Concerns of an increase in shoddy jobs and the misappropriation of clients’ funds are on the rise in the legal profession with close to 400 lawyers being disbarred from practising in the past six years.
Though the figure is not high, as there are 121,000 legal practitioners in SA, it is a concerning trajectory that could negatively affect the future of the judiciary if it increases.
Legal Practice Council Gauteng director Ignatius Briel told Business Day that 62 of 376 legal practitioners were struck off the roll between January 2024 and January 2025.
Each year, the legal council receives between 8,000 and 14,000 public complaints against lawyers, Briel said.
“During the same period, 70 people were suspended from the roll of legal practitioners. For the period 2019 to 2024, 314 legal practitioners were struck off the roll and 432 suspended,” he said.
Misappropriation of clients’ funds, failure to fully and competently carry out client mandates and practising without a Fidelity Fund certificate were some of the reasons which resulted in lawyers being expelled.
Misappropriation of clients’ funds is described as the “worst professional sin” in the legal fraternity.
Briel said complaints received by the legal council were against “a small group of legal practitioners with multiple complaints.”
“It should be noted that we have 79,000 legal practitioners on the roll (attorneys and advocates), with over 42,000 legal practitioners in private practice,” he said.
One of the council’s successful cases was against lawyer Zuko Nonxuba, who was accused of misappropriating R168m of his clients’ funds.
Some of the misappropriated funds were for children who suffered mental and physical harm because of medical negligence by the Eastern Cape health department. He was disbarred from practising last December.
Road Accident Fund (RAF) cases account for less than 2,000 of SA’s overall 8,000 to 14,000 complaints a year, Briel said.
On average, the legal council strikes off between 80 and 100 practitioners a year.
Black Lawyers Association president Nkosana Mvundlela said the disbarring of lawyers might require the Legal Practice Council to strengthen the code of conduct for legal practitioners.
“The BLA is extremely concerned, even if the increase is by one, it is a serious concern that must be addressed. We call upon the LPC to revisit its own rules, particularly of trust administration,” he said.
He said shoddy lawyers stealing clients’ funds created a wrong sentiment in the public as some people might brand “all lawyers as thieves” which could negatively affect the judiciary.
“We must not find a situation where any person in SA calls all lawyers thieves because the ramifications of that are far-reaching. When you call all lawyers thieves, you are even branding future judges as thieves. Judges are drawn from the pool of lawyers.”
There have been several recent cases involving lawyers and judges accused of misconduct.
This includes the probe by the legal council against Carel Benjamin Schoeman, a lawyer accused of repeatedly raping a 13-year-old girl he “bought” from her mother.
Western Cape judge Mushtak Parker was investigated by the judicial conduct tribunal regarding the alleged misappropriation of multimillion-rand funds by his firm, Parker and Khan Inc, which he managed with two other business partners.
The tribunal also investigated Eastern Cape judge president Selby Mbenenge, who was accused of sexually harassing Andiswa Mengo, a judge’s secretary.
Mvundlela said he was concerned about the future of the judiciary.
“The concern is not only because some people are found wanting, we still have ethical lawyers. The problem would be, are they given the kind of quality of work to be better judges?
“These good lawyers have not done anything better than RAF. They have not dealt with any complex matters that would prepare them adequately to become better judges.”
Legal analyst and Legal Practice Council deputy chair Llewelyn Curlewis said the council, with a strengthened collaboration with the NPA, could curb the number of lawyers disbarred.
“If they [NPA] up their game and we have all these strict policies that we have already put in place, we will see a downward trajectory in the number of lawyers disbarred,” he said.
The council has programmes aimed at addressing the issue, he said.
“One lawyer struck off the roll is one too many. The LPC has embarked on a series of strategies to reduce the number of lawyers disbarred.
“We have educational programmes and even introduced the practice management course, which they must complete before they can manage their own practice or be a director of a company.
“Our boarding exams are very strict when it comes to ethics, trust accountancy and bookkeeping. We have seminars monthly which inform candidates and seasoned practitioners.
“There are a lot of checks and balances in place. But some people fall between the cracks.”
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