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‘Not fit and proper’ – advocate Malesela Teffo struck off the roll in scathing judgment

‘Not fit and proper’ – advocate Malesela Teffo struck off the roll in scathing judgment
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 08: Advocate Malesela Teffo during the Senzo Meyiwa murder trail. Five men, Mthobisi Mncube, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthokoziseni Maphisa, and Fisokuhle Ntuli, charged with the murder of Senzo Meyiwa appear at Pretoria High Court on June 13, 2022 in Pretoria, South Africa. Soccer player Meyiwa was shot and killed on 26 October 2014, at the home of his girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus. Photo: Alet Pretorius
Vincent Cruywagen
By Vincent Cruywagen
16 Sep 2022
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Controversial advocate Malesela Teffo has been struck off the roll of legal practitioners and ordered to return his certificate of enrolment as legal practitioner to the Registrar of the Court. He had represented some of the accused in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial.

In a scathing judgment on Friday the Pretoria High Court found that Teffo did not adhere to the highest standards expected by the profession and the courts. In essence the court found Teffo lacked the sense of responsibility, honesty, integrity and such attributes that are characteristics of an advocate.

This severe punishment comes after the Legal Practice Council said it had received 22 complaints about Teffo’s behaviour between 2019 and 2021. What followed was an application filed in the Pretoria High Court asking for his suspension.

During the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, which started in April, Teffo represented four of the five men accused of murdering the football star in 2014 at his girlfriend’s home in Vosloorus, Johannesburg.

Teffo’s outrageous comments trended on social media. He has told the court that “the situation is f*cked up”; he has accused Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela of practising witchcraft; and he has even gone as far as accusing the Presidency of intimidating him. Teffo did not provide proof of his claims and the Presidency dismissed them as baseless.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Defence lawyer in Senzo Meyiwa murder trial sent to holding cells with clients after dramatic court arrest”

In reaching a decision, the Pretoria High Court underlined that a legal practitioner is a member of a learned, respected and honourable profession, and by entering it he pledges himself to total and unquestionable integrity to the courts and the profession.

Advocate Malesela Teffo talks to the accused during the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial in at Pretoria High Court on 13 June 2022 (Photo: Gallo Images / Frennie Shivambu)



The court further reiterated that the image and standing of the profession are judged by the conduct and reputation of all the members, and that to maintain this confidence all members the profession must exhibit qualities set out above at all times.



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“This court is convinced that Teffo’s conducts no longer meet the requisite threshold of a fit and proper person, and is satisfied that the LPC has proved its case on balance of probabilities that Teffo is not a fit and proper person and that his countenance in practising would involve danger to the public or the good name of the profession,” the court found.

The judgment also indicated that Teffo misled the courts on a number of occasions; he was even contemptuous in a number of instances. The accused assaulted and intimidated members of the SAPS which resulted in an urgent interdict application prohibiting him from entering the premises of the SAPS. He is under investigation for corruption activities as defined by the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Assaults, insults and ‘witchcraft’ – how advocate Malesela Teffo got into a world of trouble with the legal council”

The court also wasted no time in dealing with a scornful letter, dated 25 July 2022, addressed to advocate GD Baloy, in which Teffo averred he had been experiencing harassment from the courts, the state police, the minister of police and the prosecution, including the Director of Public Prosecutions in Johannesburg.

The court indicated it would not waste time dealing with delinquent assumptions and misconstrued aspersions levelled at the office of the court.

Advocate Malesela Teffo at the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial. (Photo: Alet Pretorius)



A court has ruled that Malesela Teffo's conduct no longer meets 'the requisite threshold of a fit and proper person'. (Photo: Alet Pretorius)



“The court is short of words in attributing this level of behaviour projected by Teffo. Safe to say he has no regard for justice. It is our view that the contention by Teffo that the applicant failed to give him an opportunity to address his complaints should not be given as an excuse for not dealing with them,” the court ruled.

The court ordered that Teffo be removed from the roll of legal practitioners and that he surrender his certificate of enrolment as a legal practitioner to the court within two weeks. DM

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