Johannesburg | Thursday
TWO men appeared in a South African court after they were unmasked as bogus lawyers, having called a magistrate “your majesty” and asked him to explain the term “previous convictions”.
Goodman Mokoena and Moses Moloi fooled staff at the Katlehong Magistrate’s Court south of Johannesburg on Tuesday when, dressed in black robes, they appeared before the bench to represent a client charged with assault.
Mokoena told the court he was a lawyer and said Moloi was his assistant.
But the Johannesburg daily The Star reported that their cover wore thin when Mokoena addressed the magistrate as “your majesty”, instead of the accepted title of “your honour”.
The twosome’s luck ran out completely when Mokoena asked the magistrate what he meant by previous convictions.
When the two failed to provide a business address, telling the magistrate they had just moved, he had them arrested.
The two who turned out to be unemployed appeared in court on Wednesday charged with impersonating legal officers.
They both opted to have lawyers represent them in their case. – AFP