Farouk Chothia
A GROUP of Durban lawyers stormed the offices of the Legal Aid Board (LAB) last Friday, claiming that only “corrupt” attorneys who paid “kickbacks” were offered state-funded cases.
After storming the LAB’s office in the Durban’s Magistrate’s Court building, the group of about 20 lawyers demanded to see a roster where all lawyers requesting legal aid cases were listed.
“In some cases, attorneys never received instructions in the last eight months, even though their names were on the roster,” said one lawyer.
The protesting lawyers also handed a memorandum to the chief magistrate outlining their grievances. Lawyers said similar allegations have been made about the allocation of legal aid cases in Umlazi, Verulam and Pinetown.
Sources told Weekly Mail & Guardian the story on condition they were not named, for fear of further victimisation.
Asked to comment, the director of the Legal Aid Board, HN Pretorius, said an investigation was underway into the lawyers’ allegations.
The sources added that “massive corruption” appears to have taken root in the Durban LAB: no more than 10 lawyers seem to have a stranglehold over legal aid cases, resulting in “poverty stricken” accused not receiving adequate representation in court.
“Their network to acquire legal aid instructions spreads from court orderlies and interpreters to police officers who tout for them. Some people believe that the legal aid officers themselves are part of this network,” said one lawyer.
He added that legal aid cases were a lucrative business: the LAB pays R450 for the handling of a case in a district court and R600 for a matter in the regional court. “With the imbalance in the allocation procedure, this group of about 10 attorneys receive an average of five to six legal aid instructions each day,” said one lawyer.
The sources said that competing for business among themselves, court orderlies and interpreters are believed to be paid between R30 and R50 for each client they bring to an attorney.
“It is therefore not unusual for some of these court orderlies and interpreters to wear Italian designer suits and leather jackets,” said a source.
Sources added that many magistrates and prosecutors have “turned a blind eye” to the corruption as “Christmas parties are thrown for them”.
The lawyers said that when the legal aid officer was confronted with the complaints last Friday, he gave “the stock response that the accused nominate those selected attorneys”.
Approached for comment, Durban attorney Jay Surju told the WM&G that this was “irregular” as in the “current legal aid system, the ‘person’ giving the instruction is the LAB itself and, therefore, there can be no question of an accused nominating a representative of his choice.
“Speaking politically, there is an onus on the state and the government to promote previously disadvantaged lawyers and the best place to start would be in the criminal justice and extend to other fields,” Surju added.
Pretorius, of the LAB, said allegations of corruption or maladministration “are obviously a matter of concern to the board. Such allegations are investigted thoroughly and as a matter of great urgency. The board will not hestitate to discipline any of its members found guilty of such conduct.”