Monday, February 17, was supposed to be D-Day for suspended attorney Zietta Janse van Rensburg, who is facing charges of fraud, forgery and uttering.

The trial dates of February 17 and 19 were set down by Magistrate Jacob Mamabolo on November 25. However, the court stenograph at the Malelane Periodical Court was not working on Monday, and all attempts to get it going failed.

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Adv Hennie Janse van Rensburg, who appeared on behalf of Zietta, asked the court to use a paper process and continue the proceedings. Mamabolo said he was not comfortable doing so, as the court needed to consider that a lot would be happening during the proceedings and that it was not able to predict what could happen post-trial. He wanted all evidence to be on record.

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The parties settled on April 24 and 25 for the trial to continue, and proceedings will be moved to the Tonga court, which has the necessary equipment in both its courtrooms.

This was the ninth court proceeding of the case since July 2024. Zietta first represented herself, but later turned to Legal Aid before appointing Adv Hennie to represent her.

Zietta remains barred from practising as an attorney.

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The Legal Practice Council (LPC) confirmed on Tuesday, February 18, that the hearing date for striking Zietta off the roll had not been set down, as pleadings were outstanding. The council’s spokesperson, Kabelo Letebele, said the LPC was served with two urgent applications, which it opposed.

These applications were also supposed to be heard on an urgent basis in the Mpumalanga High Court on Tuesday, but they were not enrolled as Zietta had failed to file her papers within the prescribed timeframe and as per the court’s directive.

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“We will thus move the strike-off application to case management for a set-down date; the LPC papers have been filed in all three applications. She remains suspended, and she isn’t allowed to practise on her own account,” Letebele said.

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