Advocates back down after crackdown on legal costs

UNDER its new regime, the National Prosecuting Authority has put its foot down on bills totalling nearly half a million rands from two advocates working on cases to disbar embattled deputy director Nomgcobo Jiba and two other NPA officials.

The two senior counsel handled high court bids by the General Council of the Bar to have Jiba, Lawrence Mrwebi and Sibongile Mzinyathi struck off the roll of advocates. After the NPA’s refusal to pay their bills, advocates Schalk Burger SC and Patrick Ellis SC waived a total of R417 000.

General Council of the Bar chairman Jeremy Muller SC said: “Clearly, there’s been a different attitude adopted following the departure of Mr [Mxolisi] Nxasana and the appointment of Mr [Shaun] Abrahams, a different attitude to the three individuals. As a result, I assume the refusal to pay is part of that change of approach.”

The case is unusual because the professional body normally handles cases against advocates accused of misconduct. However, senior NPA officials agreed to fund 75% of the cost of the case against their own officials, because it was expected to be strongly opposed.

On November

20, the bar council threatened legal action unless the authority paid the legal bill within five days.

The state attorney’s office responded by reminding Muller of the bar council’s undertaking to keep costs down.

In its letter, the state attorney’s office quoted new NPA boss Abrahams as saying the fees were “startling, taking into account . . . that Advocate Burger SC has charged a fee of R50 000 per day plus VAT of R7 000”.

Burger invoiced the state attorney for R307 800; Ellis’s invoice was for R109 440.

Burger’s fee for just one item, which he termed “settling affidavits” from June 3 to June 5, was R114 000.

“Even in the most complex of commercial matters and involving large amounts of money, this fee would be on the very high end,” said the letter from the state attorney’s office.

It also mentioned another letter from Nazeer Cassim SC, who wrote: “The General Council of the Bar is an independent organisation and the guardian of the advocates’ profession in South Africa.

“It is unbecoming of it to have entered an arrangement with the NPA to bring an application to strike off Advocate Jiba from the roll of advocates.

“The fees of Advocate Burger SC amount to R307 800. This is apparently for settling papers. I find it offensive as a South African and as a taxpayer that the national director of public prosecutions would countenance such a high fee. If you are minded to pay, please request the counsel concerned to tax his bill, because the fee is enormous and out of range.”

The state attorney’s office said it would not pay, and any steps to enforce payment would be defended.

Burger confirmed that he and Ellis had now agreed to conduct the case against Jiba, Mrwebi and Mzinyathi free of charge.

“This is a debate about the fitness of the respondents to be advocates; one should really not get waylaid with side issues,” said Burger.