The Legal Practice Council was set up to regulate South Africa's legal profession and began operating in 2018.

Under the provisions of the Legal Practice Act, the LPC is empowered to investigate complaints levelled against legal practitioners – and, if necessary, to apply for their suspension and/or removal from the roll of advocates or attorneys. The often-protracted process that the LPC embarks on before proceeding with an investigation – and its apparent delays in finalising some of its most high-profile probes – has led to criticism that it's failing to protect ordinary people from unscrupulous lawyers. Attorney Steven Gqeba received a R15.2 million state medical negligence payout for a severely disabled child three years ago, but – when he finally set up a trust for the now 9-year-old girl – only R50 000 of that amount had been deposited into it. Gqeba is one of 310 lawyers who have been suspended by the Legal Practice Council (LPC) based on serious misconduct allegations in recent years. Senior Legal Officer at the Legal Practice Council (LPC) Kholofelo Masedi joins Nhlanhla Sehume for the conversation.