A row has broken out in the Cape Bar after the Council of the Bar expelled an outspoken transformation activist for non-payment of levies and dues. Pearl Mathibela's membership was ended earlier this month.She is challenging her expulsion in the Cape Town High Court.In court papers, Mathibela complains of "sustained harassment by the Cape Bar Council and its members over a prolonged period".She has also reported the Cape Bar to the General Bar Council of S A ."I have furthermore raised - as part of a collective - many other contentious issues relating to the lack of transformation and various oppressive practices at the Cape Bar," Mathibela says in an affidavit."In essence, the termination of my membership relates to an amount of no more than R6000, which I have never refused to pay."The unfairness of my expulsion is further accentuated by the fact that there have been members who have owed amounts in excess of R100000 whose membership was not, to the best of my knowledge, terminated by the Bar Council."But Cape Bar deputy chairman Louise Buikman accused Mathibela of "abusing the process".Buikman said Mathibela had been given numerous opportunities to explain her default but had declined."As an African female, [Mathibela] was eligible for a transformation bursary."[She] applied for, and was granted, a transformation bursary by [the Bar] pursuant to which she received financial assistance from the Cape Bar of R8000 per month for the 12-month duration of her pupillage," said Buikman.Mathibela's assertions regarding her treatment were denied...