Attorney in spotlight

THE Law Society of Good Hope's application to stop Mzwabantu Majola from practising as an attorney after complaints of theft of clients’ money were laid against him will be heard in the Grahamstown high court today.

Marius Wolmarans of Dullabh Attorneys, who represents the Law Society in the case, indicated during a telephonic interview with The Rep that if the application was successful, they would also file for Majola to be struck off the roll of attorneys.

The Daily Dispatch reported (“Lawyer faces axe after pay disputes” February 1) that one of the main complaints laid against Majola involved the theft of an amount of R70,000 his firm had held in trust in terms of the sale of a Komani property of over R2m. Court papers revealed the Crankshaw Brothers Trust had sold property to the South African Bible Church in 2016 for R2.1m. Willem van Jaarsveld, who was appointed as a conveyancer for the transfer of the property by Majola Attorneys, indicated the church paid some money in three instalments.

“I was not aware that Majola did not pay the whole amount to the trust. I was just as misled and all the attention this case has received has ruined my reputation. I do not know what happened, but Majola seemed to not have the remaining R1.7m at the time and sold some of his assets to pay it back. The case between him and the clients seems to have been resolved, but the court and the Law Society are playing their roles in the matter.”

Majola had also acted for sellers in other property deals and in one instance, the seller cancelled the deal after paying R1.3m into Majola's trust account.

Majola allegedly failed to return the money.

Phone calls to Majola for comment were not answered.