A senior attorney who is a partner in a Johannesburg law firm could find himself in hot water after referring to a high court judge as a "complete idiot".
Brent Crafford, of Crafford Inc Attorneys, made the comment in a letter to the directors of a housing complex. They had hired him after a homeowner took the estate to court for refusing to approve building plans.
The ruling by Acting Judge Desmond Nair did not go their way, and Crafford appears to take out his frustration in the letter.
The case went to court after the homeowners association for Bushwillow Park Estate in Greenstone Hill, Edenvale, and a resident, Tanja Edmondson, failed to approve building plans for a unit owned by Mlilolilo Property Holdings, a trust owned by Sifiso and Vuyile Ntshangase.
In his judgment, Nair ruled that the association and Edmondson must approve the building plans and "authorise the applicant to submit said plans to the local authority for its consideration".
In the letter seen by the Sunday Times sent to the estate's directors in March, Crafford writes: "The former magistrate and complete idiot found in favour [of] Mlilolilo and ordered that Edmondson pay legal costs."
He adds that Mlilolilo had subsequently continued to "bombard" all parties with correspondence, the latest being an application to implement Nair's order.
"Although I do not think that such an application could possibly succeed, these days anything is possible," Crafford writes.
Walid Brown and David Bekker, co-chairmen of the Law Society of South Africa, slated the comments, saying they did not condone such behaviour.
Crafford declined to comment, saying the letter was private and "privileged".
Sifiso Ntshangase said his lawyers were shocked when they received the "insulting" letter.
"It is very unfortunate, knowing the history of our country. It was uncalled-for and it is wrong, particularly because he is an officer of the court. It means he does not even respect the constitution. Being part of the judiciary, he can not under any circumstances utter such," Ntshangase said.
His lawyer, Lebo Molope, said they were preparing to report Crafford and his other "very disruptive" action in the matter to the law society...