Malesela Teffo, the notorious lawyer known for representing four of the men accused of murdering former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa, has now opened a criminal case of fraud against the two judges who disbarred him.

 

 

 

 

This comes after Teffo was struck from the roll of advocates in September this year, following numerous complaints from the Legal Practice Council (LPC) that included disrespectful and contemptuous behaviour in court, misleading the court, assault, and the misappropriation of client funds.

In their judgment, Judge Thembi Bokako and Judge Justice Nyathi found that Teffo lacked a sense of responsibility, honesty, integrity, and no longer met the threshold of a fit and proper person. The court declared that Teffo had stolen money from clients, lied to the courts, and demonstrated contemptuous behavior in court. Despite this, Teffo attempted to overturn the judgment with a rescission application, but later abandoned it and pursued a variation application instead.

In this variation application, Teffo absurdly argues that there was no history of the LPC filing any application against him. Therefore, he was never disbarred, because of possible duplication or error of case numbers. This argument is based on the emergence of two cases with the same case number, 10991/2021.

Despite omitting that this case number was used in the application against him, Teffo asserts that the number belongs to a matter involving the South African Taxi Development Finance and Mafolo Namedi Titus. As a result, he has asked the court to remove his name from the disbarment judgment and replace it with Mafolo Namedi Titus’ name instead.

It’s clear that Teffo is grasping at straws in a desperate attempt to salvage his career and reputation. But let’s not forget that he filed an answering affidavit to the LPC’s application and also opposed it in person. It’s clear that Teffo is fully aware of the merits of the case against him and the disbarment judgment. This latest attempt at fraud only further demonstrates his lack of responsibility, honesty, and integrity.

Mzansi, do you think this appeal will end well for the controversial former advocate? Tell us what you think.