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Lawyer Dali Mpofu
PHOTO: Papi Morake / Gallo Images
- During a state capture investigation held Tuesday night, lawyer Dali Mpofu said that Public Enterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan and his defender Michelle le Roux must “keep quiet.”
- Raymond Zondo on Thursday expressed “extreme concern” about Mpofu’s “unacceptable” conduct, but stopped short of announcing that he would be filing a misconduct complaint against him.
- The GCB has now confirmed that following a complaint from a member of the public, Mpofu’s conduct will be the subject of a formal investigation.
Attorney Dali Mpofu will be investigated for professional misconduct for his “shut up” comments at the Zondo commission and his subsequent tweet about the incident, the General Council of the Bar Association (GCB) confirmed.
GCB President Craig Watt-Pringle told News24 on Friday that the professional committee of the Johannesburg Society of Defenders would investigate the complaint made against Mpofu by a member of the public.
The complaint is related to the events that unfolded in the investigation on Tuesday night, when Mpofu stated that the Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, and his defender Michelle le Roux had to “keep quiet” while he objected to the line of questioning of Gordhan by Le Roux. Mpofu had been given an hour to complete his interrogation of Gordhan by Tom Moyane, who has tried to portray the minister as a corrupt racist who was “jealous” of his achievements as a SARS commissioner.
Le Roux wanted to ask the minister how he felt when Moyane referred to him as a racist. Mpofu objected and was enraged when Le Roux tried to explain the reasons behind his question.
“President, I’m on the ground. I really can’t take this,” said Mpofu.
He continued:
This cannot be happening for the third time. Mrs. Le Roux must shut up when I speak, okay?
When Gordhan, visibly surprised, exclaimed, “Ow!”, Mpofu replied, “You too, Mr. Gordhan. I’m still on the ground, shut up too.”
During the altercation, Zondo repeatedly asked Mpofu to “sit down” while listening to Le Roux’s explanation of his question. Mpofu initially refused to do so and later threatened to leave the commission. But he finally sat down, as Le Roux tried unsuccessfully to persuade Zondo that he should give Gordhan “the opportunity to explain to you and the country frankly how he feels as a person when Moyane accuses him of being a racist.” “.
After Zondo refused to grant Le Roux the right to ask that question, he completed his re-examination. Mpofu expressed his dissatisfaction with what he perceived as the mistreatment of Moyane and his lawyers “in this commission.”
“I was speaking. I did not interrupt when Ms. Le Roux was making objections and I am in the process of making an objection, and I don’t know on what basis I should be told to sit down when I am still speaking and she has interrupted me,” he said. .
He said:
I cannot be interrupted by a junior attorney when I am still speaking and need to finish my point. So I think it’s completely unfair. I think it’s uneven, the way parties are treated here and I just wanted to put that on the record. It is completely wrong.
On Thursday, Zondo stopped an investigative hearing to publicly express “extreme concern” over that interaction.
“I have never heard any lawyer in any court proceeding or in any commission forum tell another lawyer to ‘shut up’. Or a witness,” he said.
“No attorney, including Mr. Mpofu, has the right to start telling anyone else on this commission to shut up … not even I would use the words ‘shut up’. Such conduct is unacceptable to this commission and it is important that the public and other legal professionals should know that this conduct is not acceptable in this commission. “
‘I won’t allow it, regardless of who does it’
But, while Zondo expressed dissatisfaction with Mpofu’s comments and his initial refusal to sit down when ordered to do so, the Vice President of the Supreme Court stopped short of stating that he would file a complaint against the lawyer with the Council of Legal Practice or GCB. Instead, he said he may “have to consider what to do in the future if a witness, implicated person or his lawyer is unwilling to submit to the authority and instructions of the president.”
“Where everyone or anyone can stand up and tell other people in the process to ‘shut up’ and not rather ask the president to ask the other person to be quiet while talking, if that’s allowed then there will be chaos in the proceedings of this commission and that, I will not allow it. Regardless of who does it, “said Zondo.
He also stressed that, “not only was a lack of respect shown to some of the people in the audience, but it was also shown to the commission and to me, as president.”
He said:
My task as president is not made easier when legal representatives do not comply with what their noble profession requires of them. By the way, the same considerations apply to public figures.
Less than half an hour after Zondo’s announcement, Mpofu had responded in a tweet strongly suggesting that he viewed his conduct as a response to racism: “I am SO available for this fight … For the dignity of Black people and Black professionals. , Specifically those who are willing to be free from MENTAL SLAVERY! After 369 years we have run out of “other cheeks” to turn. RACISM AND ITS APOLOGIES MUST FALL AND WILL FALL! Let’s move on! “
Watt-Pringle told SAfm’s Stephen Grootes that he found it “disappointing” that Mpofu chose to “play the race card” in his response to Zondo’s comments.
It is understood that Mpofu’s tweet will be part of the misconduct complaint against him, which focuses on his alleged violation of the professional code of conduct for defenders. He is also accused of showing contempt for Zondo and the commission.
