By Khulile Thwala
A sombre mood filled the High Court on Tuesday, April 18, as the matter of a well-known lawyer was deferred to a later date.
The lawyer is accused of raping and impregnating his children. His identity has been withheld to protect his children. He appeared before Judge Sabelo Masuku.
The matter was deferred following the lawyer’s request to file an application seeking for the Presiding Judge to recuse himself due to what he claims is a conflict of interest.
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The application is scheduled to be filed on April 21.
Worth noting is that the Judge, Masuku, is vehemently opposing the recusal, as stated by the accused’s lawyer before the court, PK Msibi. Following the accused’s application on Friday, April 21, the Crown will file its answering affidavit on April 26.
This will be followed by a response from the accused on May 2 and then Heads of Argument from the accused on May 5. The Crown will further file its Heads of Argument on May 10.
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Thereafter, the next court session will be deferred to a date to be announced following court recess, which is close to three weeks. The lawyer is alleged to have impregnated his children and forced them to take abortion tablets. Two of the minors and his helper allegedly gave birth to his children.
It is alleged that one of the children fell pregnant six times and committed six abortions at the instance of the lawyer. One of his daughters, his niece and a helper, allegedly gave birth to the attorney’s children after failed abortion attempt at his instance.
The minors were allegedly sexually abused by the lawyer for years, beginning from when some of them were as young as 12 years old.
