21 May 2026
The Mthatha High Court has directed that Kenneth Ntila be referred for criminal prosecution for representing clients in court despite being struck off the attorney’s roll. Illustration: Bronwyn Webb
A man struck off the attorney’s roll and convicted of fraud has spent years posing as a lawyer in courtrooms across the country. But his unlawful practice may finally be over after the Mthatha High Court referred him for criminal investigation.
In 2007, attorney Kenneth Phuthuma Ntila and hijacking “kingpin” Sinethemba Mkhumbuzi attempted to sell a building in Johannesburg that they did not own. They had fraudulently changed the ownership of the building on the company registration database.
In 2013, Ntila was struck off the roll of attorneys by the High Court in Pretoria.
In 2017, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Johannesburg Regional Court for the fraud. He appealed his sentence. The National Prosecuting Authority could not confirm whether his appeal was successful.
The Legal Practice Council confirmed to GroundUp that Ntila has not been readmitted as an attorney and is not allowed to practise law.
But Ntila has continued to represent clients in court. For example, in two cases in the High Court in Makhanda – one in 2024 and the other in 2025 – Ntila acted as a partner of Luxolo Fodi Inc, despite the firm having ceased operations in 2024 after its director, Luxolo Fodi, was appointed as a magistrate. Ntila lost both cases.
In his most recent case in the Mthatha High Court, he represented Nomathamsanqa Tolbadi in a medical claim against the Eastern Cape Department of Health and its MEC, Ntandokazi Capa.
The department’s lawyers discovered that Ntila was a convicted criminal who had been struck off the roll, and brought this to the court’s attention.
On 14 May, acting Judge Mvuso Notyesi struck out Tolbadi’s claim and ordered Ntila to pay the costs personally.
The order declared Ntila’s conduct “irregular, unlawful, and … not in accordance with justice and the public interest.”
The judge directed the court registrar to inform all registrars that Ntila may not appear before any court of law, and to circulate the court order to judge secretaries in the province.
The Hawks were directed to investigate Ntila, and the Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecution was directed to consider prosecuting Ntila.
Eastern Cape director of the Legal Practice Council Alfred Hona told GroundUp that Ntila will be reported to the police.
Approached for comment, Ntila said he was not compelled to answer the media and dropped the call.
