Says he did not appear for various court cases, causing her to become a financial risk.
Mel Viljoen of Tammy Taylor infamy is asking the High Court in Pretoria to disbar an advocate she appointed to handle cases potential franchisees brought against her for taking a deposit without delivering the Tammy Taylor nail salon the person paid for.
She is now asking the court to instruct the Legal Practice Council (LPC) to disbar the advocate, the same LPC she called useless and corrupt when we sent them questions about her husband, Peet Viljoen’s disbarment.
Viljoen also mentions in her founding affidavit that she is now considered “a financial risk”. With the Hawks investigating her and her husband for fraud related to them selling licences for Tammy Taylor salons and banks considering her a financial “risk”, the question is how did they get to enter the US where they now say they live in Miami?
ALSO READ: These are the real reasons why Peet Viljoen was disbarred
“Melany Viljoen vs The System”
Peet now has a South African website where he offers consultation services for R5 000 an hour. His website also has a blog in which the Viljoens published Mel’s application to have her former advocate disbarred because he did not show up for her court cases.
However, the court papers she filed that are attached to the blog do not say as much as the blog itself. It starts off with the heading “Melany Viljoen vs The System”.
“They tried to silence her. Now she’s fighting back – bigger, stronger and totally unstoppable. When corrupt insiders, bureaucrats and their friends in the “elite legal club” thought they could destroy Melany Viljoen’s reputation – they made one massive mistake. They underestimated her.
“This is the Notice of Motion that shakes the foundations of South Africa’s broken legal establishment. Filed in the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, this document represents not just a lawsuit… but a revolution against political bias, abuse of power and media manipulation.
“They called it ‘justice’. She calls it revenge by the book.”
Signing off on this piece, Melany Viljoen describes herself as an “entrepreneur, educator and fearless whistleblower who exposed the rot inside the system”. She ends off with a quote she says is from US President Donald Trump: “They’re not after her because she did something wrong – they’re after her because she did something RIGHT.”
ALSO READ: Did the court say Peet Viljoen is not guilty in criminal case?
Viljoens worked directly with advocate, not through attorneys
In the founding affidavit, Viljoen says their attorneys at the time referred them to the advocate and told them to deal directly with him. She says the advocate also sent his invoices directly on WhatsApp to her husband for payment instead of the payment going through the attorneys as it should.
She says more than a year later the attorney attended a meeting between them and the advocate for the first time. In addition, she alleges that the attorney also insisted on payment in the months before the meeting, despite saying at the beginning that he will not be paid because they dealt directly with the advocate.
However, Viljoen points out that the attorney’s secretary also accepted instructions from the advocate as if she worked for him too. She then goes back to April 2023 when the advocate had to appear for them but did not show up in court. The result was that the court found against the Viljoens and issued a warrant of execution.
ALSO READ: Melany Viljoen of Tammy Taylor fame responds to our questions
Viljoens let advocate off the first time, but he allegedly did not show for various cases
She says in the affidavit that this was the first time that the advocate did not appear and they believed it was a bona fide mistake. When Peet contacted him when the sheriff arrived at their home, he acknowledged that he forgot about the hearing and said they must ask the court to set the decision aside.
The advocate charged them for drafting the application and Viljoen says in her affidavit they believed this was unfair, as the oversight was not their doing. However, they were willing to overlook the advocate’s conduct and continued to instruct him for this and other cases.
In July last year, Viljoen alleges, the advocate did not turn up at court again, leading to another default judgment and an award of R479 552.30 against her.
In October last year, it happened again, with another warrant of execution issued for R235 513.07. Viljoen says the advocate was already working on the matter and had invoiced them by then.
ALSO READ: No, Peet Viljoen of Tammy Taylor fame did not start a bank in SA as he claims
Advocate’s alleged no show made Mel a ‘financial risk’
One of Viljoen’s clients also brought an application against the Viljoen’s company for R2 145 000 and the advocate instructed Viljoen to file a notice of opposition. A court date was found and the attorneys informed the advocate. However, in November last year, the sheriff again arrived at the Viljoen’s residence and started to attach and remove furniture.
They asked the attorneys to instruct the advocate to bring an urgent application for a stay of execution, but it was unsuccessful. Melany also alleges that the judge pointed out that the application was lacking in various aspects.
Viljoen says in her affidavit: “As a result of the default judgment now against my name, I am now in a position that I cannot renew the lease of my offices as the landlord regards me as a financial risk and furthermore, I cannot now obtain credit at financial institutions.”
However, if you look at the podcast videos, the Viljoens seem to live the high life in Miami. Peet said in one of the videos that they can take off a few months because they “have enough money”. But later on in the affidavit she says the advocate’s conduct, despite being briefed and reminded of the court date, amounts to gross negligence which caused her “severe financial harm”.
Where did the money come from?
ALSO READ: Peet Viljoen is not the best attorney to come out of Pretoria, LPC says
The advocate is still practicing while Peet Viljoen remain disbarred
According to the LPC’s list of practicing legal practitioners, the advocate is still a member and he is still practising. The LPC has also confirmed that it is investigating Peet Viljoen for practicing without a licence, while Peet has said in one of his wife’s “podcasts” that he was already accepted by the US bar and must just write an exam to practice there.
We asked the attorneys and the advocate for comment, but they did not respond. If they do, their comments will be added. According to the LPC website, the advocate is still practicing. The same website shows that Peet Viljoen is still disbarred.
He also has a pile of legal troubles with the judgments against their Tammy Taylor company from women who paid for a licence and never got salons, the Hawks investigation for fraud, the LPC investigation for practicing without a licence and the fact that the criminal case he was involved in since 2011 could still be restarted before a different magistrate although he said he “won” and Mel talked about his “victory”.
And then they must still pay the $4 million (R71 million) fine for using the logo of the real Tammy Taylor Nails without her consent, while they are suing Tammy Taylor for $200 million.
