Cape Town - The General Council of the Bar of South Africa (GCB) said allegations of sexual abuse against respected SA lawyer, Jeremy Gauntlett, has been referred to the Cape Bar and the Johannesburg Society of Advocates.
This, as Gauntlett and representatives of his remain silent on the matter.
In a statement, GCB chairperson, Ahditya Kissoon Singh said: “The GCB is aware of articles appearing in the news media over the weekend referring to serious allegations of historical sexual abuse levelled against Jeremy Gauntlett SC KC, a senior advocate practising in South Africa as a member of the Cape Bar and the Johannesburg Society of Advocates.
“Allegations such as these, are serious in the extreme, and are of great concern to the greater South African public, the legal profession and the GCB.
“The GCB reserves its comments on the matter at this stage, and whilst it adheres to its responsibility of upholding the highest ethical standards amongst the members of its Constituent Bars, it does not presume the outcome of the investigations and under the South African Legal System – everyone is presumed innocent until they are found guilty.”
The allegations surfaced last week when Wits University academic, Dr Hylton White, penned a letter to the Anglican Church of SA, stating it would not be just to allow Gauntlett to be part of the panel reviewing the church’s handling of reports of sexual abuse by former camp master, John Smyth. Gauntlett subsequently withdrew from the panel.
White took to Facebook on January 16, where he said his “patience had run out and braved to expose Gauntlett”, claiming he had abused him while he was a teenager.
Earlier, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town released a statement in which he said he accepted Gauntlett’s offer to step down from the panel.
Makgoba said he asked that Gauntlett’s exit from the panel not disturb the review process.
The scandal involving Smyth was blown open last year following the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, after the Makin review revealed an entrenched cover-up of abuse by Smyth, who lived in Cape Town and worshipped at St Martin’s in Bergvliet.
At least 85 boys were believed to have been Smyth’s victims in various countries.
The Makin review called for a full independent investigation of Smyth’s activities in Zimbabwe and South Africa.