/ 26 March 2010

Nthai resigns from Bar councils

The Pretoria and Johannesburg Bar councils are pressing ahead with a misconduct inquiry into advocate Seth Nthai, it was reported on Friday.

The Pretoria and Johannesburg Bar councils are pressing ahead with a misconduct inquiry into advocate Seth Nthai, Business Day reported on Friday.

Nthai resigned on Thursday amid claims that he tried to solicit a bribe from Italian mining companies contesting laws around mining rights.

In January, Nthai was accused of soliciting a bribe from 11 Italian companies involved in a protracted €266-million dispute with the government over mining laws.

He allegedly offered the investors a settlement in exchange for R5-million. He was not instructed by the government, whom he was representing, to seek a settlement.

At the start of the misconduct hearing on Thursday, he reportedly tendered his resignation.

He did not admit to the panel any of the allegations levelled at him, but in a press release said he held discussions with a representative of the Italian companies without his client’s instructions.

He said he accepted that this “constitutes a breach of the professional code of ethics”.

He then left the inquiry and it proceeded in his absence.

A seasoned practitioner, Nthai made his mark at the inquiry into former National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli’s inquiry into his fitness to hold office with his often theatrical and flamboyant style of questioning. — Sapa