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By James mahlokwane 
57m ago
Pretoria – The lobby group Advocates for Transformation has criticized the president of the General Council of the South African Bar Association (GCB), lawyer Craig Watt-Pringle, for “anticipating” the outcome of the investigation into the conduct of lawyer Dali Mpofu during his confrontation with the lawyer of the Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan, Michelle le Roux, in the Zondo Commission.
The organization said yesterday that it would file a “misconduct” complaint with the Professional and Fees Committee of the Johannesburg Society of Defenders against Watt-Pringle. This was in connection with a media interview in which Watt-Pringle allegedly anticipated the investigation by saying that Mpofu telling Le Roux to “shut up” was outside the parameters of addressing his colleagues.
Advocates For Transformation’s top council, Fana Nalane, said Watt-Pringle had delved into the merits of the case during an interview in Newzroom Afrika before the Johannesburg Society of Defenders and the Professional Committee of the Johannesburg Society of Defenders could tackle it. .
Watt-Pringlee said, after confirming that investigations were underway, that:
“Telling a colleague to ‘shut up’ is way off the charts for the way we can address our colleagues. We are not allowed to let our personal feelings get into the way we conduct our affairs. We have to behave with dignity and decorum in court ”.
Nalane said that when asked if there was an alternative way Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo could have dealt with the situation, Watt-Pringle responded: “It doesn’t matter if Justice Zondo was right or wrong. He is the president, he directs the proceedings. There is no excuse for a lawyer to tell a colleague to shut up. “
Nalane said: “The Advocates For Transformation believes that Watt-Pringle anticipated the outcome of the investigation and compromised the integrity of the processes prescribed by the constitutions of the Johannesburg Society of Advocates and the GCB, of which he was a member. They compromised the objectivity and independence of the GCB as an appeal body. The GCB could be legitimately considered to have prejudged the matter and undermined due process ”.
However, Watt-Pringle said the media reached out to him to discuss the matter.
Watt-Pringle said he intervened in the matter because Mpofu sought to undermine Zondo and Le Roux. He had to speak out against such verbal abuse. He said he would not hurt the case because his term as GCB president would end in July.
Pretoria News
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