{"id":7460,"date":"2021-03-31T18:44:41","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T18:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?p=7460"},"modified":"2021-03-31T16:52:58","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T16:52:58","slug":"non-functioning-legal-ombud-leaves-complainants-helpless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/non-functioning-legal-ombud-leaves-complainants-helpless","title":{"rendered":"Non-functioning legal ombud leaves complainants helpless"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>The office of retired Judge Siraj Desai, South Africa\u2019s Legal Service Ombudsman appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in December 2020, is still not operational which has drawn serious concerns from the legal fraternity.<\/p>\n

Members of the public and law societies have voiced concerns that the Department of Justice (DOJ) might not have properly planned Desai’s appointment, leaving complainants with urgent matters helpless.<\/p>\n

An advocate of the High Court, Muhammed Abduroaf, said despite Desai only being appointed last year, the Ombudsman\u2019s offices had to be functioning as of October 30, 2018, when the Legal Practice Council (LPC) came into effect. \u201cIt is a very important office which has now been vacant for almost three years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abduroaf said if the office is not operational soon, then \u201cthe public will be denied their legislative recourse to lay complaints against legal practitioners as provided for through the office of the ombudsman. It would also mean that legal practitioners against whom the public is complaining would continue with their misconduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Josephs from Bellville, Cape Town, said: \u201cIt has been four months now and we are still not able to lay our complaints \u2026 We are told that the offices will only be operational once Desai\u2019s space is set up, but we do not know when.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard Benson, from Rondebosch, Cape Town, said: \u201cWe cant hold matters of urgency this long. Is there no alternative for the public, in terms of officials or Desai looking into our matters while they are in the process of setting up his office space?<\/p>\n

\u201cI have tried the LPC and other law societies for many years and not much has been done to sort my matter. My legal aid was even cancelled in favour of a crooked attorney, among other matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tony Pillay, acting executive director for the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA), also questioned why the office of the Ombud as per the Legal Practice Act had not been implemented. The LSSA\u2019s president Mvuzo Notyesi<\/p>\n

said in a press statement that while Desai\u2019s appointment was long overdue, it should have coincided when the LPC came into effect in October 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cI urge the DOJ to ensure that the Ombud\u2019s office is fully capacitated as soon as possible \u2026 The Ombud in terms of the Act is independent and only answerable to the Constitution and the law. Besides, other powers, the Ombud is competent to investigate any alleged act or omission that may affect the integrity and the independence of the legal profession and public perceptions in respect thereof,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The LPC\u2019s communications manager Sthembiso Mnisi referred Independent Media to the DOJ, however, he did confirm that the LPC was working with the Department.<\/p>\n

Mnisi last month said that the LPC had seen a significant increase in complaints of attorneys with more than 100 attorneys<\/p>\n

being suspended and struck off the roll for various offences since the beginning of the year.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson in the DOJ, Chrispin Phiri, who was speaking on behalf of Minister Ronald Lamola said the retired judge, the DOJ and the LPC were attending to all the administrative issues that need to be in place for the office to function effectively.<\/p>\n

He said they would need to attend to referral protocols, primary location, and human resource matters among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is anticipated that these issues should be addressed before the new financial year begins.\u201d<\/p>\n

While concerns were also raised over Desai being paid during this time, Phiri said it was common cause that retired judges receive remuneration despite not being in active service.<\/p>\n

Independent Media requested the ombudsman\u2019s office\u2019s contact details in which members of the public could make use of while in the process of setting up Desai\u2019s office space, but they were not provided by Phiri.<\/p>\n

Investigations Unit<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. The office of retired Judge Siraj Desai, South Africa\u2019s Legal Service Ombudsman appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in December 2020, is still not operational which has drawn serious concerns from the legal fraternity. Members of the public and law societies have voiced concerns that the Department of Justice (DOJ) might not have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":7459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-7460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nNon-functioning legal ombud leaves complainants helpless - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The office of retired Judge Siraj Desai, South Africa\u2019s Legal Service Ombudsman appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa i ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/non-functioning-legal-ombud-leaves-complainants-helpless\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Non-functioning legal ombud leaves complainants helpless\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The office of retired Judge Siraj Desai, South Africa\u2019s Legal Service Ombudsman appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa i ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/non-functioning-legal-ombud-leaves-complainants-helpless\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-31T18:44:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-6064a8c9d4082.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/non-functioning-legal-ombud-leaves-complainants-helpless#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/non-functioning-legal-ombud-leaves-complainants-helpless\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Non-functioning legal ombud leaves complainants helpless\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-31T18:44:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/non-functioning-legal-ombud-leaves-complainants-helpless\"},\"wordCount\":640,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/non-functioning-legal-ombud-leaves-complainants-helpless#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-6064a8c9d4082.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/non-functioning-legal-ombud-leaves-complainants-helpless#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/non-functioning-legal-ombud-leaves-complainants-helpless\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/non-functioning-legal-ombud-leaves-complainants-helpless\",\"name\":\"Non-functioning legal ombud leaves complainants helpless - 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