Section 9 of the legal practitioners code of conduct states that a lawyer shall in the composition of pleadings and of affidavits rely upon the facts given to him or her by their client.
In so doing, the code states, they shall not gratuitously disparage, defame or otherwise use invective. They shall not recklessly make averments or allegations unsubstantiated by the information given.
We are reminded of this in the context of wholly inaccurate and damaging statements made by the lawyer of Molemo "Jub Jub" Maarohanye outside the Johannesburg magistrate’s court on Thursday after his client was released on bail on charges of rape, attempted murder and assault.
Questioning the timing and intent of the charges, Terrence Ntsako Baloyi said: “Our women are given too much power to exploit the criminal justice system and bring successful men down. It’s wrong.”
Such statements must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
First, Baloyi knows the sequence of events that led up to charges against Maarohanye.
He knows that even though the incidents are said to have happened in the early 2000s, it was only when Maarohanye made disparaging and disgusting comments about his ex-girlfriend that women began to come forth with claims of rape against him.
A case was only opened last year, making it reasonable that following investigations, prosecutors would only decide now to charge him, based on evidence they believe is worth putting to a court.
Therefore, claims of a conspiracy against Maarohanye, on the basis of time, are not only disingenuous, they are not a true reflection of events.
Baloyi’s claim that women are given too much power to abuse the system
is not only absurd but insulting to many victims of violence who are subjected to the worst forms of abuse and never get justice in the courts.
Let us be clear that we are not inferring Maarohanye’s guilt or innocence. That is for the court to do.
However, his lawyer must be mindful that casting aspersions on the entire criminal justice system without basis is unprofessional and highly damaging in a country where women are violated and too often, their perpetrators get away with it.
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