Court orders mental evaluation for diamond dealer Louis Liebenberg after courtroom outburst

Following a verbal outburst in court this week by diamond dealer Louis Liebenberg, the 61-year-old will now have to undergo a 30-day mental evaluation at Pretoria’s Weskoppies Hospital.

The Bronkhorstspruit Magistrate’s Court decided to refer Liebenberg in this way, although a doctor who had evaluated him on Thursday morning did not recommend that he be referred for psychiatric observation.

The magistrate hearing his bail application on Wednesday ordered that he had to see a doctor so that the latter could determine whether Liebenberg understood the court procedures. This was after what was supposed to be his bail application, conducted by himself, ended in chaos.

Instead of arguing for bail, Liebenberg heatedly accused the magistrate, the prosecution, and correctional services of bullying him. During Thursday’s proceedings, the magistrate told Liebenberg that the doctor probably saw him for half an hour or so, and cleared him to conduct his trial.

But, after the previous day’s actions where Liebenberg “disrespected” the court and used “foul” language, the final decision is with the court on whether to send him for mental observation. The magistrate said she needed to be sure that Liebenberg fully understood the court proceedings; thus, it is necessary to send him for an evaluation.

The court further ordered that Legal Aid South Africa had to appoint a lawyer, free of charge, to represent Liebenberg. This is after his lawyer withdrew his services due to non-payment.

Liebenberg, in turn, told the magistrate that he wanted her removed from his matter, as he claimed she was biased towards him. The matter was meanwhile postponed to August 29 to ascertain when a bed will be available at Weskoppies for Liebenberg.

Apart from using foul language in court on Wednesday and telling the magistrate that she sounded like his mother, Liebenberg also addressed the fact that he had to address her as “your worship".

“The Bible says clearly that I cannot worship anyone apart from God… We got this thing (calling a magistrate your worship) from England. It does not mean I don’t have respect, but I have a problem calling someone 'worship'.  We are in Africa. We have potholes. We are falling apart. And we are worshipping one another…,” Liebenberg told the magistrate.

The magistrate on Wednesday, time and again told Liebenberg to get on with his bail application. She eventually ordered that he be seen by a doctor as he simply vented on.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za