RETIRE? WHY WOULD I DO THAT?

It's been 10 years since advocate Barry Roux represented Oscar Pistorius in his murder trial, and at 68 he says he still feels like a spring chicken

- MEGHAN LAWRENCE

HE’S the guy who spawned countless memes and several parody Twitter accounts, the guy who had us all saying, “I put it to you”, the guy who appeared on our TV screens every day as the biggest trial the country had seen in a long time played out.

It’s been eight years since Oscar Pistorius was sent to jail but the man who represented him is still a household name.

And today Barry Roux is doing what he’s rarely done before: said yes to an interview, even though he admits he did so through gritted teeth.

“I’ve only done one or two interviews but I’ve given in because I could see you weren’t going to let me be,” he mutters when we meet him in his office in Sandton City, Johannesburg. “ You’re worse than

Gerrie.” Gerrie is, of course, Gerrie Nel – the prosecutor in the Oscar trial. In the Pretoria High Court it was Gerrie vs Barry as the world watched the advocates go head to head over matters of law and points of order.

He’s known Gerrie for years, Barry (68), says and once the day’s work is done in court animosity is paused.

“You step outside, you have a laugh and you talk endlessly. I’m not a fighter outside court. I want to laugh and chat, not fight. If there’s an argument I’ll walk away.”

Barry has taken on plenty of controversial cases in his career. He’s currently representing paediatric surgeon Peter Beale (77), who’s facing three counts of murder and two of fraud after being accused of acting recklessly and unlawfully when treating three children who died at private hospitals in Gauteng.

He appeared for Dave King, a Glasgow-born businessman and Rangers football club director who was charged with defrauding the South African Revenue Service of more than R2 billion. King famously “beat” SARS in 2013 when he agreed to pay more than R700 million to settle his debt.