Remorse is Teffo’s only saving grace

IN A scathing judgment on Friday, the North Gauteng High Court found that advocate Malesela Teffo did not adhere to the highest standards expected by the profession.

The severe punishment came after the Legal Practice Council said it had received 22 complaints about Teffo’s behaviour from 2019 to 2021.

What followed was an application filed in the court asking for his suspension. He was subsequently struck off the roll of legal practitioners.

In Sunday newspapers the defiant Teffo was quoted as saying the council was a “circus”; that he was not losing sleep following being disbarred; and that the judiciary was “captured”.

Somebody needs to implore, plead and drive the point home to Teffo that he must humbly exercise restraint and shy away from the media spotlight because in the long run, the defiant and belligerent utterances attributed to him are going to come back to bite him.

You don’t show the middle finger to the legal, ethical and moral custodian of the legal profession as an institution.

It is never a wise thing to do because it is portraying him in a negative light and courts can take judicial notice of such publications if the council seeks to present it as further proof of how unfit and improper he is to be an advocate.

Whether the North Gauteng High Court was too harsh or not in disbarring him is neither here nor there.

Teffo must forget about those who are cheering for him, and that social media platforms are misleading and can easily compound his situation unnecessarily. He must forget about displaying a facade of bravado and resoluteness to fight on.

Yes, let him exercise all his rights to appeal to the higher courts in the form of the Supreme Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court, but he must do so privately and quietly with a modicum of dignity and respect for the legal process.

The harsh reality of being struck off as an advocate must sink in, and he cannot go on to defiantly represent people in legal forums where he does not have a right of appearance and reciprocal right of audience to address the court.

Regret in these circumstances does not cut it in the precarious situation that he finds himself, only contrition and remorse are his saving grace.