Alleged brothel owners uMhlanga doctor Genchen Rugnath and his wife, Ravina, have had a major fallout with their lawyer.
|||Durban -
Alleged brothel owners uMhlanga doctor Genchen Rugnath and his wife, Ravina, have had a major fallout with their lawyer who, they said, “treated them badly” at times.
But while the Rugnaths told magistrate Simphiwe Hlophe that they hoped the dispute might be resolved, their attorney, Anand Nepaul, insisted on withdrawing.
“I elect not to act for them in the future. I do not represent clients when there has been a breakdown in trust,” he said.
The couple are standing trial before the Durban regional court magistrate. They and Sandile Zweni, Nduduzo Dlamini and Bhabha Dubazani have been charged with more than 150 counts relating to an alleged brothel operating from Inntown Holiday Lodge.
The doctor is the director of a company that owns the lodge.
The case has proceeded at a snail’s pace with only one witness, receptionist Yvonne Shinga, testifying so far.
Nepaul cross-examined her for more than a week and had not finished when the trial was adjourned.
The matter was called before court on Tuesday because of Nepaul’s application to withdraw.
Although the magistrate granted it, he seemed determined that nothing would scupper the continuation of the trial in June, when the evidence of the alleged prostitutes, some of them children, is to be heard.
State advocate Yurie Gangai said he would object to any applications for adjournments because some of the witnesses were in the protection programme and some of the accused were in custody.
The Mercury