Intimidation regarding advocates

Right, let's welcome then to the show from the Johannesburg Society of Advocates, Advocate Don Mahon.

And the reason we're talking to him is a story that I'm sure you heard and took note of earlier in Mbali Tlameni's bulletins.

The Advocates for Transformation organization has condemned... what they say are escalating threats against two very, very senior advocates in South Africa, Sandile Kumalo, who you know well from the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and Myron Durance as well.

They're senior and prominent members in the Advocates Fraternity more generally, but also do work with Advocates for Transformation as well.

And they are saying they've been subjected to increasingly intense threats, but also most alarmingly and appallingly, I think it's fair to say, the threats have now extended to threats of sexual violence and other kinds of violence against family members and female family members in particular.

The Johannesburg Society of Advocates has been looking at this closely and we're joined now by that organization's chairperson, Advocate Don Mahon.

Advocate Mahon, welcome and thanks very much for giving us your time.

You are very, shall I say, circumspect about pronouncing in any way on who might be responsible and what needs to happen next, but I'm sure you'd want to express some concern about this kind of thing happening to members of your profession.

Is this becoming an increasingly common thing or is this an outlier event?