Johannesburg - Convicted racist Vicki Momberg will have to stick with her "incompetent" lawyer, the Randburg Magistrate's Court said on Wednesday.
Magistrate Pravina Raghoonandan said the High Court would have to make a decision on whether Momberg's lawyer, Kingdom Onah, could withdraw his services, when the matter went on appeal.
Onah insisted that he submitted a letter to the high court regarding his withdrawal.
Momberg was sentenced to three years in prison in March last year, with one year suspended, following her racist tirade in 2016. She was found guilty of four counts of crimen injuria on November 3 for hurling racial insults at a black police officer and police call centre operators. She is currently on bail pending the outcome of her appeal.
"It's a last stage for him to withdraw and it's not beneficial for him because I'll have to brief someone else. I've given him the details of the other advocate to get whatever he needs to from him," Momberg said while addressing the court.
Onah said he asked Momberg to supply him with a signed brief that confirmed advocate Anesh Sukdeo would prosecute the appeal on a pro bono basis. To date, the request was not honoured, he said. Onah has also been assisting Momberg pro bono.
He added that he had delivered all the necessary documents for the prosecution of the appeal except for the heads of argument.
Onah told the court that he had been requesting the mandate from Momberg since October 2018.
Momberg said that despite needing Onah's help, she felt he was "incompetent".
"How does she expect me to assist her when she has made the statement that I am incompetent?" asked Onah.
Momberg read an SMS into the record from Sukdeo confirming that he would represent her at the South Gauteng High Court during her appeal on 18 March.
The matter was provisionally postponed to 19 March.