Mungo Soggot
The co-chair of the Law Society of South Africa is embroiled in a disciplinary probe in which he is being accused of mishandling cases involving accident victims.
The attorney, Willie Seriti, was due to appear before the Transvaal Law Society’s disciplinary panel on Wednesday, but sent a fax at 8.50am saying he was “indisposed” and would be unable to attend.
The head of the Law Society’s disciplinary arm, Piet Langenhoven, said there were 11 complainants lined up against Seriti, senior partner in the Pretoria law firm Seriti Mavundla & Partners. Langenhoven said several complainants had come to Pretoria from shanty towns to attend the hearing, which had cost about R10 000 to arrange.
Langenhoven said the disciplinary hearing was now set down for June, observing that the powers of the Law Society were limited. He declined to discuss details of the complaints against Seriti, beyond saying they were in some instances “serious” and related to overcharging.
Seriti declined to discuss the matter, except to say he did not believe the charges against him were “serious”.
The allegations against Seriti coincide with government efforts to clean up the legal industry that services the victims of South Africa’s thousands of road accidents. On the recommendation of Minister of Transport Mac Maharaj, Judge Willem Heath has been tasked with probing hundreds of complaints lodged by accident victims who claim they have been ripped off by their attorneys.
The public spotlight fell on accident lawyers when investigative journalist Martin Welz pieced together a major scam pulled off by a law firm, H Mohammed & Associates. Welz presented to the Cape High Court evidence of how the law firm stole from impoverished accident victims. The court then raided the firm’s premises to seize incriminating documents.
The raid unearthed documents behind mirrors in the office of the firm’s senior partner, as well as in his private toilet.