The provincial commercial crime investigation unit of the SA Police Service in North West arrested 41-year-old Teboho Johannes Motse on charges of uttering and contravention of the Legal Practice Act.
Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone, North West provincial police spokesperson said it is alleged that Motse “deceived” the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development by presenting himself as an attorney and appeared at various courtrooms at Bafokeng Magistrates' Court in Tlhabane.
Motse allegedly represented various clients in civil and criminal matters.
“He allegedly did this knowingly that he is not an admitted attorney. A case was registered in July 2023, for investigation and the accused was consequently arrested and appeared in the Bafokeng Magistrates' Court on Friday, November 8 2024,” said Mokgwabone.
Motse was remanded in custody until Thursday, for further investigations.
Meanwhile, provincial police commissioner in North West, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena has welcomed the arrest.
Last month, IOL reported that a disgraced attorney, Sepalela Rahab Mathobela, who was sentenced for stealing money from her clients lost an appeal on her six-year sentence.
The 42-year-old was sentenced on April 16, 2019. In September that year, her leave to appeal the sentence imposed by the regional court was granted and she was out on bail.
In her appeal, heard at the North West High Court, Mathobela argued that six-year sentence was shockingly severe and excessive. She said the court should have imposed a sentence of correctional supervision or a suspended sentence.
She added that the court failed to consider the fact that she paid back the R331,147 she had stolen with interest of over R19,000.
She further emphasised that she pleaded guilty and did not waste the court’s time, which was a sign of remorse, and she was a first time offender.
IOL