News24 | General Council of the Bar of SA refers Jeremy Gauntlett sexual abuse allegations for investigation

• The General Council of the Bar of South Africa (GCB) has referred allegations of historical sexual abuse against senior advocate Jeremy Gauntlett SC to the Cape Bar and the Johannesburg Society of Advocates for investigation.
• Gauntlett has been accused of sexually abusing a young Hylton White, now a senior lecturer.
• The GCB said it made no presumptions regarding the outcome and reaffirmed adherence to high ethical standards while recognising that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The General Council of the Bar (GCB) of South Africa has referred the sexual abuse allegations made against respected advocate Jeremy Gauntlett SC to the Cape Bar and the Johannesburg Society of Advocates for investigation.

Gauntlett, a former chair of the GCB and an aspirant Constitutional Court Judge, has been accused of sexually abusing a young Hylton White, now a senior social anthropology lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand.

In a statement on Tuesday, the GCB said it was aware of articles that appeared in the news media over the weekend referring to serious allegations of historical sexual abuse levelled against Gauntlett.

"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 statement read.

"The GCB is a federal organisation and, in consequence, this matter has been referred to the Cape Bar and the Johannesburg Society of Advocates for their processes to take place. The GCB will closely monitor any and all processes undertaken."

Gauntlett, a member of the Cape Bar and the Johannesburg Society of Advocates, was recently appointed to sit on a panel probing child abuse claims in the Anglican Church of South Africa.

READ | Respected advocate Jeremy Gauntlett accused of historic sexual abuse amid Anglican panel probe

White recently took to social media after what he said were failed attempts to bring the matter to the Anglican Church in South Africa's attention, describing Gauntlett as an unfit character to assess the matter.

News24 reported over the weekend that White expressed shock at the irony of Gauntlett's appointment by the Archbishop of Cape Town to probe reports of atrocities committed by the prolific serial abuser, British evangelical Christian barrister John Smyth.

READ | Jeremy Gauntlett steps down from Anglican Church inquiry panel after child sex abuse allegations

This probe was to determine if any reports or complaints were received against Smyth while he was in South Africa and whether the church failed to convey them to the authorities.

White, who previously spoke to News24, said any findings involving Gauntlett related to child abuse would have no credibility as he had, in the early 1980s, committed similar atrocities against him.

After the allegations against Gauntlett were made public, the senior counsel stepped down from the Anglican Church's inquiry panel.

The GCB reiterated that the allegations were serious and warranted that the ensuing processes be undertaken with the utmost integrity.

"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."