Suspended national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola has opened a new front in the battle engulfing the South African Police Service (SAPS) top brass, accusing the police’s litigation chief of taking information from a confidential legal consultation with him and turning it into evidence for investigators pursuing senior Crime Intelligence officers.
Masemola has hauled Maj-Gen Dipuo Ramorena-Tsoai before the Legal Practice Council, alleging that the admitted attorney crossed from being his legal adviser into becoming a source for the Independent Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) in the same matter on which he had consulted her.
The complaint goes directly to the integrity of the legal machinery inside police headquarters. Masemola says Ramorena-Tsoai got involved in an internal conflict because high-ranking SAPS officials gave different legal opinions about disciplinary actions involving Crime Intelligence boss Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo and others.
As national commissioner and final decision-maker, Masemola says he turned to her for independent legal advice.
He alleges that the consultation meant to help him resolve the dispute found its way into Idac’s evidentiary arsenal.
“The statement was provided without my knowledge or consent and without any waiver by me of legal professional privilege,” Masemola says in the complaint. His case is not that Ramorena-Tsoai merely told investigators that a meeting had occurred.
Masemola alleges she disclosed the substance of the consultation, including the issues placed before her, the legal questions discussed and the advice he sought before exercising his powers as national commissioner.
That allegation creates the sharpest point of the complaint: Masemola says the SAPS lawyer he trusted to help him make a legal decision later became a witness in the investigative machinery surrounding the same decision.
He tells the LPC that Ramorena-Tsoai “became a source of evidence against her own client”. Masemola says he had approached her precisely because he wanted an “objective, impartial and independent legal assessment” amid competing views from senior officials.
He alleges that the consultation was undertaken solely to obtain legal advice and that he disclosed sensitive information on the understanding that it was confidential.
The complaint asks the LPC to determine whether Ramorena-Tsoai breached the continuing duty of confidentiality owed to a client, infringed legal professional privilege and placed herself in a conflict of interest.
Masemola also wants the regulator to decide whether it was professionally permissible for her to provide a statement or affidavit against him concerning the matter on which she had been consulted.
“Where a legal practitioner finds themselves in a position of conflict, the accepted professional course is to decline to act or to withdraw from acting,” Masemola states.
He argues that an attorney cannot provide confidential advice to a client and thereafter participate in proceedings against the client on the same subject matter without raising questions of loyalty and professional ethics.
To back up the complaint, he refers to Ramorena-Tsoai’s statement or affidavit and an affidavit by Idac investigator Brian Padayachee in litigation involving Khumalo and others, in which her evidence is referenced.
The LPC is being asked to determine whether Masemola’s account establishes professional misconduct and whether disciplinary proceedings should follow.
SAPS national spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said: “We are not aware of the said letter. However, if indeed such a complaint has been lodged with the Legal Practice Council, it is a matter between the council and Gen Masemola.”
Masemola and Ramorena-Tsoai did not respond to questions at the time of publication.
- Suspended national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola has lodged a complaint against Maj-Gen Dipuo Ramorena-Tsoai with the Legal Practice Council, alleging she breached legal professional privilege and confidentiality.
- Masemola accuses Ramorena-Tsoai of transforming information from their confidential legal consultation into evidence for the Independent Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) against senior Crime Intelligence officers.
- He claims Ramorena-Tsoai gave evidence regarding the substance of their legal consultation without his knowledge or consent, creating a conflict of interest by acting against her own client.
- The complaint requests the Legal Practice Council to determine if Ramorena-Tsoai's actions constitute professional misconduct and whether disciplinary proceedings are warranted.
- SAPS national spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe stated they are unaware of the complaint and consider it a matter between the Legal Practice Council and Masemola.
Masemola has hauled Maj-Gen Dipuo Ramorena-Tsoai before the Legal Practice Council, alleging that the admitted attorney crossed from being his legal adviser into becoming a source for the
As national commissioner and final decision-maker, Masemola says he turned to her for independent legal advice.
He alleges that the consultation meant to help him resolve the dispute found its way into Idac’s evidentiary arsenal.
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Masemola alleges she disclosed the substance of the consultation, including the issues placed before her, the legal questions discussed and the advice he sought before exercising his powers as national commissioner.
He tells the LPC that Ramorena-Tsoai “became a source of evidence against her own client”. Masemola says he had approached her precisely because he wanted an “objective, impartial and independent legal assessment” amid competing views from senior officials.
He alleges that the consultation was undertaken solely to obtain legal advice and that he disclosed sensitive information on the understanding that it was confidential.
Masemola also wants the regulator to decide whether it was professionally permissible for her to provide a statement or affidavit against him concerning the matter on which she had been consulted.
“Where a legal practitioner finds themselves in a position of conflict, the accepted professional course is to decline to act or to withdraw from acting,” Masemola states.
He argues that an attorney cannot provide confidential advice to a client and thereafter participate in proceedings against the client on the same subject matter without raising questions of loyalty and professional ethics.
To back up the complaint, he refers to Ramorena-Tsoai’s statement or affidavit and an affidavit by Idac investigator Brian Padayachee in litigation involving
SAPS national spokesperson Brig
Masemola and Ramorena-Tsoai did not respond to questions at the time of publication.
