The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development today had a robust discussion with the Legal Practice Council (LPC) on disciplinary matters against legal professionals and other challenges.
Committee Chairperson Mr Xola Nqola said the committee invited the LPC to Parliament because, as representatives of the public, committee Members have a specific interest in matters where vulnerable members of the public do not receive justice because of unscrupulous legal practitioners.
“The public suffer. They are victims due to the conduct by some attorneys. We cannot watch people suffer due to malpractice of legal practitioners. Attorneys cannot be receiving millions of rands in payout for medico-legal or road accident claims and clients see very little of it,” the Chairperson said.
The committee heard that the LPC is a non-profit organisation that depends on the levies charged to legal practitioners. LPC levies are R4 600 annually, which some legal practitioners do not pay; currently, it is owed R157 million in unpaid or uncollected levies.
The committee heard that as of 19 November 2024, the LPC has 22 415 registered unresolved complaints. Currently, 1 100 law firms across all provinces are under curatorship and 900 of these are based in Gauteng. Moneys under curatorship in LPC trust accounts amount to R 300 million.
During the period January 2024 to 15 November 2024, 55 legal practitioners were struck off the roll and during the same period 62 legal practitioners were suspended from the roll of legal practitioners.
“The committee noted the comments made by the LPC that in some instances you will find the same legal practitioners still working after being struck off the roll, just not appearing in court as they are briefing advocates. This is totally unacceptable and clearly a loophole that needs to be addressed,” add Mr Nqola.
The committee heard that the disciplinary process outlined in the Legal Practice Act is cumbersome and time-consuming and, while substantial amendments to the Act may not be feasible, there are potential improvements that could expedite the process. The disciplinary process is also heavily reliant on the availability of legal practitioners, whose practice-related priorities often take precedence over LPC hearings.
The committee was also addressed by Judge Siraj Desai, the first legal services Ombudsperson. He did not mince his words and told the committee that theft in the industry is rampant, with many millions stolen by attorneys on a daily basis. He said he has never seen this level of misappropriation in all his days in the legal profession. Judge Desai supported the LPC’s calls to have the Act amended and he called for action in order to protect the integrity of the profession.
Mr Nqola elaborated: “We heard from the Ombud that it is reaching crisis proportions. As public representatives, it is our responsibility to make sure the vulnerable are protected. We have seen more and more media reports about maladministration by legal practitioners. Not only that, the SIU briefed the committee on such practices. We need to do something to stop this malfeasance.
“We note the call for amendment of the Legal Practice Act. Lawmaking can take a long time and therefore, as an immediate measure, it would be prudent to request the Minister to draft regulations that can serve as an interim measure,” emphasised Mr Nqola.
Africa Fact: Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of adult population involved in early-stage entrepreneurial activity.
Indestructible Potato
The Man who could only Drink Milk
I know an old man who had lived a life full of adventure, but his health started to catch up with him. He\’d run the Boston Marathon, was an avid surfer, and climbed Everest, but he\’d started to have abdominal pains around his 85th birthday and went to see a doctor. Sadly, he ultimately was diagnosed with a rare degenerative liver disease that slowly made him allergic to everything he ate.
He kept copious notes, and as an avid gastronomist slowly grew to despair as everything he\’d spent his life enjoying became something he could no longer eat. Alcohol went first, then mushrooms, then bread, then root vegetables, then coffee, one at a time he had to remove them from his diet. The doctor was clear: if he kept eating something his liver rejected the autoimmune response would be quick and severe, and would lead to a painful death. Little by little, everything was taken away as an option, until the only thing that remained was milk.
In some ways, this actually made life easier, because the mental strain of remembering what he could and couldn\’t eat was gone, but then so was the joy in variety. But he took it in stride, and got his own cow and took classes from a farmer to learn everything he could about the only thing that could give him sustenance. And even within milk, he could still have yogurt, butter, cream, some cheeses, and other milk-derived products he hadn\’t fully rejected yet, so it wasn\’t all bad. But then one day a few months later he felt the pain again, and he knew cow\’s milk was no longer an option.
Lacking other options, he tried goat\’s milk, and he was delighted that it worked! The protein structure is just different enough that his body still tolerated it. That bought him another month. And that\’s when we came up with a wonderful plan to go on one last grand adventure around the world. If he could get one month of life out of the milk of every mammal, he\’d actually have a few more years to enjoy life to the fullest and see the world in all its beauty. Each month, we\’d pick a place with a new mammal, and he would immerse himself fully with the locals, learn all the ways to prepare the milk, and just enjoy the hand he had been dealt as much as he could.
We milked sheep in New Zealand. Camels in Egypt. Zebras in South Africa. Giant bats in Indonesia. Do you know how many Peruvian cuy you need to milk to get a single glass? I do. Even as his health slowly faded, he stayed cheerful, and I felt lucky to join him on the adventure of a lifetime. That brings us to today when he got to the very end of his spreadsheet, and declared that he was now allergic to every mammal. He\’d enjoyed his journey, but his time had come to an end, for there was nothing left to milk.
To which I said nonsense, I bet we can milk a few thousand karma out of this post.
Lady Peach
The Man who could only Drink Milk
I know an old man who had lived a life full of adventure, but his health started to catch up with him. He\’d run the Boston Marathon, was an avid surfer, and climbed Everest, but he\’d started to have abdominal pains around his 85th birthday and went to see a doctor. Sadly, he ultimately was diagnosed with a rare degenerative liver disease that slowly made him allergic to everything he ate.
He kept copious notes, and as an avid gastronomist slowly grew to despair as everything he\’d spent his life enjoying became something he could no longer eat. Alcohol went first, then mushrooms, then bread, then root vegetables, then coffee, one at a time he had to remove them from his diet. The doctor was clear: if he kept eating something his liver rejected the autoimmune response would be quick and severe, and would lead to a painful death. Little by little, everything was taken away as an option, until the only thing that remained was milk.
In some ways, this actually made life easier, because the mental strain of remembering what he could and couldn\’t eat was gone, but then so was the joy in variety. But he took it in stride, and got his own cow and took classes from a farmer to learn everything he could about the only thing that could give him sustenance. And even within milk, he could still have yogurt, butter, cream, some cheeses, and other milk-derived products he hadn\’t fully rejected yet, so it wasn\’t all bad. But then one day a few months later he felt the pain again, and he knew cow\’s milk was no longer an option.
Lacking other options, he tried goat\’s milk, and he was delighted that it worked! The protein structure is just different enough that his body still tolerated it. That bought him another month. And that\’s when we came up with a wonderful plan to go on one last grand adventure around the world. If he could get one month of life out of the milk of every mammal, he\’d actually have a few more years to enjoy life to the fullest and see the world in all its beauty. Each month, we\’d pick a place with a new mammal, and he would immerse himself fully with the locals, learn all the ways to prepare the milk, and just enjoy the hand he had been dealt as much as he could.
We milked sheep in New Zealand. Camels in Egypt. Zebras in South Africa. Giant bats in Indonesia. Do you know how many Peruvian cuy you need to milk to get a single glass? I do. Even as his health slowly faded, he stayed cheerful, and I felt lucky to join him on the adventure of a lifetime. That brings us to today when he got to the very end of his spreadsheet, and declared that he was now allergic to every mammal. He\’d enjoyed his journey, but his time had come to an end, for there was nothing left to milk.
To which I said nonsense, I bet we can milk a few thousand karma out of this post.