In recent years, the legal profession has increasingly found itself exposed to a new and troubling phenomenon:
the ease with which parties to litigation can weaponize social media to misrepresent ongoing legal processes and malign those involved in them.
As practitioners, we are often required to carry out work that is inherently difficult – enforcing court orders, securing properties, recovering debts, and bringing long and complex litigation to finality.
It is work that is mandated by our clients and supervised by the courts, yet it frequently places us in the crosshairs of anger, frustration, and, at times, deliberate misinformation.
This article serves to provide much-needed context to a pattern that has become unsettlingly common. Attorneys, advocates, judges, sheriffs, and court officials perform their duties within a structured legal framework.
However, when a litigant disagrees with an outcome or finds themselves on the losing end of a lawful judgment, the temptation to cast aspersions, create false narratives, or publish damaging allegations online has become an all too familiar tactic.
I have been the attorney of record in a matter that has spanned more than 5 years, involving extensive litigation and more than 38 court orders granted against the opposing parties. Throughout this time, those parties have repeatedly pursued every avenue of challenge available to them, as is their right.
However, when those efforts were unsuccessful, there has been a disconcerting pattern of accusations directed at the judges, the sheriffs, senior counsel, and members of our firm who have simply carried out their professional responsibilities.
Regrettably, allegations have been fabricated and circulated in an attempt to cast doubt on lawful court processes. These allegations are not new, they are not supported by evidence, and to date no criminal charge has ever been brought against me in relation to any of them.
Nevertheless, misinformation continues to surface, causing unnecessary confusion among those who are unfamiliar with the true background of the litigation. These dynamics have recently manifested in a deliberate and paid for smear campaign published on a Facebook page masquerading as a news platform, where unfounded and misleading allegations were circulated about me and my firm.
While we do not intend to give undue attention to misinformation, it is necessary to record that these assertions bear no relation to the facts or to the extensive body of court rulings that have shaped this matter. The perpetrators of these defamatory and baseless allegations will be dealt with in accordance with the law, and we fully intend to address this deliberate campaign through the proper channels.
The reality is that the legal system is designed to provide finality. When a court hands down a judgment, that judgment carries consequences, and enforcing it is part of the difficult but essential role that attorneys must play.
Foreclosures, evictions, execution against property, and the recovery of debts owed to financial institutions are never pleasant processes. They require firmness, professionalism, and strict adherence to the rule of law.
They also require attorneys to maintain composure in the face of aggression, obstruction, and, in some cases, unlawful conduct by litigants seeking to frustrate the implementation of court orders. In this particular matter, there have been several occasions where possession of a property had to be restored through urgent spoliation applications, some of which required intervention by the South African Police Service, private security personnel, and court officials working late into the night.
These situations are not of our making. They arise when parties take the law into their own hands. Our role is simply to restore legality and to uphold the authority of the court.
As legal practitioners, we are bound by our oaths, our ethical obligations, and our responsibility to ensure that justice is carried out in accordance with the law. We do not relish being involved in the hardship that sometimes accompanies litigation. We do so because it is our duty, and because the integrity of the legal process depends on it.
My purpose in writing this piece is therefore a caution and an encouragement to colleagues: the environment in which we practice has changed. Online misinformation, anonymous pages, and social media campaigns can spread rapidly and without accountability.
It is essential that legal practitioners prepare themselves for these realities, document their work meticulously, and remain anchored in the values of professionalism and impartiality. I express my sincere appreciation to our clients, partners, and colleagues who have supported us and maintained confidence in our work.
We will continue to conduct ourselves with dignity, transparency, and respect for the courts. We remain committed to enforcing lawful judgments and to bringing long-running litigation to a close in a manner that upholds the rule of law.
Article by Japheth Chetty
