LETTER: Shut down odious public figures

The General Council of the Bar is right to call out Dali Mpofu for bringing his profession into disrepute. Advocate Baloyi Mere’s criticism of Adrian Basson’s News24 article describing Mpofu as a “legal nincompoop and scoundrel” should fall on deaf ears. Her attempt to attribute a racist connotation to the words is laughable. No amount of lexical research connects “nincompoops and scoundrels” to the colour of their skin.

Mere predictably falls back on the only defence she and her like-minded colleagues cling to in the face of any criticism of the dismal failures of the government, its cadres and those who ride on the back of the Zuma-like attacks on the judiciary — it’s all about racism.

Basson could well have included a number of other candidates in a circle of obscene, odious, offensive and objectionable public figures who posture, preen and perform with their narcissistic self-importance at heart, rather than the wellbeing of the nation. The names Ace Magashule, Julius Malema, Carl Niehaus, Muzi Sikhakhane and many others come immediately to mind.

Mere asks for Mpofu to be treated with respect but ignores the disrespectful manner in which he behaves in court (treating judges as if they are ignorant school children), in the Zondo commission (telling professional colleagues to shut up) and specifically his atrocious conduct in the Judicial Service Commission, happily and mischievously aided and abetted by Malema.

Mpofu and his like should be sent to the proverbial Coventry. Our country and people would be better off if he and his destructive comrades were not heard, seen or exposed in any way to decent society. Public figures should lift our standards of behaviour, not debase and degrade them.

David Gant
Kenilworth

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