRACTICE COUNCIL
Applicant
and
MPIYAKHE
JUSTICE MAFUWANE
Respondent
JUDGMENT
van
der Westhuizen, J
[1]
Following on an application for the striking off of the respondent
from the roll of
attorneys, alternatively for the suspension of the
respondent from practicing as an attorney pending a final
determination of the
fitness of the respondent to practice as an
attorney, and after hearing argument on behalf of the applicant and
the respondent,
an order was granted on 2 September 2022
inter
alia
striking off the respondent from the roll of attorneys. The
reasons for that order was reserved and what follows are the reasons.
[2]
The South African Legal Practice Council (LPC), is the statutory body
which exercises
jurisdiction over all legal practitioners and
candidate legal practitioners as contemplated in the Legal Practice
Act, 28 of 2014
(the Act).
[1]
In
terms of the provisions of section 43 of the Act, the LPC is
empowered to institute urgent legal proceedings in the High Court
for
the suspension of a practitioner from practice. A Practice Directive
of this Division, that accords with the provisions of
section 44 of
the Act, not only provides for the suspension of a practitioner from
practice, but also provides for the urgent striking
off of a
practitioner from the roll of attorneys.
[3]
The applicant is the Gauteng Provincial Council of the Legal Practice
Council established
in terms of the provisions of section 23 of the
Act. Provincial Councils have jurisdiction over legal practitioners
practising
within their respective area of jurisdiction.
[4]
The respondent was a practising attorney who was admitted as an
attorney of this Honourable
Court on 5 July 2010, and practised as
such under the name and style of Mafuwane (MJ) Attorneys in Gauteng.
The respondent represented
himself.
[5]
On 4 March 2022 the applicant resolved to institute these proceedings
and the chairperson
of the applicant was authorised to depose to the
required affidavits in pursuit of these proceedings. The application
was launched
as an urgent application.
[6]
The aforesaid resolution followed on a complaint against the
respondent which the
applicant was obliged to investigate. The
respondent, despite having been invited and requested to comment on
the complaint and
to participate in the investigation, refused to do
so. The complaint related to a possible misappropriation of trust
funds and
the practising without a Fidelity Fund Certificate (FFC).
An accountant, Mr Nyali, who is employed as an auditor in the Risk
and
Compliance unit of the applicant, was instructed to conduct an
investigation into the respondent’s practice.
[7]
Mr Nyali furnished his report, together with schedules thereto, to
the applicant.
His report recorded the following contraventions of
the provisions of the Act:
(a)
The practising
as an attorney without the prescribed FFC: sections 84(1) and (2) of
the Act;
(b)
Failing to
produce a complete set of the required accounting records for
inspection: sections 37(2)(a) and 87(5) of the Act;
(c)
The failure to
ensure that the amount of money in the respondent’s trust
banking account, trust investment account and trust
cash at any date
was not less than the total amount of credit balances of the trust
creditors: Rule 54.14.8 of the applicant’s
Rules;
(d)
The failure to
immediately inform the applicant in writing of the trust monies
deficit: Rule 54.14.10 of the applicant’s Rules;
(e)
The respondent
made withdrawals from the trust account which were not for the
benefit of trust creditors: Rule 54.14.14 of the applicant’s
Rules;
(f)
The failure to
furnish the applicant with the required practice audit report within
6 months of the annual closing of accounting
records: Rule 54.24.1 of
the applicant’s Rules.
[8]
The respondent furthermore contravened section 3.1 of the Code of
Conduct in that
the respondent failed to act with the highest
standard of honesty and integrity by failing to act in compliance
with the requirements
of the Act and the Rules of the applicant and
furthermore, by his conduct following on the lodging of the complaint
and after the
institution of this application in the manner set out
below.
[9]
The refusal by the respondent to comment on, or explain, his conduct
in respect of
the complaint lodged, and his refusal to assist or
participate in the investigation of his practice that was conducted
by Mr Nyali,
screams against the requirement of the Code of Conduct
to act with the highest standard of honesty and integrity.
[10]
Furthermore, the respondent’s conduct since the launching of
this application leaves much
to be desired.
(a)
The respondent
was in flagrant disregard of the court order affording him an
opportunity until 30 June 2022 to file an answering
affidavit, which
was only forthcoming on or about 12 July 2022 when the application
was to be heard in the in the urgent court
during that week. The
application was consequently postponed, with further directives as to
getting the matter ripe for hearing;
(b)
The respondent
made incorrect and false statements in his answering affidavit that
related to:
(i)
The alleged
non attachment of the report of Mr Nyali to the founding affidavit,
when it was clearly so attached;
(ii)
The status of
the annual audit report in respect of his practice which clearly was
qualified and not, as submitted by the respondent,
to be unqualified;
(iii)
That he was
unable to file his annual audit report in respect of his practice due
to illness in the absence of a full disclosure
of the alleged
illness, whilst it could have been submitted electronically.
(c)
The respondent
further served unwarranted, unfounded and baseless notices in terms
of the provisions of Rule 30 of the Uniform Rules
of Court and
compelled a court hearing in respect thereof, prior to the hearing of
this application. In my view, a clear attempt
to frustrate the
hearing of this application. The hearing in respect of those notices
served before me a week prior to the enrolment
of this application
for adjudication. The respondent, a practising attorney, was clearly
unaware of the legal principles that applied
in respect of the said
notices. The respondent also appeared in person at that hearing
[11]
The respondent’s response to the failure to file an unqualified
annual audit report, which
is a strict requirement, reveals a lack of
character. He was clearly unaware that he could file it
electronically. Furthermore,
his claim that due to illness he was
prevented from filing it, is unconvincing. The alleged illness was
not explained, nor detailed
appropriately. Random reports and payment
slips were merely appended to his papers, and remained unexplained.
No inference could
be deducted from the random filed reports/payment
slips as to the specific illness that the respondent suffered from,
and the effect
thereof. The annual audit remained qualified,
something which the respondent obtusely denied.
[12]
The complaint that the applicant received and which initiated this
application related to the
respondent’s inability to account to
a trust creditor. The respondent, in addition to his legal practice,
attempted to dabble
in the business of supplying PPE products. He
sourced a potential client to purchase PPE products (masks) from him.
That client
then paid a total amount of R6 480 000.00 (in
two tranches of R3 000 000.00 and R3 480 000.00
respectively)
to the respondent to source and pay for the masks. The
clear instruction was that the said amount be held in trust until the
masks
were sourced and could be delivered. The respondent paid the
said amount into his trust banking account. There was no agreement
that the respondent could withdraw any fees therefrom. It was clearly
earmarked for the purchase of the masks. Payment could only
be made
from those funds once the products were sourced and available for
delivery to the client. A clear and simple business agreement,
separate from the legal practice of the respondent. Apparently,
a further deposit of R10 000.00 was made by the client
in
respect of possible fees, the purpose of which was not explained by
the respondent.
[13]
The client demanded repayment of the amount of R6 480 000.00.
The respondent could only
repay an amount of R6 000 000.00
which left an apparent shortfall of R 480 000.00. The client
then commenced proceedings
against the respondent for the payment of
the said shortfall. The respondent resisted the proceedings. However,
the respondent
entered into an admission of debt in respect of the
amount of R480 000.00 which was made an order of court. The
respondent
reneged on the terms of the admission of debt and the said
complaint was lodged with the applicant. As recorded earlier, the
respondent
was requested to comment on the complaint and when failing
to do so, the aforementioned investigation was conducted. Again the
respondent refused to participate and to assist in the manner
recorded earlier.
[14]
Due to the respondent’s refusal to provide his accounting
records to Mr Nyali, the latter,
of his own accord, sourced the trust
banking statement relating to the specific trust account of the said
trust creditor. After
perusing that statement, Mr Nyali reported that
a “
significant trust deficit was identified after only
having considered one trust creditor. It is thus possible that the
firm’s
trust deficit is higher than the amount of R479 983.67”.
The opening balance of that statement reflects a deficit of R37.17,
which remained unexplained.
[15]
The said bank statement revealed that almost immediately after the
said mount was paid into the
respondent’s trust banking
account, the respondent commenced making withdrawals therefrom. Those
withdrawals were mostly
in respect of fees, according to the entries
description, which were apparently not accounted to the client.
[16]
Despite the respondent refusing to provide Mr Nyali with all his
accounting records, he has the
audacity to deny the veracity of the
entries in the said statement and Mr Nyali’s report in that
regard. During oral argument,
the respondent tendered evidence from
the bar, and was at pains to explain the entries and the obvious
inferences to be deducted
therefrom. His oral explanations were
unconvincing and absurd. No explanations were provided in his
answering papers. He clearly
left it for argument at the hearing of
this matter.
[17]
The respondent’s attempt at explaining why he was unable to
make payment of the full amount
of R6 480 000.00 when
demanded, was unconvincing and not supported by any evidence. The
allegation that the said shortfall
was due to a third party alleging
refusing to repay an amount of R1 000 000.00 which
apparently was previously made in
respect of the sourcing of marks is
devoid of any truth. That amount was only paid the third party after
the repayment of the R6 000 000.00
that was made to the
trust creditor.
[18]
The manner in which the respondent approached this application, spoke
of a non-appreciation of
the severity of the allegations and the
consequential effect thereof. The requirements of filing papers and
the time periods in
respect thereof was clearly not followed by the
respondent who merely lodged papers randomly and at the eleventh
hour.
[19]
The respondent raised the following in answer to this application in
his answering affidavit
and his oral evidence in argument at the
hearing of this application:
(a)
In
the answering affidavit the respondent took a number of technical
points that related to the issue of urgency. It was clear that
the
matter was urgent;
lis
alibi pendens
in respect of litigation unrelated to this application between
different parties and in terms of which a Third Party Notice was
issued against the respondent. The respondent did not appreciate that
his joinder in those proceedings has no bearing on the present
issue.
His liability in respect of the aforesaid short fall of R480 000.00
had already been established in terms of the acknowledgement
of debt
referred to above; a clumsy reliance on the provisions of section
40(1) of the Act submitting that the applicant had not
instituted an
internal disciplinary hearing in respect of the aforementioned
complaint. The applicant has a discretion whether
to follow an
internal disciplinary hearing, or whether to institute proceedings
for the suspension or striking of the respondent
for practising.
[2]
The respondent’s clear unwillingness to participate in the
aforesaid enquiry conducted by Mr Nyati puts paid to that issue.
(b)
The respondent
was untruthful when he stated that the demand for repayment of the
R6 480 000.00 was made only after the
amount of
R1 000 000.00. As recorded earlier, the amount of
R1 000 000.00 was made to a third party after the
repayment
of R6 000 000.00 to the complainant.
(c)
An allegation
that the acknowledgement of debt was signed under duress has no ring
of truth. A belated statement that the respondent
would apply for a
rescission of that judgment wherein the acknowledgement of debt was
made an order of court for that reason, is
without merit. The
judgment was granted almost two years before the application was
launched. To date no such application was forthcoming.
(d)
The respondent
has the audacity to argue that the report of Mr Nyati is speculative
in that Mr Nyati did not have access to the
respondent’s trust
accounting records. Until this day, the respondent had not provided
any of his trust accounting records
or the source records relating
thereto. The respondent’s inability to provide his accounting
records were due to the fact
that his bank had opted to place a hold
thereon and furthermore that his trust account was dormant. During
argument the respondent
testified that his practice was of the kind
of being paid in cash for services. Belatedly, when realising the
consequence thereof,
he hastened to add that he did pay such monies
into his business account and that the cash payments for services
rendered were
only received after the rendering of legal services.
(e)
A further
defence raised by the respondent related to the issue that the
applicant, instead of launching this application, was obliged
to
approach the court for an order compelling the respondent to provide
the required documentation. That defence ignores the fact
that the
respondent refused and/or was unwilling to provide a comment on the
complaint or to participate in the investigation.
(f)
The respondent
relied in oral argument on the unreported judgment in
The
South African Legal Practice Council v Leigh Dorothy Harper et al
(Case Number 51846/2021 GLD) dated 21 December 2021. In that matter
the court granted an order appointing a
curator
bonis
to
oversee and administer and control the trust accounts of the second
respondent in that matter. The respondents were permitted
to continue
practising subject to the
curator
bonis
taking control of the accounting of the respondents. That matter is
distinguishable from the present in a number of ways: the first
respondent discovered a trust deficit in her trust account due to
actions of the accountant of the firm; immediately on making
that
discovery, the first respondent laid criminal charges against the
accountant and reported it to the applicant; the first respondent
advanced cogent reasons for her misconduct which the court accepted.
The present respondent submitted that a similar order be granted
in
this matter.
[20]
There is no merit in the respondent’s request for the grant of
a similar order in this
matter. He refused any co-operation with the
applicant and applied delaying tactics to prevent this application
coming before the
court. The respondent filed a belated and
inadequate answering affidavit in response to this application.
Furthermore, he continued
to tender evidence not contained in his
answering affidavit and supplemented further evidence during his oral
argument.
[21]
It is trite
[3]
that a striking
off from the roll of attorneys, or a suspension, is a three stage
inquiry:
(a)
The court must
determine whether the alleged offending conduct has been established
on a balance of probabilities. A factual inquiry;
(b)
Consideration
must be given to the question whether, in the discretion of the
court, the person concerned is not a fit and proper
person to
continue to practise as an attorney. This is a value judgment;
(c)
The Court is
then to consider in the light of all the circumstances, whether the
name of the attorney concerned should be removed
from the roll of
attorneys, or whether an order suspending him/her from practice would
suffice.
[22]
From the foregoing, in my view, the respondent’s conduct
throughout indicated an attitude
of irresponsibility in acting as a
lawyer and with a flagrant and defiant disregard to his obligations
in terms of the Act and
the rules thereunder. The respondent abused
the relevant court rules relating to court proceedings as recorded
earlier.
[23]
The respondent is clearly not fit to practise as a legal practitioner
and thus to remain on the
roll of attorneys. In my view, there would
serve no purpose to merely suspend the respondent from practising as
a legal practitioner
and to direct that the applicant conduct a
further investigation. Whatever such further investigation may
reveal, cannot undo the
clear misappropriation of funds now before
court, and the clear lack of fitness to practise as a lawyer as shown
above. On his
own version, the respondent’s business account
was on hold by his bank and his trust account dormant. It was not
disclosed
by the respondent since when that situation prevailed.
[24]
From all the foregoing, I am satisfied that the principles of the
three stage enquiry have been
proven.
[25]
For all of the aforesaid, the order striking off of the respondent
from the roll of attorneys
and the ancillary relief granted in the
order of 2 September 2022 was granted. A copy of that order is
appended hereto marked “XYZ”.
C
J VAN DER WESTHUIZEN
JUDGE
OF THE HIGH COURT
JS
NYATHI
JUDGE
OF THE HIGH COURT
Date
of Hearing:
02
September 2022
On
behalf of Applicant:
C
P Fourie
Instructed
by:
FourieFismer
Inc
On
behalf of Respondent: In
person
Order
granted on:
02
September 2022
Judgment/Reasons
for
Order
Handed down on:
14
September
2022
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
(GAUTENG
DIVISION, PRETORIA)
Case
No: 28636/22
In
the matter between:
SOUTH
AFRICAN LEGAL PRACTICE
COUNCIL
Applicant
And
MPIYAKHE
JUSTICE
MAFUWANE
Respondent
DRAFT
ORDER
After
having considered the papers and having heard the legal
representative for the applicant;
IT
IS ORDERED
1.
That in terms of rule 6(12)(a) of the uniform rules of court, this
Honourable
Court dispenses with the forms and service provided for in
the uniform rules of court and disposes of this matter at such time
and place and in such manner and in accordance with such procedures
as it deems fit
2.
That the name MPIYAKHE JUSTICE MAFUWANE, the respondent, be struck
from the roll
of attorneys of this Honourable Court.
3.
That the respondent hands and delivers his certificate of enrolment
as an attorney
to the Registrar of this Honourable Court.
4.
That in the event of the respondent failing to comply with the terms
of this
order detailed in the previous paragraph, within two (2)
weeks from the date of this order, the sheriff of the district in
which
the certificate is, be authorised and directed to take
possession of the certificate and to hand it to the Registrar of this
Honourable
Court.
5.
That the respondent be prohibited from handling or operating on his
trust account(s).
6.
That Johan van Staden, the director, Gauteng provincial office of the
applicant,
or any person nominated by him, in his capacity as such,
be appointed as curator bonis (“curator”) to administer
and
control the trust account(s) of the respondent, including
accounts relating to insolvent and deceased estates, and any deceased
estate, and any estate under curatorship connected with the
respondent's practice as an attorney and including, also the separate
banking accounts opened and kept by the respondent at a bank in the
Republic of South Africa in tenns of
section 86(1)
of the
Legal
Practice Act
("LPA"), and/or any separate savings or
interest-bearing accounts as contemplated by
section 86(3)
and/or
section 86(4}
, in which monies from such trust banking accounts have
been invested by virtue of the provisions of the said sub sections,
or in
which monies in any manner have been deposited or credited (the
said accounts being hereafter referred to as the ''trust accounts"),
with the following powers and duties:
6.1
immediately to take possession of the respondent's accounting
records,
records,
files and documents as referred to in paragraph 7 below, and subject
to the approval of the Board of Control of the Legal
Practitioners
Fidelity Fund (“Fund”), to sign all forms and generally
to operate upon the trust account(s), but only
to such extent and for
such purpose as may be necessary to bring to completion current
transactions in which. the respondent were
acting at the date of this
order;
6.2
subject to the approval and control of the Fund, and where monies had
been paid incorrectly
and· unlawfully from the trust
account(s), to recover and receive and, if necessary, in the
interests of persons having
lawful claims upon the trust account(s)
and/or against the respondent in respect of monies held, received
and/or invested by the
respondent,
in terms of
section 86(1)
and/or
section 86(3)
and/or
section 86(4)
of the LPA (herein after referred to as "trust monies" or
"trust money"), to take any legal proceedings which
may be
necessary for the recovery of money which may be due to such persons
in respect of incomplete transactions, if any, in which
the
respondent was and may still have been concerned, and to receive such
monies and to pay the same to the credit of the trust
account(s);
6.3
to ascertain from the respondent's accounting records the names of
all persons on whose
account the respondent appear to hold or to have
received trust monies (hereinafter referred to as "trust
creditors"),and
to call upon the respondent to furnish him,
within 30 (thirty) days of the date of service of this order, or such
further period
as he may agree to in writing, with the names,
addresses and amounts due to all trust creditors;
6.4
to call upon such trust creditors to furnish such proof, information
and/or affidavits as
he may require to enable him, acting in
consultation with, and subject to the requirement of the Fund, to
determine whether any
such trust creditor has a claim in respect of
monies in the trust account(s) of the respondent and, if so, the
amount of such claim;
6.5
to admit or reject, in whole or in part, subject to the approval of
the Fund, the claims
of any such trust creditor or creditors, without
prejudice to such trust credi[or's or creditors' right of access to
the courts;
6.6
having determined the amounts which ·he considers are lawfully
due to trust creditors,
to pay such claims in full, but subject to
the approval of the Fund;
6.7
in the event of there being any surplus in the trust account(s) of
the respondent, after
payment of the admitted claims of all trust
creditors in full, to utilise such surplus to settle or reduce (as
the case may be),
firstly, any claim of the Fund in terms of
section
86(5)
of the LPA in respect of any interest therein referred to and,
secondly, without prejudice to the rights of the creditors of the
respondent, the costs, fees and expenses referred to in paragraph 13
below, or such portion thereof as has not already been separately
paid by the respondent to the applicant and, if there is any balance
left after payment in full of all such claims, costs, fees
and
expenses, to pay such balance, subject to the approval of the Fund,
to the respondent, if he is solvent, or, if the respondent
is
insolvent, . to the trustee(s) of the respondent's insolvent estate;
6.8
in the event of there being insufficient trust monies in the trust
banking account(s) of
the respondent, in accordance with the
available documentation and infonnation, to pay in full the claims of
trust creditors who
have lodged claims for repayment and whose claims
nhave been approved, to disfribute the credit balance(s) which may be
available
in the trust banking account(s) amongst the trust creditors
alternatively to pay the balance to the Fund;
6.9
subject to the approval of the Fund, to appoint nominees or
representatives and/or consult
with and/or engage the services of
attorneys, counsel, accountants and/or any other persons, where
considered necessary, to assist
him in carrying out his duties as
curator; and
6.10
to render from time to time, as curator, returns to the Fund showing
how the trust account(s) of the respondent
has been dealt with, until
such time as the Fund notifies him that he may regard his duties as
curator as terminated.
7
That the respondent immediately delivers his accounting records,
records,
files and documents containing particulars and information
relating to:
7.1
any monies received, held or paid by the respondent for on or account
of any person while
practising as an attorney;
7.2
any monies invested by the respondent, in terms of
section 86(3)
and/or
section 86(4)
of the LPA;
7.3
any interest on monies so invested which was paid over or credited to
the respondent;
7.4
any estate of a deceased person, or an insolvent estate, or an estate
under curatorship
administered by the respondent, whether as
executor, or trustee, or curator, or Ofl behalf of the executor,
trustee or curator;
7.5
any insolvent estate administered by the respondent as trustee, or on
behalf of the trustee,
in tenns of the
Insolvency Act., 24 of 1936
;
7
.6 any trust admini~tered by the
respondent as trustee, or on behalf of the trustee, in terms of
the
Trust Properties Control Act, 57 of 1988;
7.7
any company liquidated in terms of the
Companies Act, 71 of 2008
,
administered by the respondent and/or on behalf of the liquidator;
7.8
any close corporation liquidated in terms of the
Close Corporations
Act, 69 of 1984
, administered by the respondent and/or behalf of the
liquidator; and
7.9
the respondent’s practise as an attorney of this Honourable
Court, to the curator
appointed in terms of paragraph 6 above,
provided that, as far as such accounting records, records, files and
documents are concerned,
the respondent shall be entitled to have
reasonable access to them, but always subject to the supervision of
such curator or his
nominee.
8
That should the respondent fail to comply with the provisions of the
preceding
paragraph of this order, on service thereof upon him, or
after a return by the person entrusted with the service thereof, that
he has been unable to effect service thereof on the respondent (as
the case may be), the sheriff for the district in which such
accounting records, records, files and documents are, be empowered
and directed to search for and to take possession thereof wherever
they may be and to deliver them to such curator.
9.
That the respondent be and is hereby removed from office as -
9.1
executor of any estate of which the respondent has been appointed in
terms of
section 54(1
)(a)(v) of the
Administration of Estates Act,
66 of 1965
. or the estate of any other person referred to in
section
72(1)
thereof;
9.2
curator, or guardian of any minor, or other person’s property
in terms of
section 72(1)
, read with
section 54(1)(a)(v)
, and
section
85
of the
Administration of Estates Act, 66 of 1965
;
9.3
trustee of any insolvent state in terms of
section 59
of the
Insolvency Act 24 of 1936
;
9.4
liquidator of any company in terms of
section 379(2)
read with 379(e)
of the
Companies Act 71 of 2008
;
9.5
trustee of any trust in terms of section 20(1) of the Trust Property
Control Act, 57 of
1988;
9.6
liquidator of any close corporation appointed in terms of section 74
of the Close Corporation
Act, 69 of 1984; and
9.7
administrator appointed in terms of Sectbn 74 of the Magistrates'
Court Act, 32 of 1944.
10
That the curator shall be entitled to:
10.1
hand over to the persons entitled thereto all such records, files and
documents, provided that a satisfactory written undertaking
has been
received from such persons to pay any amount, either determined on
taxation or by agreement, in respect of fees and disbursements
due to
the respondent;
10.2
require from the persons referred to in paragraph 10.1 above, to
provide any such documentation or information
which he may consider
relevant in respect of a claim or possible or anticipated claim,
against him and/or the respondent, and/or
the Fund in respect of
money and/or other property entrusted to the respondent, provided
that any person entitled thereto shall
be granted reasonable access
thereto and shall be permitted to make copies thereof;
10.3
publish this order or an abridged version thereof in any newspaper he
considers appropriate; and
10.4
wind-up the respondent's practice.
11.
that, if there are any trust funds available. the respondent shall
within 6 (six) months
after having been requested to do so by the
curator, or within such longer period as the curator may agree to in
writing, satisfy
the curator, by means of the submission of taxed
bills of costs or otherwise, of the amount of the fees and
disbursements due to
the respondent, and should he fail to do so, he
shall not be entitled to recover such fees and disbursements from the
curator,
without prejudice however, to such rights (if any}. as he
may have against the trust creditor(s) concerned for payment or
recovery
thereof.
12.
That a certificate issued by the Fund shall constitute prima facie
proof of the curator’s
costs and that the Registrar be
authorised to issue a writ of execution on the strength of such
certificate in order to collect
the curator’s costs
13
That the respondent be and is hereby directed:
13.1
to pay, in terms of section 87(2) of the LPA, the reasonable costs of
the inspection of the accounting records
of the respondent;
13.2
to pay the reasonable fees and expenses of the curator;
13.3
to pay the reasonable fees and expenses of any person(s) consulted
and/or engaged by the curator as aforesaid;
13.4
to pay the expenses relating to the publication of this order or an
abbreviated version thereof; and
13.5
to pay the costs of this application on the scale as between attorney
and own client.
[1]
[1]
Section 4
[2]
The Law
Society of the Northern Provinces v Morobadi
(1151/2017) [2018] ZSCA 185 (11 December 2018) par [5]
[3]
Summerley
v Law Society, Northern Provinces
2006(5) SA 613 (SCA) par [2]
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