Pretoria - Controversial former advocate Malesela Teffo’s days are filled with litigation.
Not only did he appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on charges of assault and trespassing, he is also fighting his disbarment.
The Legal Practice Council, which succeeded in its bid to have Teffo struck from the roll of advocates earlier this month, confirmed that he had filed a notice to have the judgment by two judges of the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, rescinded.
Kabel Letebele, a spokesperson for the legal sector watchdog, could not provide more details on Teffo’s reasons for choosing this course of action.
Legal expert and former chairperson of the Pretoria Society for Advocates, advocate Francois Botes, told the Pretoria News that in his opinion, this was the wrong move.
“He must appeal the judgment. He can only apply for rescission if the order was given in his absence because he did not know about the proceedings, or if the order was granted in some or another fraudulent manner,” Botes said.
In his opinion, the step was a desperate move by Teffo to try to postpone the inevitable.
Although Teffo was not present in court when Judge Stanley Nyathi and Acting Judge T Bokako delivered their judgment, they made it clear that he was informed about the proceedings but had elected not to pitch.
Lawyers acting for the Legal Practice Council at the time confirmed that the council had informed Teffo of the judgment.
While Teffo’s time to note his appeal – 15 working days since the judgment – is running out, he opted to apply to have the judgment overturned.
The judges were at great pains during the application to hear Teffo’s defence regarding the 22 complaints against him by members of the public and some by the SAPS.
Teffo, however, did not touch on these aspects and insisted at the time that the proceedings be postponed as he claimed he knew nothing about the “faceless” complaints.
The court refused, pointing out that according to correspondence between him and the council, Teffo knew more than a year ago about the complaints. He, however, elected not to discuss them with the organisation.
During the hearing to have him disbarred, Teffo also objected to the presence of a female police officer in the public gallery.
Her complaints formed part of the 22 complaints against him and related to him allegedly assaulting her at the SAPS offices in Johannesburg when he allegedly trespassed – he had been barred from entering the offices after an interdict was granted against him.
This was the reason Teffo appeared in the Johannesburg court yesterday on charges of assault and trespassing.
The case against him was postponed to November 3, after Teffo, who was representing himself from the dock, once again told the court that he had no idea what the charges against him entailed.
Pretoria News