The players in the Mhlauli case

Typical of these types of public interest cases, the tussle between the lawyers would be more than a side-show. Even in the early rounds it was evident that the lawyers would bring much more than just black letter law application to the case. The characters and the experience of the men in gowns would count for a lot.

The defence has gone for the skies in bringing advocate Francois Van Zyl. The South African national has vast experience having worked as Deputy Attorney General in Cape Town and Attorney General in the then Transkei. He has served in the office of the Attorney General in Namibia.