Pretoria - Ailing rugby legend Joost van der Westhuizen will be back in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on Friday to ask for an order that the Attorney’s Fidelity Fund is forced to pay him the R385 665 as ordered by the court earlier this month.
The fund on Friday indicated in a letter to Joost’s lawyer, Ferdinand Hartzenberg, that it planned on appealing the order. No papers in this regard had been filed yet, but the fund made it clear that it still had time to approach the court regarding the intended appeal.
If this happened, the order that Joost must receive his money, will be suspended pending the conclusion of the appeal proceedings, which could take months.
In an affidavit filed at court, Joost said he does not have time to wait, as he is at death’s door. ‘This is a life and death situation….I am in dire need of my cash to finance my medical expenses at this stage.”
“Failure to secure the funds will probably lead to my death,” Joost said in an affidavit.
Judge Lester Adams last week ordered the fund to immediately pay Joost the R385 665 which was in his former lawyer, Robert Klinkenberg’s trust account.
Klinkenberg allegedly committed suicide in December, while there was a shortfall of up to R200-million in his trust account. Joost claimed that his money formed part of the money which was misappropriated or “stolen.”
The fund refused to pay the money to Joost and said he had to claim it from Klinkenberg’s estate.
Hartzenberg will on Friday ask that the court order the fund the pay Joost, even if appeal proceedings suspended the order. He said if the fund still refused to pay, he will obtain a writ which will enable him to sell the fund's assets on execution to get the money.
Pretoria News