JOHANNESBURG - It was confirmed by Minister of Defence Lindiwe Sisulu on Tuesday that she had appointed the disgraced former Connecticut lawyer Paul Ngobeni as her legal advisor. In his current capacity Ngobeni advised the minister on the dismissal of 1,300 soldiers who were believed to have attended the recent violent protest action in Pretoria.

According to Sapa (September 2 2009): "Sisulu's legal adviser Paul Ngobeni rejected suggestions that the dismissal letters were irregular. The defence force had a common law right to summarily dismiss employees who engaged in acts inconsistent with their duties as soldiers."

It is not clear what qualifies Ngobeni to pronounce on such matters. It is unclear whether he possesses a South African legal qualification. And he is permanently barred from practising law in his home state of Connecticut, after the authorities there brought a series of ethical misconduct charges against him. He is also still facing a number of associated criminal charges. After he failed to return to the United States to appear in court in March 2008 a re-arrest warrant was issued. The current status of the criminal charges against Ngobeni can be viewed below:

 Source: http://www.jud2.ct.gov/crdockets/parm1.aspx, accessed September 8 2009

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