A candidate for appointment as judge to the Labour Court, attorney Dawn Norton, was grilled by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) about how her law firm had handled things when, in 2014, one of her fellow directors had stolen about R17m from the firm’s trust account.
Though she had disclosed the theft in her JSC questionnaire, she was closely questioned about why the firm, Mkhabela Huntley Attorneys, had not reported the theft to the Law Society for about three years after it happened, as required by law.
After a day of interviews, the JSC announced its recommendations and Norton did not get the nod. The Labour Court had three vacancies but the JSC filled only one. Labour law specialist attorney Tapiwa Gandidze was recommended for appointment. The commission also filled a vacancy at the Electoral Court and recommended judge Leicester Adams to that court.
In her interview Norton said the reporting delay was “an error of judgment. But we delayed because the aberrant director was trying to recover the funds and the client who had been prejudiced was prepared to give him that leeway,” she said.
But her answer led to further questions. Commissioner Maboku Mangena asked whether if the aberrant director had managed to recoup the loss, “you would have kept quiet”. It never got to that situation, she responded. “We dealt with it as we could. It’s a regrettable part of my professional life. I really can’t take it much further,” she said.
This did not satisfy commissioners. Norton became aware of the theft in 2014. “And then you do nothing about it but hope; and give the offender the opportunity to fill the gap. And you don’t comply with the law that requires you to report. Now, that is a big thing. You sat back, you did nothing, even though the law is clear,” said commissioner Sesi Baloyi SC.
“It was not the right thing to do ... We should have reported it right then and there,” said Norton.
She was also grilled by Mangena and commissioner Julius Malema about how her firm’s directors had obtain a Fidelity Fund certificate while the trust account was in deficit. Certificates are issued after an auditor’s report certifying a firm’s accounts are in order. Attorneys may not practise without one.
“The books were not properly recorded and there was misrepresentation throughout. That’s why [you] got a Fidelity Fund certificate even where there was a deficit. Am I right?” said Malema.
“Ja,” she said.
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