Former advocate Seth Nthai appeared in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday, facing three charges of corruption. 

The matter was postponed to 3 June to allow Nthai to make representations to the Director of Public Prosecutions to have the charges against him withdrawn. 

Nthai, 62, will make representations by 2 June. 

Meanwhile prosecutor, advocate Jacob Tloubatla, told the court that the State would call two witnesses during the trial.

Nthai, who was stripped of his advocate title by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in 2020, is currently out on R5 000 bail. 

The case related to allegations that Nthai attempted to solicit a R5-million bribe in 2009 from Italian businesses, which had been locked in a mining rights dispute with the South African government.

In 2020, the SCA overturned Nthai's readmission to the Bar - and referred its ruling to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to consider possible criminal charges, News24 reported. 

In its ruling, the SCA said, "On his own version, there is no escape from the fact that this [attempt to solicit a bribe] constituted a serious crime for which he surprisingly does not appear to have been charged."

The appeals court then dismissed the Polokwane High Court's ruling that depression and anxiety could explain Nthai's attempt to solicit the R5-million bribe.

It said there was insufficient psychiatric evidence to support this finding.

"The anxiety and depression, such as it is, hardly explain his clear, goal-directed behaviour over a protracted period, nor can it mitigate the dishonesty."

News24 previously reported that recordings of Nthai showed he not only promised to make the mining dispute case go away, if the Italian businesses paid the bribe into a foreign account, but he also disclosed key aspects of the government's strategy in fighting the case.

He even flew to Italy at his own expense to secure the bribe. He also agreed with the racist assertion of an Italian businessman that this kind of corruption was "more African".

The SCA said, "It is difficult to imagine a more egregious transgression of the norms of professional conduct."

"This was no mere casual or momentary lapse of judgment. It was carefully calculated and zealously pursued. When the several meetings in this country failed to bear fruit, Mr Nthai travelled to Italy for the express purpose of nailing down an agreement."

Last year, the Constitutional Court dismissed Nthai's application to appeal the SCA ruling.