Attorney denies he ‘tricked’ client
Mother claims she was duped into signing a R2-million loan agreement
Signing a document without reading or understanding its contents has returned to haunt a mother of an accident victim who unwittingly lent the attorney her son’s money.
Thembi Ndzimande, 39, of La Rochelle in Rosettenville, said she was hoodwinked into signing a loan agreement under the guise she was accepting a Road Accident Fund offer and also confirming her son’s case was handled to her satisfaction in September 2011.
Ndzimande said her son was severely injured in 2003 by a motor car, which left her threeyear-old with a head injury.
As a result her son cannot talk and also suffers from epileptic fits, said Ndzimande.
She then enlisted the assistance of Hermanus JW Bothma Attorneys to lodge a Road Accident Fund claim on her son’s behalf.
Ndzimande said the fund eventually compensated her son with R2.4-million, which was paid in instalments into the attorney’s trust account.
The last instalment of R1 790 797 was received on September 29 2011.
The attorney invited her to visit their office a day later to sign papers she was satisfied with the outcome of her son’s claim, she said.
Little did she know that she was entering into a loan agreement of R2-million to Brakspruit Boerdery Trust.
She was not given a copy of the loan agreement and she did not ask for it as she was not aware of it.
It was after she sought the help of another attorney in 2014 that she received a statement of account which showed she had granted Brakspruit Boerdery Trust a loan of R2-million.
“I was shocked when he gave me a copy of the contract showing that the money would be refundable over a period of 10 years at a low interest rate of 4% per year,” she said.
Ndzimande said she also noticed that Bothma represented both her son and Brakspruit Boerdery Trust, with whom he shares his office.
She said the attorney bought her son a house worth R350 000 as agreed, and insisted that they never spoke about a loan.
She later reported the attorney to the Law Society of the Northern Province (LSNP) and the firm was told to refund the money within 90 days, but this has not been the case.
“I think it is irregular and unheard of for an attorney to borrow the client’s road accident compensation,” Ndzimande said.
Hermanus Bothma denied he tricked Ndzimande into signing a loan agreement with the trust or buying a farm in Mpumalanga.
He said she did approach the LSNP with her complaint, which he is opposing.
“The matter is sub judice and not finalised,” he said.
He also denied he was asked to refund the money.
He said he was informed that the Brakspruit Boerdery Trust has already repaid R1 055 213.
He said this amount included a house worth R573 213they bought for her son.
Riaz Lorgat, a legal official at LSNP, said they have investigated Bothma and his matter is currently in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
Bothma has been given until the end of this month to file his answering affidavit.