Accused real estate attorney claims he can’t appear due to health woes

A CAPE TOWN conveyancer at the centre of an alleged fraud case involving more than R1 million cited his financial and health woes as reasons for his failure to appear in court.

Garon Kevin Nortje, from Garon Nortje & Associates Inc (GNA), who faced an application to have him interdicted from practising as a lawyer, says his doctors indicated he should not attend any court hearing or appearances, as it would have a physiological and medical effect on him.

He was wanted for allegedly failing to conclude a property transfer for widow Brenda Daniels, as he was acting as an executor of her late husband Dennis Daniels’s estate.

The Mello Wood Trust paid Nortje more than R1m for the sale of the property in Pelican Park last year.

The sale of the property, worth R1.6m, never materialised, according to trustees.

The trustees said they discovered the bank account Nortje supplied did not belong to a trust account.

The high court recently ordered Nortje to pay back the money and to instruct the firm of attorneys and conveyancers appointed by the court to finalise the transfer of the property.

He indicated oppose the order.

While the case was expected to be heard this week, Nortje filed an affidavit requesting the matter be postponed.

“The doctors have indicated that any stressful situations, such as court appearances, he would could trigger a flare-up of my condition and could place me back in hospital.

“I am concerned that this may happen because of everything that (is) currently going on,” Nortje said in his affidavit.

Nortje had undergone a number of medical operations and procedures last year before becoming “seriously ill”. He was hospitalised in Constantiaberg for two days and later at UCT private hospital for five weeks, stated the affidavit.

“My chronic condition is embarrassing and of a highly confined nature, but I will disclose it in camera to the court only.”

According to the court papers, Nortje attended Groote Schuur Hospital three times a week as an outpatient and is visiting a clinic in Milnerton three times a week.

“I have since about the week of September 23, 2016 developed a severe upperrespiratory tract infection, which lasted for about threeand-a-half weeks and I am currently recovering from the last part of it.”

He said a crisis arose when the sheriff came to his house to remove goods.

Nortje said one of the three attorneys he approached to assist him refused, while the others promised to consider helping him.

“One of these two attorneys, eventually on the previous Friday, said that she will not be able to do so, and the other one just kept telling me that he was still considering it.

“Although I have followed up a number of times, I had hope that he would still help me.”