By William Saunderson-Meyer
It is charmingly quaint that some South African lawyers believe their profession might be brought into more disrepute than that in which it already wallows.
It is indescribably sad that it is the exercise of free speech that they believe is the cause of such a calamity.
According to a TimesSelect report, 29 “aggrieved” lawyers have lodged a disciplinary complaint with the Legal Practice Council (LPC) against attorney Marc Aupiais. Aupiais has supposedly committed the grievous offence of “potentially bringing the legal profession into disrepute”.
Aupiais’s allegedly disreputable behaviour was not in the time- hallowed manner of the typical South African rogue lawyer. It was not by embezzling money from the firm’s trust account, nor by failing to carry out work in a competent and timely manner, nor by overcharging a client.
Neither was it in the new tradition of the politically connected South African lawyer. Scores of these legal weasels have during the past decade been complicit in abetting and/or ignoring outrageous acts of state capture and corporate malfeasance, although few or none have faced professional censure.
No, Aupiais did something far more egregious. He said something very naughty on Twitter.
Aupiais’s comments were of such a magnitude they “violated the values of human dignity and equality as enshrined in the Constitution”. His words were “an affront to the historical suffering of many South Africans and the project of bringing about social reform to ensure the democratic society”. His remarks “sows (sic) division and are deeply offensive to many South Africans”.
So, what vile calumny did Aupiais utter?
It was a reaction to a tweet about the death of Zindzi Mandela. The tweet he was responding to, on the face of it, was unremarkable. It read: “Zindzi Mandela (59) just died in Johannesburg do you guys remember her?”.
But fearless journalism has exposed the true, diabolical nature of the exchange. It was posted by someone called Willem Petzer who, says the reporter, is a “popular alt-right figure who has feverishly campaigned as an activist for (sic) what he perceives to be a ‘white genocide’.”
Aupiais, in turn, exiled himself from civilised society by allegedly responding - following the furore, he has removed himself and the tweet from Twitter - that Zindzi had “finally got her plot of land”.
To anyone who detests the political views of Zindzi, Aupiais’s comment would be damn funny. And since it was posted on a social media platform that specialises in the outrageous and the provocative, one would have thought that those slumming on Twitter could be assumed to be emotionally robust enough to endure a little snipe.
Things could be far worse, when it comes to “violating the values of human dignity and equality as enshrined in the Constitution”. Take, for example, these tweets:
“(I) miss all these trembling white cowards, shem. Botha, Potgieter, Thieving Rapist descendants of Van Riebeck (sic), etc: how are you my babies? We shall gesels more Mr Skont and Ms Unus #OurLand”.
Also, “They are cowards. You know those uninvited visitors who don’t want to leave.”
These are tweets of Zindzi Mandela, made over several days while serving as our ambassador to Denmark.
Mandela’s punishment was to be rebuked for her lack of diplomacy and having to promise not to do it again.
I have no time for conspiracy theorists, like Petzer, who believe there is a government-tolerated white genocide taking place in South Africa.
Neither do I feel much warmth for an ambassador, like Mandela, resorting to racist stereotypes against her fellow citizens. I would, however, not wish to silence either party. And it does perturb me that 29 unnamed lawyers are trying to do exactly that.
It would be good to know who these 29 lawyers are.
Who would want to be represented by a lawyer who wants a colleague disciplined because of the heinous crime of “disrespect to Her Excellency the late ambassador”?
Nevertheless, it’s going to be interesting to see how the LPC handles this political hot potato. If they give it anything other than short shrift, it will be the anonymous 29 and the LPC itself, which are placing the SA legal profession into disrepute.
* Follow WSM on Twitter @TheJaundicedEye. See also https://bit.ly/lettertoIOS
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL.