10 Mar 2014

Parliament has been informed that private firms are engaged to represent government in situations where the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) has insufficient capacity to meet all demands.

Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Dikgakgamatso Seretse said there were certain areas of specialisation where expertise was not available in AGC.

Mr Seretse said the conventional procurement methods did not meet the requirements of legal services and most of the time services were required urgently.

The minister cited Section 52 (1) (c) of the Legal Practitioners Act as an obstacle towards tendering of legal services adding that the AGC and the PPADB were engaged in how this impediment could be resolved.

He said the private law firms that were engaged in the last two years are Marumo legal Consultations at a cost of P543 424, Toteng and Company P75 515, S. Thapelo Attorneys P91 974, Molodi Mugoni Attorneys P11 374, and Slaughter and May P4 826 936.

The minister stated that most of the attorneys were holding instructions that were still on going. MP for Francistown South, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi had asked the minister why private law firms are engaged to represent government when there are lawyers at the AGC.

He further asked how these private law firms were engaged and which firms were engaged to represent government in the last two years and the amounts paid per case.  ENDS