Sibulelo ‘Sbu J’ Jele who is alleged to have heavily assaulted his girlfriend has been disowned by the Law Society of Eswatini(LSE), a legitimate organization of legal practitioners tasked with, among others, regulating the conduct of lawyers in the country.
Sibulelo Jele is or was working for SM Jele Attorneys, he was studying law at the University of Eswatini(UNESWA) and maybe, Sifiso ‘Charlie’ Jele was mentoring him to eventually become a lawyer.
I am highlighting this so that the Nation or members of the public can have a better understanding how Sibulelo Jele ended-up flying with legal eagles, this is a University law student not yet admitted to practice as a lawyer in the country.
It would therefore be unfair to blame lawyer ‘Charlie’ Jele or his law-firm for a Gender Based Violence(GBV) allegedly committed by an alleged employee who was calling himself a lawyer yet, he is a mere aspiring legal practitioner.
This bogus lawyer allegedly abused his proximity to prominent lawyers like Sifiso Charlie Jele, Bongani ‘Bhanyaza’ Mdluli and Advocate Mduduzi ‘Tsotsi’ Mabila, he would strategically walk or stand next to them at the High Court when these lawyers address journalists so that, he could be identified as one of them.
Therefore, it would be absurd to link his abusive conduct to these known lawyers who were never accused of GBV, the long arm of the law must just apprehend Sibulelo Jele so that, he can account for his actions before the law.
Personally, I have been receiving calls, others were calling for an investigation how lawyer Sifiso ‘Charlie’ Jele allowed the alleged perpetrator to practice law but objectivity is fundamental in journalism, we are addressing a Gender Based Violence issue here and we want the suspect behind bars.
In the legal circles, there are many young men and women normally seen carrying files for lawyers when appearing before the court to represent clients but, that does not mean, a Personal Assistant(PA) is a lawyer.
As the media, we have a tendency of shifting blame to cover-up our blunder which I strongly believe is fundamentally wrong.
Our job is very sensitive, we deal with people’s reputations and therefore, we must maintain accuracy and in the event we commit a serious blunder we must, at all times, be seen demonstrating willingness to account and correct our mistakes to maintain public trust and credibility.
The Times of Eswatini and Swazi Observer published pictures of Advocate Mduduzi ‘Tsotsi’ Mabila, Bhanyaza Mdluli and Sifiso ‘Charlie’ Jele and bogus lawyer Sibulelo ‘Sbu J’ Jele, captioning this pictures as “Manzini Wanderers attorneys”.
In the absence of evidence suggesting that, Sifiso Charlie Jele confirmed to the media that indeed, ‘Sbu J’ is a lawyer, we can’t blame his law-firm, the unlawfully ‘admitted’ Sibulelo Jele as an attorney by calling him a lawyer.
Charlie merely provided employment to a young man as a ‘PA’ so that he can familiarize himself with the environment of the courts in his aspirations to eventually become a lawyer, this is known as mentoring.
As mentioned, it was “us-the media” who rushed to call ‘Sbu J’ a lawyer and despite the fact that this blunder was committed by the Times and Observer, the media as a collective, must take responsibility and warn journalists to be accurate when reporting.
As journalists, let us learn a lesson and further understand that we serve the public, when we refer to someone as a lawyer, the public will believe us and we have an ethically obligation or duty, not to abuse and betray public trust.
Ethically, we expect the newspapers to publish an apology for referring to ‘Sbu J’ as a lawyer merely by seeing him walking with known lawyers, carrying files during court appearances
But this issue is about GBV, we want to see the bogus lawyer behind bars, the Law Society has clarified that he is not a lawyer to protect the image of the legal profession.
Equally so, by clarifying that Sibulelo Jele is not a lawyer, the Law Society was stating categorically that, it does not have jurisdictional powers to hold him accountable for violating the legal profession code of conduct.
Now, and based on the confirmation from the Law Society disowning ‘Sbu J’, we can safely call him a ‘bogus lawyer’ and demand justice for the victim.
The assaulted girlfriend.