Africa-Press – South-Africa. Disbarred advocate Malesela Teffo, who was arrested on Tuesday, refused to have his fingerprints taken and give his address to police because he was “scared and afraid” after allegedly being manhandled by the arresting officers, the court heard.
Teffo appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Thursday afternoon after being charged with assault, malicious injury to property, theft and fraud.
At the start of proceedings, State prosecutor Maggie Sikati requested a postponement because Teffo’s home address had not yet been confirmed.
She said Teffo had refused to cooperate with police and, as a result, “could not be properly charged”.
According to the State, Teffo refused to give police any information other than confirming that he was Malesela Teffo.
Sikati then asked the court for an order that Teffo allow police to take his fingerprints and that he gives them his home address.
Teffo’s advocate, Nombeko Mabena said that, according to his client, he would not give out his address because his safety and security had been threatened by the arresting and investigating officers in the manner he was arrested and the utterances made to him.
Teffo claimed he had been injured after being assaulted and that he was not given medical attention.
Mabena said Teffo would give his address to the court because “he feels safe”.
It was also Teffo’s instructions that his home address was well known. This apparent contradiction was noted by the court.
The defence also made it clear that Teffo wanted to apply for bail after Mabena handed up an affidavit in support of bail to the court. However, the application was not entertained.
Teffo’s defence team also dealt with whether he was charged and brought to court in the correct timeframe.
In terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, once a person is arrested, they need to be charged and brought before a lower court within 48 hours.
Mabena contended that this period had lapsed and that Teffo still did not know what he was in court for.
Sikati reiterated that Teffo had failed to cooperate with police and thus needed the court’s intervention.
She maintained that he had been charged and referenced the charge sheet.
Despite this, the State refused to hand over the charge sheet, which the court found arbitrary and made an order forcing the State to give the defence a copy of the publicly-available document.
The defence also asked that Teffo be held at Pretoria Central police station, instead of being taken to Kgosi Mampuru prison.
The court said it could not help with such a request and also pointed out that Teffo had effectively asked to be held at the same police station where he was allegedly assaulted by police officers stationed there.
Following more to-ing and fro-ing between the defence and the State, the court finally ordered that the matter be postponed to Monday for a possible bail hearing.
It was also ordered that police officers other than investigating and arresting officers be provided with the address for confirmation.
Charges
The charges against Teffo stem from two different incidents.
The assault, theft and malicious injury to property relates to an alleged incident at offices that Teffo was renting in the Tshwane CBD.
Teffo is accused of assaulting a security guard at the offices by hitting and kicking him, while also breaking a lock and stealing a door handle.
News24 previously reported that there was litigation between City Property and Teffo after he brought a spoliation application that was eventually dismissed.
In his application, Teffo claimed he was dispossessed of his office and his possessions on 14 April 2023 after the respondent locked him out of his office.
City Property has accused Teffo of taking up occupation in the office through deceit and subterfuge and, as such, had a valid defence of counter-spoliation.
According to the property manager, Teffo did apply to lease an office and also asked for a written quotation. However, this was not tantamount to an offer or his application to lease an office being accepted.
While Teffo’s application was still being processed, he took occupation of the office.
During the application process, it was also discovered that Teffo, who was previously a tenant, owed City Property more than R67 000 for rent in arrears. Teffo said he had no knowledge of this debt.
The property manager said Teffo had not been approved as a tenant and, more importantly, a formal lease agreement had not been entered into.
The second count of theft and fraud relates to a client that Teffo allegedly represented in the Labour Court.
Teffo is accused of taking R13 000 from the client when he was not entitled to do so because he does not have a trust account and a fidelity fund certificate.
Disbarred
Teffo is most popularly known for antics in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, where he represented four of the accused before withdrawing.
Soon after, in September 2022, Teffo was struck from the role of advocates following an application by the Legal Practice Council (LPC).
The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria found that Teffo had:
The court also noted his contemptuous behaviour in court, although this did not relate to the Meyiwa trial, but rather other cases that had been reported to the LPC.
The court ultimately found that Teffo lacked a sense of responsibility, honesty, integrity and no longer met the threshold of a fit and proper advocate.
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