Four lawyers down‚ a damning psychologist report‚ a dismal assessment by a probation officer and a character witness who painted her as a “lunatic” were only some of the signs of Vicki Momberg’s self-destructive nature.

The convicted racist’s legal woes and her constant clash with her lawyers were only the tip of the iceberg.

It is not common for an accused person to change lawyers as often as this Johannesburg real estate agent did. She dropped counsel after counsel following disagreements on how the case should be handled.

On lawyer number three‚ Magistrate Pravina Raghoonandan had warned Momberg to "co-operate" with her lawyer who was operating pro bono.

He eventually quit.

Momberg‚ who was arrested and charged with crimen injuria after insulting‚ belittling and degrading black police officers and 10111 operators‚ labelling them as "k*****s"‚ showed that her problems went beyond what had happened that night.

She claimed to have been distraught and disturbed after being a victim of a smash-and-grab.

Prosecutor Yusuf Baba previously told the court a psychologist had found that Momberg suffered from sane automatism (temporary insanity) but despite this‚ the doctor had also found that Momberg could tell the difference between right and wrong.

Meanwhile‚ a black probation officer‚ Takalani Sekoba‚ who had been tasked to consult with Momberg and compile a report‚ also quit‚ saying she had found herself being a victim of Momberg’s insults who had told her she needed to “study more”.

The report was eventually compiled by Sekoba’s senior‚ Daphney Naidoo‚ who also felt Momberg’s wrath. Momberg accused Naidoo of conspiring with Baba. This was in addition to claims she had made that Raghoonandan had not been fair on her‚ leading to her “not trusting the justice system”.

But Naidoo’s report had painted a picture of a woman who had gone through a lot in life in both her personal capacity and businesswise.

She highlighted how her romantic relationships had failed‚ mostly because her boyfriends cheated on her.

When it came to jobs‚ Momberg had moved from one job to another before settling on opening her own real estate business.

Over the years‚ she lost around R50-million.

She had listed a former business associate as a character witness but instead of this man singing her praises and calling on the court to show mercy‚ he said she was a danger to society‚ disrespectful‚ abusive and aggressive.

“She is an absolute lunatic who cannot be trusted and is bad news altogether‚” he was quoted as saying.