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Eastern Cape attorney struck from roll after scandalously writing the judgment in her own clients’ case

The Eastern Cape Division of the High Court has ordered that attorney Zoleka Ponoane be struck from the roll after she convinced a magistrate to let her write the judgment in a case in which she was representing a number of men against the minister of police.

By Estelle Ellis

22 Aug 2025

Zoleka Susan Ponoane has been struck from the roll of attorneys by the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court. (Photo: LinkedIn)

The South African Legal Practice Council succeeded in its application to have attorney Zoleka Ponoane struck from the roll of attorneys after it was discovered that she had convinced a magistrate to let her write a ruling in a damages case where she was representing the plaintiffs.

Ponoane is based in Komani.

The case has been making its way through Eastern Cape courts for a decade, and every judge hearing a part of it has expressed their outrage and astonishment at Ponoane’s behaviour.

Read the full article on the Daily Maverick.

“Of the nine cases referred to and cited, only two could be found to exist, albeit that the citation of one was incorrect,” wrote Judge Elsja-Marie Bezuidenhout about an application for leave to appeal. Illustration: Lisa Nelson

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Source: Daily Maverick

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