InfoUpdate
An Information Service supplied by the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society

Draft Bill

Children's Amendment Bill, 2006

To be introduced into Parliament during August 2006
Text may be obtained at www.socdev.gov.za
GenN 1137/GG 29150/23-08-2006

Cancellation of old wage determinations of South Africa
GNR 848/GG 29134/25-80-2006

Construction Industry Development Board Act 38 of 2000

Amendment to regulations
GN 842/GG 29138/18-08-2006

Explanatory memorandum on the amendment to the Regulations and the standard for uniformity in construction procurement
BN 92/GG 29138/18-08-2006 *

Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005

Regulations regarding the provision of Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) services
Added by GenN 1112/GG 29141/17-08-2006 *

Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998

Employment Equity Regulations
Replaced by GNR 841/GG 29130/18-08-2006 *

Financial Services Ombud Schemes Act 37 of 2004

Financial Services Ombud Schemes Regulations
GNR 847/GG 29145/18-08-2006

Guidelines on determination of case fees by statutory ombud
Added by BN 95/GG 29143/18-08-2006 *

Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995

National Bargaining Council of the Leather Industry of South Africa

Extension to Non-parties of the Footwear Section Collective Amending Agreement
GNR 849/GG 29134/25-08-2006

Extension to Non-parties of the General Goods and Handbag Section Collective Amending Agreement
GNR 850/GG 29134/25-08-2006

Manpower Training Act 1981 read with the Skills Development Act 1998

Media Advertising, Publishing, Printing, Packaging (MAPPP-SETA) : Amendment : Conditions of Media Advertising, Publishing, Printing, Packaging Sector : Apprenticeship
GNR 851/GG 29134/25-08-2006

Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996

Regulations relating to the payment of levies by mines on the basis of health and safety risk
GN 846/GG 29144/18-08-2006

Minerals Act 50 of 1991

Regulations : Amended
GN 846/GG 29144/18-08-2006 *

Pension Funds Act 24 of 1956

Amendment of prescribed fees
GNR 843/GG 29139/18-08-2006

Spatial Data Infrastructure Act 54 of 2003

Regulations regarding nominations from the public of persons to be appointed as members of the Committee for Spatial Information published
GNR 860/GG 29134/25-08-2005 *

Amendments to the Standard for Uniformity in Construction Procurement
BN 93/GG 29138/18-08-2006

Explanatory memorandum
BN 92/GG 29138/18-08-2006

Standard for Uniformity in Construction Industry
BN 94/GG 29138/18-08-2006

Electricity Regulations Act 4 of 2006

Grace period on new activities requiring licence in terms of the Act
GenN 1138/GG 29151/25-08-2006

Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act 37 of 2002

Determination of compliance reports by compliance officer and authorised financial services providers
Replaced by BN 84/GG 29119/11-08-2006 *

Determination of fit and proper requirements for financial service providers
Replaced by BN 91/GG 29132/16-08-2006 *

Financial Services Ombud Schemes Act 37 of 2004

Guidelines on determination of case fees by statutory ombud
BN 95/GG 29143/18-08-2006

Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002

Exemption of organs of state from certain provisions of the Act
GN 852/GG 29133/25-08-2006 *

National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998

Extension of the submission date of the second edition of environmental implementation and management plans (EIPs/EMPs)
GN 856/GG 29133/25-08-2006 *

Property Valuers Profession Act 47 of 2000

Fifth amendment to the Rules
BN 96/GG 29133/25-08-2006 *

* Source : OSALL (Marina)

1 September 2006
CCT 65/05
Giddey NO vs J C Barnard and Partners
This case concerns the interpretation and application of Section 13 of the Companies Act, 61 of 1973, which vests a court with a discretion to order a company that institutes action to furnish security for costs if there is reason to believe that it will be unable to pay the costs of its opponent

Refugees in SA face job curbs, court told - 30 August
The Constitutional Court weighed arguments yesterday from two parties on the question of whether it is correct to discriminate against refugees who want to enter the private security industry. - Business Day website

Abortion here to stay - 28 August
Women's rights to access abortion services are not under threat following a recent Constitutional Court ruling that an amendment to the 1996 Choice on Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) Act would be nullified unless Parliament consulted the public in the next 18 months. - allAfrica website

see

17 August 2006
CCT 12/05
Doctors for Life International v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others

31 August 2006
393/05
Walker v Redhouse [2006] SCA 95 (RSA)
Pauperian liability for injuries sustained while horse riding excluded by indemnity signed by rider

31 August 2006
307/05
South African National Defence Union v Minister of Defence & Others [2006] SCA 91 (RSA)
Constitutional validity of various regulations contained in Chapter XX of the General Regulations for the South African National Defence Force and Reserve

31 August 2006
306/05
Sandu & v Minister of Defence & Others [2006] SCA 90 (RSA)
Military labour relations – whether legally enforceable duty on South African National Defence Force as employer to bargain collectively with military trade union –  if  such a duty whether the employer unfairly refused to bargain – whether military trade union entitled to  interdict to prevent restructuring of defence force pending decision by Military Arbitration Board
Not yet available online [31 August]

SANDF 'not obliged to bargain with soldiers' - 31 August
The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) is not obliged to bargain collectively with a military trade union, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday. The court gave judgment in three appeals relating to the labour rights of members of the defence force. - IOL website

31 August 2006
508/05
Naylor v Jansen [2006] SCA 92 (RSA)
Defamation - offer of settlement, rule 34(12) - discretion as to costs - when an appeal court will interfere. The damages awarded by the trial court were reduced on appeal to an amount less than that tendered by the defendants. The trial court nevertheless refused to amend the costs order in favour of the plaintiff. This court refused to interfere and further refused to give a costs order in favour of the defendants in respect of the previous appeal

31 August 2006
326/05
Mittalsteel SA Ltd v  Hlatshwayo [2006] SCA 94 (RSA)
Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2002 – appellant a public body when documents requested by respondent were created – immaterial that appellant now a private body – tests for the determination of whether a body public for purpose of Act

31 August 2006
429/05
The City of Cape Town v Helderberg Park Develoment (Pty) Ltd
Expropriation ; determination of market value ; effect of s 12(5)(f) of the Expropriation Act 63 of 1975 ; Pointe Gourde principle

Public has right to attend court - 30 August
The debate about how open and public courts should be has once again been fuelled by a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling that the SABC may not broadcast the appeal hearing of Durban businessman Schabir Shaik. - Herald Online website

Judges' aside could prove fateful for Zuma - 27 August
The court said in its judgment on Thursday : "Considering next the problem of the pending Zuma trial, it is not apparent why the prosecuting authorities did not charge both accused [Shaik and Zuma] in one case. Their present predicament could well be of their own making . . ." . - IOL website

Killer girl in trouble again - 31 August
The Pietermaritzburg girl who hired two men to kill her elderly relative when she was aged 12 appears to be in trouble again as she has allegedly breached the conditions of her correctional supervision on at least five occasions since December last year. The girl, now 16, has a seven-year jail sentence hanging over her head for the 2002 murder. She may have to serve this sentence if she is found to have broken the conditions set down by the Bloemfontein Supreme Court of Appeals (SCA) nine months ago. - IOL website

see
1 December 2005
363/2005
The Director of Public Prosecutions KwaZulu-Natal v P

Jailed Yengeni shows no remorse - 27 August
A man in denial, Tony Yengeni went to jail as if he were a conquering hero rather than the crook the courts declared him to be. - allAfrica website

25 August 2006
LCC71R-06
Umoba Farms (Pty) Ltd v Macebo and others

28 August 2006
1344/2006
Mohammed Abelnaser Houd v The Minister of Home Affairs and Others
The Applicant was apprehended by the Second respondent at Cape Town airport when he attempted to board a flight to Cairo on 8th February 2006. He was questioned by the Second Respondent and after the Second Respondent had also questioned the Applicant's spouse and obtained a statement from her, the Second Respondent determined that the Applicant was an illegal foreigner and arrested him and set a date for his deportation. On 11 February 2006, the Applicant approached this Court on an urgent basis seeking inter alia, to prevent his deportation from the Republic of South Africa for as long as he remains lawfully married to Zaynap Cassiem. On that day the Applicant obtained a Rule Nisi calling upon the Respondents to show cause why an order interdicting and restraining the First and Second Respondents from deporting him from the Republic of South Africa pending the determination of an application for permanent residence in the Republic, should not be granted

Egyptian loses fight to stay in SA - 30 August
An Egyptian who married a South African woman to get permanent residence here is to be deported on the orders of a Cape High Court judge for trying to deceive authorities. Mohamed Abdelnaser Houd wanted the Cape High Court to stop his deportation as long as he remained married to Zaynab Cassiem, and later pending the determination of his application for permanent residence. - IOL website

25 August 2006
A963/2005
Be Bop a Lula Manufacturing & Printing CC v Kingtext Marketing (Pty) Ltd
This is an appeal, with leave of the court a quo against the judgment upholding the claim in convention of the respondent, as plaintiff, against the appellant, as defendant. The claim in convention was directed at payment of the amount of R122 649,18, being the balance owing in respect of certain T-shirts sold and delivered by the respondent, a company doing business in Pretoria West, to the appellant, a close corporation with its main place of business in Parow. According to the respondent's particulars of claim the appellant had purchased T-shirts from it in the amount of R229 846,07, but had paid only R107 196,89 in respect thereof, hence leaving the aforesaid balance payable. In its plea the appellant denied being liable to the respondent in the amount claimed, averring that a large proportion of the T-shirts supplied to it by the respondent had been defective

24 August 2006
8552/2004
Allacias Investments (Pty) Ltd and Another v Milnerton Golf Club and Intervening Parties
The applicants in this matter are all owners/occupiers of properties bordering on the Milnerton Golf Course. The jurisprudential basis upon which the applicants’ claim is founded is the common law of private nuisance

Cape gem project bosses under fire - 30 August
Three people, including former Cape Town city manager Wallace Mgoqi, could be asked to repay R8,5m involved in "unauthorised" spending to establish the city's African Jewellery City. The project was aimed at stimulating a jewellery manufacturing industry in Cape Town. The City of Cape Town suspended Mthuthulezi Swartz, the city's executive director of the executive management unit, pending a disciplinary hearing over payments on the project. The city's move could be the first part of an official crackdown on the project that was initiated by former CEO of the South African Local Government Association, Thabo Mokwena. -allAfrica website

Mgoqi may face R9m bill, criminal charges - 29 August
Former Cape Town City manager Wallace Mgoqi could face a bill of almost R9-million over alleged irregular spending he authorised on a jewellery city project. Mayoral committee member for finance Ian Nielson said that following a forensic audit and advice from a senior counsel, disciplinary hearings were initiated on Monday against the head of the city's executive management unit, Mthuthulezi Swartz, who approved payments that were then authorised by Mgoqi. - Mail & Guardian website

SA could face constitutional crisis, says judge - 28 August Dismissing an appeal by the correctional services department against an execution order expediting antiretroviral (ARV) treatment at Durban's Westville prison, judge Chris Nicholson said : "If the government of the Republic of South Africa has given such an instruction (not to comply with the execution order) then we face a grave constitutional crisis involving a serious threat to the doctrine of the separation of powers". - Business Day website

31 August 2006
Education on preparation for national senior certificate in 2008
SA Government Information website

Govt clarifies its position on the powers of the judiciary - 31 August
Government has moved to clarify its position on the powers of the judiciary and the provision of antiretrovirals (ARV's) to prisoners at the Durban Westville prison. - allAfrica website

State hits back at 'constitutional crisis' - 30 August
The Department of Correctional Services on Wednesday rejected a Durban High Court judge's assertion that it is responsible for a potentially "grave constitutional crisis". - Mail & Guardian website

Correctional services welcomes court's ARV ruling - 30 August
The Department of Correctional Services has accepted the ruling of the court regarding the facilitation of prisoner access to anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy. The Department said it will accordingly expedite the ARV treatment programme. - BuaNews Online website

Correctional services' Aids appeal dismissed - 28 August
Judge Chris Nicholson said the interim order granted by judge Thumba Pillay must be executed, until the appeal had been heard. - IOL website

Coega senior manager suspended, investigated - 30 August
The Coega Development Corporation is investigating a senior manager who was suspended last week, apparently over its clash with Scribante Construction. The suspension followed a court challenge by Scribante over a civil works tender for Coega's industrial development zone in the Eastern Cape. - Business Report website

Defamation charges for Coega chief - 29 August
Pepi Silinga, the chief executive of the Coega Development Corporation, could be facing a defamation claim from Scribante Construction after he accused the company of fraud and dishonesty in court papers relating to a battle over a Coega tender. - Business Report website

Judge angered by delays in DNA testing - 30 August
A Free State judge, Arrie Hattingh, has sharply condemned delays in DNA testing in a murder case in the province. He said if someone such as former first lady Marike de Klerk was murdered, it took only two days to announce the results of DNA tests. But in a Free State case, a DNA report was still outstanding after five months. - Mail & Guardian website

31 August 2006
SAPS on DNA analysis results
SA Government Information website

Judge orders hospital for HIV+ murder accused - 31 August
A High Court judge in Pietermaritzburg has ordered that an HIV-positive man awaiting trial in Pietermaritzburg on a murder charge be detained in the prison hospital while tests are performed, in line with recommendations by a district surgeon. Judge Atkins Moleko also ordered that the man be placed on a high-protein diet and that he receive whatever treatment it is deemed he requires. If the necessary treatment cannot be administered by the prison hospital, Nico Vather, 32, is to be afforded treatment at a local state hospital. - IOL website

Judge orders insurance broker to pay up - 27 August
A businessman has successfully sued an insurance broker for transferring his policy to another company without his knowledge. Kuvesh Haridass, 33, of Pietermaritzburg sued Sunil Singh and YJB Financial Services after they moved his car insurance policy without his consent. Judge Piet Combrink ordered Singh to pay Haridass R46000 for expatriating the policy to Mutual and Federal without notifying him. - Sunday Times website

Zuma Case

1 September

State : Zuma must show conspiracy
Jacob Zuma will have to provide hard evidence of a political conspiracy against him if he wants his corruption trial dismissed, the state said in heads of argument filed in the Pietermaritzburg High Court. - Mail & Guardian website

State rejects Zuma's defence claim
Skimpy, speculative and without substance - this is how the state referred to Jacob Zuma's claims that he has been injured politically and personally by having to wait to be tried for corruption and fraud. - IOL website

No abuse in Zuma prosecution, state argues
Former deputy president Jacob Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thint could not seek a judicial review of the decision of the national director of public prosecutions to prosecute them, the state said in its heads of argument filed in the Pietermaritzburg High Court yesterday. - Business Day website

31 August

Corruption trial will be 'good for SA'
Jacob Zuma's corruption trial would be good for South Africa and Zuma himself, who aspires to be president, the State said in heads of argument filed in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday. - IOL website

Shaik could testify in Zuma corruption trial - 31 August
The State says there is a strong possibility that Schabir Shaik, the convicted fraudster, will be called as a witness in the corruption trial of Jacob Zuma, the ANC deputy president. - SABC News website

30 August

Thint meeting puts Maduna in spotlight
Former justice minister Penuell Maduna's meeting with lawyers for French arms company Thint has come back to haunt him. And lawyers for Thint, which is accused of bribing former deputy president Jacob Zuma in exchange for his political protection, have challenged Maduna to reveal why he became involved in the April 4, 2004 meeting - which they claim led the state to withdraw corruption charges against the arms company. - IOL website

Zuma trial delays hurt business : Thint 
French arms company Thint, the co-accused with former deputy president Jacob Zuma in the corruption trial, yesterday said the delay caused by not being charged with Zuma's former financial adviser Schabir Shaik had caused "immense" public embarrassment to the company, resulting in loss of international business. - Business Day website

29 August

Scorpions defend stance on delay of Zuma trial
Leonard McCarthy, the Scorpions boss, has rejected allegations that the State has done an about turn on the reasons for requesting a postponement of the Jacob Zuma corruption proceedings. - SABC News website

Zuma seeks R3m if State delays trial
Should the Pietermaritzburg High Court grant a State application to postpone the Jacob Zuma corruption trial until next year, Zuma wants it to foot a R3-million bill he will allegedly incur in wasted legal costs. - IOL website

S Africa's Zuma raises stakes ahead of graft trial
Former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma has demanded his corruption case be dropped or otherwise resolved "well in advance" of a key ANC leadership conference next year, the Star newspaper reported. - Reuters website

Thint aims for permanent stay of prosecution
Pierre Moynot, the executive of the French arms manufacturer charged alongside Jacob Zuma for corruption, may have incriminated himself when he testified in the Schabir Shaik trial. - Mail & Guardian website

Arms-deal letter pivotal in Zuma's battle 
Lawyers acting for African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma will argue in their application for the stay of prosecution, that Zuma's right to a fair trial has been fundamentally infringed when he appears on two charges of corruption in the Pietermaritzburg High Court next week. - Business Day website

28 August

Shaik trial 'was Zuma's chance'
Jacob Zuma would have been "exonerated" if he had been charged alongside his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, his defence team claimed in its heads of argument filed in Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday. - News24 website

Defence : Zuma would have been exonerated at Shaik trial
Jacob Zuma would have been "exonerated" had he been charged alongside his financial adviser Schabir Shaik, Zuma's defence team claimed in its heads of argument filed in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday. - Mail & Guardian website

27 August

Zuma to repay fees if guilty
African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma has signed an undertaking, at the insistence of the State, that if he is found guilty he will pay back the money he is asking for his defence in his corruption trial. - News24 website

31 August 2006
Media briefing on dismissed applications against Gautrain
The Pretoria High Court has turned down applications by the Muckleneuk/Lukasrand property owners and residents association to delay the commencement of construction on the Gautrain
SA Government Information website

Jack Milne now personally liable - 29 August
Jack Milne was, last Thursday, found liable in his personal capacity to shareholders of the now defunct PSC guaranteed growth fund to the tune of R150m. Milne, who is out on parole after serving about eight months of an eight year sentence, was found guilty in February 2004, of defrauding 4 000 investors, many of them pensioners, of more than R160m. Last week the Pretoria High Court granted an application brought by liquidator, Ivor van Diggelen under section 424 of the Companies Act, whereby Milne was found liable in his personal capacity. - Moneyweb wesbite

State 'had no reason to keep Rashid around' - 29 August
Missing Pakistani national Khalid Rashid was deported to his native country because there was no longer any reason to keep him in South Africa. Patrick Mtshaulane, SC, for the minister of home affairs argued before a full bench of three judges in the Pretoria High Court that Rashid had admitted that he had entered South Africa illegally when he was arrested in Estcourt in November last year. - IOL website

Rashid wrangle moves up a notch - 27 August
What had allegedly been done to Khalid Rashid, a Pakistani national, by the department of home affairs was so serious that a copy of the forthcoming judgment in the case needed to be sent to the national director of public prosecutions, the minister of justice and the president for further serious investigation. This submission was made on Friday by Cape Town counsel Anton Katz, representing the University of the Witwatersrand Law Clinic (WLC) which, as an amicus curiae (friend of the court), has joined forces with advocate Zehir Omar in an application to have the arrest, detention and deportation of Rashid declared unlawful. - IOL website

S Africa union sues Alex Forbes in commission row - 27 August
South African trade union Solidarity said on Sunday it had lodged a 1.2-million-rand lawsuit against financial services firm Alexander Forbes Ltd in a dispute over a commission-sharing deal. - Reuters website

Court may overturn mining law : Spoor - 30 August
There is a case for communities displaced by mining to challenge the new mining law in the constitutional court, human rights lawyer Richard Spoor says. The benefits communities obtained as a result of mining were "extremely limited", Spoor told a mining law conference yesterday. - Business Report website
Keyphrases :
Mineral and Petroleum Resources Act
Minerals and Energy Laws Amendment
Mining Titles Registration Amendment Act
Mining Transformation Charter
Promotion of Administrative Justice Act

Mines file R3.5 bn defamation lawsuit against lawyer - 26 August
A human rights lawyer is being sued for R3,5 million for alleged defamatory remarks against two mining companies. The Anglo Platinum and African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) lawsuits against Richard Spoor form part of a fierce legal wrangle over the treatment of communities living on land the companies mine. Anglo Platinum is demanding R2 million for defamation and ARM is demanding R1,5 million. - City Press website

Did Prinsloo abuse Barbie, too? - 31 August
Evidence will be presented that Dirk Prinsloo, former lover of Cezanne Visser (aka advocate Barbie), had followed a consistent pattern of abusive behaviour towards women, Pretoria High Court heard on Thursday. - News24 website

Bid to put Barbie in Weskoppies - 30 August
The State has asked Pretoria High Court to send Cezanne Visser, aka advocate Barbie, to a psychiatric hospital for 30 days for observation. - News24 website

Barbie was abused : advocate - 29 August
Sex-crimes accused Cezanne Visser, alias advocate Barbie, will tell the High Court she was drugged and assaulted by former lover Dirk Prinsloo, the court heard on Tuesday. Visser's new senior advocate, Johan Engelbrecht, said that from the facts already gleaned from Visser, there was no doubt she was a victim of "domestic abuse" and "coercive control" at Prinsloo's hands. He was applying for Visser's trial to be reopened so that she could testify and call expert witnesses to testify on her behalf. - News24 website

Chilling details of child's torture emerge - 30 August
A man's quest for the truth about his little daughter's death revealed that the mother of his child and her lover had battered and starved the girl over a prolonged period. Sicelo Sibiya refused to believe his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend's claim that 5-year-old Lihle Majaja had died of natural causes. These facts were laid out in the "battered baby" trial in the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday when Acting Judge Tanya Brenner began reading out her judgment. - IOL website

Pretoria

Court hears how couple drained bank accounts - 29 August
An elderly blind man who allegedly stole about R4-million with his wife held up proceedings in the Pretoria Commercial Crime Court on Monday because he was drunk. News24 reported on Tuesday that Magistrate Desmond Nair postponed proceedings until after lunch in order for Petrus Engelbrecht (60) to sober up. - Mail & Guardian website

Bloemfontein

Suicide hoax man sentenced - 28 August
A Bloemfontein man thought to have committed suicide at the Augrabies Waterfalls was sentenced to correctional supervision on two counts of theft in the Bloemfontein regional court on Monday. - IOL website

Cape Town

Strike rampage probe report unveiled - 30 August
Criminals, agents provocateurs and the police are mainly to blame for the violence that has come to be associated with strikes and protests by workers in South Africa over recent months, says Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) Western Cape general secretary Tony Ehrenreich. - iAfrica website

Pretoria

Accountant accused of sending cellphone porn pics to girl, 12 - 27 August
A child abuse action group is planning to protest at the next court appearance of an accountant who allegedly sent pornographic cellphone images to a 12-year-old girl. Shaheed Ismail, 24, was arrested last Thursday in an undercover police operation after he allegedly sent a Laudium girl pictures of male genitalia. - allAfrica website

Why the PFA is not defending itself in court - 28 August
As there appears to be much confusion about the process of challenging the adjudicator's determination in the courts, I think some clarification is required. I am on record as saying the current process by which the adjudicator’s determinations are challenged in the high court makes a mockery of the alternative pension dispute resolution process for which the Pension Funds Act provides. Article by Vuyani Ngalwana. - Moneyweb website

Statements and Speeches

1 September 2006
Labour Ministry welcomes court ruling on bargain council dispute
The Ministry of Labour has welcomed the Labour court's dismissal of an application by the Newcastle Chinese Chamber of Commerce challenging the decision by the Minister in 2003, to extend a collective agreement of the National Bargaining Council (NBC) for the clothing manufacturing industry

31 August 2006
Education on preparation for national senior certificate in 2008

31 August 2006
Independent Electoral Commission on cancellation of registration of political parties

31 August 2006
Trade and Industry announces the temporary suspension of Small Medium Enterprise Development Programme (SMEDP) incentive scheme

31 August 2006
M Mdladlana on Public Service Commission performance assessment report

30 August 2006
Transport on traffic law enforcement

Committee Minutes

Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee
* * * Subscription required * * *

23 August 2006
Sexual Offences Bill : Briefing on Clauses 62 to 67

Civil Union Bill [B26-2006]

The Bill will be published shortly (within a week or two) for public comment

Source : OSALL

Corporate Laws Amendment Bill

Reform to Companies Act nears the end of the road - 31 August
Corporate law underpins most commercial activities in the formal economy. And South Africa's much-amended 33-year-old legislation is unsuited to a modern economy. Reform has been in the pipeline since the department of trade and industry (dti) published a policy framework in June 2004 and has been the subject of much confusion and controversy. Urgent issues will to be addressed in interim amendments to the Companies Act of 1973, contained in the Corporate Laws Amendment Bill. - Business Report website

False reporting could be criminal - 29 August
The Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors said yesterday that it had motivated for amendments to the Companies Act, which would criminalise false reporting by companies. - Business Report website

Electronic Communications Act

Municipal telecoms a business opportunity - 30 August
A telecommunications expert has called on the private sector to take advantage of public-private partnership opportunities presented by the new Electronic Communications Act. - myadsl website

Films and Publications Act

New Bill may leave Constitution 'in tatters' - 1 September
Proposed changes to the Films and Publications Act could leave the Constitution "in tatters", media representatives told the government on Thursday. - Mail & Guardian website

31 September 2006
Joint Statement by Government and media organisations on the Film and Publications Amendment Bill 2006
SA Government Information website

'Judiciary' Bills

Nedlac's unions, business are the terrible twins opposing new courts bill - 30 August
Both the trade union and the business social partners in the Nedlac forum were in agreement yesterday in opposing the department of justice's Superior Courts Bill, which abolishes the labour courts as separate institutions. - Business Report website

Mineral and Petroleum Royalty Bill

New royalty bill draft to be released next month - 31 August
The second mine royalty bill draft could be released in mid to late September, and while the royalty rates could decline, they were likely to be charged on revenue rather than on profit, Webber Wentzel Bowens partner Peter Leon said yesterday. - Business Report website

National Sport and Recreation Bill

30 August 2006
Call for submissions on the National Sport and Recreation Amendment Bill
SA Government Information website

Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act

Keyphrase :
Prohibition of Mercenary Activities and Regulations of Certain Activities in Country of Armed Conflict Bill

When intention and consequences clash - 31 August
Tge National Assembly has passed the Prohibition of Mercenary Activity Bill, allowing it to continue on its path to the National Council of Provinces and presidential approval. Despite improvements, the bill’s current incarnation still leaves the peace industry in a pickle. The bill's purpose is to "close gaps" in the current Regulation of Military Assistance Act of 1998, which prohibits mercenary activity and regulates foreign military assistance in areas of armed conflict. - Business Day website

Lekota slams door on bid to amend mercenary bill - 30 August
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota yesterday slammed the door on further amendments to the anti-mercenary bill as the African National Congress (ANC) used its 70% majority to drive the legislation through the National Assembly. - Business Day website

Serving in foreign armies is 'unpatriotic' - 30 August
South Africans enlisted in foreign armies were accused of being unpatriotic and of contributing to the country's brain drain, during a heated debate in parliament on Tuesday on the controversial anti-mercenary Bill. - IOL website

Sugar Act - http://www.dti.gov.za/publications/Discussionfinal.htm

Sugar Act needs an update to improve competitiveness - 1 September
Substantial amendments are required to bring the Sugar Act up to date and to improve the competitive environment in the industry. MPs heard this on Wednesday during a briefing on a review of the act by the department of trade and industry. - Business Report website

see http://www.dti.gov.za/publications/Discussionfinal.htm

Telecommunications Act 103 of 1996

The full version of ICASA's ADSL regulations are now available at http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/telecoms/2006/ADSL_regulations.htm

What do the ADSL Regulations really say? - 28 August
There is a great deal of uncertainty as to the exact requirements the recently released ICASA ADSL Regulations place on ISPs. Comments by ICASA Chairman Paris Mashile however shed some light on the issue. - myadsl website

Which always-on Internet services in SA qualify as broadband? - 28 August
The full definition given in the ICASA ADSL Regulations is as follows : "Broadband means an always-on data connection that is able to support various interactive services, and has the ability of a minimum download speed of 256 Kilo bits per second". This definition may not satisfy everybody’s’ views on what broadband is, but it sets a standard to which broadband providers should conform should they want to advertise their service as broadband offering. - myadsl website

Tobacco Products Amendment Bill

Kohler-Barnard : tobacco industry 'on top' of new law - 29 August
The tobacco industry is "on top of things" when it comes to the government's proposed tougher anti-smoking legislation, according to the Democratic Alliance's former health spokesperson, Dianne Kohler-Barnard. The Bill, which was expected to go before the health portfolio committee this year, but now appears unlikely to do so, proposes a dramatic increase in fines for tobacco-related offences, tougher restrictions on advertising and display, graphic health warnings on cigarette packets, and an increase in the minimum age for cigarette sales from 16 to 18. - Mail & Guardian website

Human rights takes centre stage at Moot Court - 30 August
The 15th African Human Rights Moot Court Competition is underway in Addis Ababa. This year 61 universities representing 29 African countries entered the competition, which is being hosted by the University of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia in conjunction with the Centre for Human Rights in Pretoria. - IOL website

South Africa

New law firm approved - 28 August
The competition commission last week approved the merger of the law firms Sonnenberg Hoffmann Galombik and Edward Nathan. - Business Report website

Scotland

'Fantastic result' for Law Society - 28 August
More than 3000 members of the Law Society of Scotland have taken part in its survey to establish a detailed profile of the Scottish profession. As well as collecting data on race, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion and age, the profile project covers the socio-economic background of those entering the profession. The results will be used for a range of purposes, from targeting career advice and support to assessing firms' and the Society's response to the needs and concerns of various groups. The findings will be published in November. - The Herald [UK] website

United Kingdom

Law Society bid to revamp training contract incurs City firms' wrath - 31 August
Proposals to open up profession are met with grave concerns over quality of newly-qualified solicitors. City firms have slammed Law Society proposals to radically revamp the training contract, arguing that the reforms risk lowering the quality of newly-qualified solicitors. - Legal Week website

Law firms accused of homophobia - 29 August
City law firms were accused today of having "undertones of homophobia" because of their emphasis on out-of-hours hard drinking and visits to lap dancing clubs. The Law Society, the professional body for solicitors, made the allegation in its first report on the career experiences of gay and lesbian lawyers. It found most gay lawyers surveyed were reluctant to "come out" at work because they feared it would seriously hinder their career. - Guardian Unlimited website

Law Soc urges gay lawyers to take pride - 29 August
The Law Society is considering hosting a stall at the Gay Pride festival as its moves to combat homophobia, "constant trips to Spearmint Rhino" and "heterosexual machismo" in the wake of new research on gay and lesbian solicitors. - Legal Week website

Communication

Neotel faces uphill battle to sign customers - 1 September
Prospects are not looking bright for Neotel, the new second network operator. The long-awaited rival to Telkom would have been a rip roaring success had it swung into action in May 2002, as it was supposed to. But four years on, the industry is a vastly different place. - Business Day website

Savings already on way from Telkom rival - 15 September
Consumers and businesses are already benefiting from the arrival of Neotel, the second national operator (SNO) that launched yesterday, four years after Telkom’s monopoly expired. - Business Day website

New operator aims to become preferred service provider - 31 August
South Africa's second network operator (SNO) which has been developed to bring competition within the fixed line telecommunications industry has been announced as Neotel. It also aims to become the preferred provider of leading-edge telecommunications in the country, reducing the cost of doing business in SA. Neotel will also attempt to bring the benefits of communications to the second economy and to support developing industry. - BuaNews Online website

Neotel launches! - 31 August
Neotel, previously known as the Second National Operator or SNO, has launched its operations today. Neotel kicks off its offerings with wholesale international services. Neotel will most likely expand its operations early next year with voice and broadband offerings to corporate and residential customers. - myadsl website

Timeline
Its been a long wait for the SNO - 1 September
Business Day website

Cellphone industry

Freedom of movement - 2 September
Cellphone number portability will come into effect on September 18, giving small players such as Cell C and Virgin Mobile a better footing to attract subscribers from their larger rivals, MTN and Vodacom. - myadsl website

Mobile operators deny content responsibility - 28 August
The spotlight has again fallen on the control of mobile content, amid recent reports of minors as young as 12 accessing pornography via their mobile phones. While South African mobile operators are putting measures in place to prevent children from being exposed to harmful content, the industry feels final responsibility rests with parents. - ITWeb website

Mxit responds to pornography allegations - 28 August
MXit, the killer application that enables text messaging between cell phones and computers at a fraction of sms costs, has recently been accused of exposing its young users to, amongst others, pornographic material. Allegations have also been made that the MXit application is 'addictive', 'dangerous' and 'a drug'. As a result the MXit offices in Stellenbosch have received threats and may suffer financial loss ad harm to its reputation. MXit Lifestyle (Pty) Ltd, as the owners and operators of the MXit application, hereby officially respond to these allegations and implications. - ITWeb website

ICASA

ICASA is clueless, says report - 29 August
The country's communications regulator lacks understanding of corporate governance, as well as its government mandate, states an independent report, presented in Parliament yesterday. - ITWeb website

Correctional Services

Africa to launch a continental corrections body - 1 September
Correctional services ministers in Africa will launch a continental body in Swaziland next year, to help improve prison conditions on the continent. - BuaNews Online website

Minister calls for body representing African prisons - 30 August
Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour has called for the establishment of a continental body to represent the interests of all correctional services in Africa. This, according to Minister Balfour, would create conditions conducive to the improvement of correctional services on the continent with emphasis on the rehabilitation and social re-integration of offenders. - BuaNews Online website

Best practices needed to treat inmates humanely - 29 August
A meeting of African correctional services heads has heard that the treatment of inmates should be brought in line with international best practices. The Kenyan Commissioner of Prisons, Gilbert Omondi, told the Conference of the Eastern, Southern and Central African Heads of Correctional Services (Cesca), the adoption of best practices could only be achieved through close working collaboration with organisations such as the United Nations and Penal Reform International. - BuaNews Online website

Crime

Meet the Kebble 'witness' - 1 September
The homeless man who was arrested on Wednesday after claiming in a radio interview to have witnessed Brett Kebble's murder, earlier gave the Mail & Guardian a description of the "killer". - Mail & Guardian website

'Witness' claims three present at Kebble hit - 31 August
A new twist has emerged in the unsolved Brett Kebble murder after a homeless man came forward, claiming to have witnessed a meeting between Kebble and his killers moments before his death. The homeless man claims to have seen Kebble stop his car in the road, where he met with people in two BMWs. Three men, he says, climbed out of one of the cars and got into Kebble's car with him, switched on the interior light and they appeared to be talking. - IOL website

Cyberlaw

Verizon documents seized - 1 September
An emergency search and seizure operation by forensic investigators at Verizon's Gallo Manor offices was completed yesterday, and the information will now be subject to a legal investigation. This is according to Eugene Bester, attorney at Cliffe Dekker (representing Verizon). Lucien Pierce, attorney at Phukubje Pierce Masithela, says the most common reasons for an Anton Piller application are either to seek monetary damages arising from the infringement of a right (such as a trade secret or a copyright), or to stop somebody from using such a right. One of Pierce's colleagues – Zuko Soni – says an Anton Piller application is brought about in secret. When applying for an Anton Piller order, the applicant must prove an "extremely strong prima facie case against the defendant", that the potential or actual damage is serious, and that the respondent is in possession of incriminating material which he could destroy should he become aware of the application. Once the order is granted, the court will appoint a sheriff and an independent attorney to enter and search the premises of the respondent and seize the items mentioned in the order, explains Soni. - ITWeb website

'Back to Business' at Verizon - 31 August
On Thursday, 31 August Verizon Business received notice of a document request related to a civil complaint by a competitor, which resulted in 'interruptions to normal business communications'. An ITWeb article reported that an Anton Piller order has been served on Verizon Business by Dimension Data, trading through Internet Solutions, under the terms of which a search and seizure order has been granted by the court in order to preserve evidence. - myadsl website

Compu-crime costs R40bn - 28 August
White-collar crime, of which computer hacking and tampering forms an integral part, is one of the fastest growing crimes in South Africa and is costing the economy an estimated R40-billion a year, according to Business Against Crime. - The Star website

Education

Two-tier varsities mooted - 25 August
In a move that is likely to spark controversy, the government looks set to promote a two-tier system of higher education, with some universities selected for growth and additional funding. - Mail & Guardian website

Is Pandor panicking? - 23 August
Plans to introduce teachers' licensing by the Department of Education (DoE) are doomed to failure, judging by the reaction of teachers' unions. Minister of Education Naledi Pandor floated the idea during a meeting in Cape Town as "part of steps by the Department of Education to improve the quality of education in South Africa". - Mail & Guardian website

Health

SA women 'want refuge in Canada' - 2 September
One hundred and thirty-seven South African women infected with HIV are reportedly seeking refugee status in Canada, according to a radio news report. - News24 website

30 August 2006
Toyi-toying over HIV/AIDS condemned
SA Government Information website

Manto's Aids claims 'breaking the laws of the country' - 29 August
Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is breaking the law by making unproven claims about the effectiveness of alternative "treatments" for Aids, according to the South African Medical Association. In a statement on behalf of the association, Sama chairperson Dr Kgosi Letlape said any claims of therapeutic effectiveness made without clinical trials and approval by the Medicines Control Council are illegal. - Mail & Guardian website

Insurance

Life industry in legislative limbo - 25 August
Lack of legislative clarity has left the life industry and its clients in limbo and set the industry back by up to a year in terms of issues around retirement annuity (RA) penalties. While the National Treasury is committed to having legislation in place by October 1, at this stage it will not be drawn into when the legis­lation will be passed. Until then, the industry and its customers hang in the wind. - Mail & Guardian website

Attorney is new insurance ombudsman - 25 August
Brian Martin, a partner in a law firm, has been appointed as the new Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance. The board of the Ombudsman for Short-Term Insurance says Martin will take over from the current ombudsman, Helm van Zijl, in January next year. - Personal Finance website

Labour

Airport chaos looming - 28 August
Airport queues of passengers entering South Africa look set to become even longer from Friday, when more than 800 immigration officers are to go on strike. - IOL website

Crediting employees for their experience - 8  August
Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is one of the core principles of the National Qualification Framework (NQF). Quality assurance bodies, which include sector education and training authorities (Setas) insist that providers of education and training must have policies for implementing recognition of prior learning. - IOL website

Shoprite strike

Six Shoprite Checkers strikers in court - 28 August
Six suspected striking Shoprite Checkers workers were arrested last week for public violence and other charges and are expected to appear in the Simon's Town Magistrate's Court on Monday. - IOL website

Municipal Management and Procedure

What municipal managers earn - 1 September
The salary packages of metropolitan council municipal managers in South Africa range from R779 640 a year in the Nelson Mandela metro to R1.087m in eThekwini, Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi said on Friday. - Fin24 website

Standard Bank urges less red tape for cities - 30 August
Municipalities' ability to deliver services may be hampered by the inordinately complex set of legal procedures that they have to follow when they want to invest in infrastructure, and a more simple feasibility process would help. - Business Day website

Parliament

President Mbeki in good health : Chikane - 30  August
President Thabo Mbeki is in good health but had to relax at his Cape Town home because of a bout of influenza, the Director-General in the Presidency, Frank Chikane, has said. Addressing the media here today, Rev Chikane told reporters the President would not be participating in the Parliament's question and answer session which was scheduled to take place today because his doctor has advised him not to. - BuaNews Online website

National Assembly prepares to grill President Mbeki - 29 August
President Thabo Mbeki is to face questions in the National Assembly – including one from his own party – about whether there was deep-rooted corruption in his government and on whether the ruling party's succession race was having an impact on government. - Dispatch Online website

Provinces, Status of

Provinces to be scrapped - 27 August South Africa's nine provinces and legislatures are set to be scrapped in favour of four or five regions, according to a discussion document circulating in government. The confidential document is titled "Towards a Discussion on the Division of Powers and Functions between the Three Spheres of Government". It was drafted following a Cabinet decision to review the functioning of the government and strengthen the administrative capacity of the state. - Sunday Times website

Fears of 'totalitarian' control over province - 29 August
Opposition political parties in KwaZulu-Natal have rejected outright the proposed scrapping of provinces, describing it as a recipe for "totalitarian control" and a move by the ruling ANC to centralise power and tinker with democracy. - IOL website

Plan to do away with provinces denied - 28 August
President Thabo Mbeki has vehemently denied that the government is looking at scrapping the country‘s nine provinces. He did, however, say the government was reviewing the efficiency of the whole government system. - News24 website

DA demands discussions on scrapping of provinces - 28 August
Discussions on scrapping of provinces should not take place behind closed doors, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Sunday. - Mail & Guardian website

No reduction in provinces, assures Mbeki - 27 August
Suggestions government is planning to reduce the number of provinces are not correct, says President Thabo Mbeki.- IOL website

ANC's 'extraordinary challenge' - 27 August
Building a non-racial society was one of South Africa's greatest challenges, but nowhere was it more challenging than in the Western Cape, President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday. Mbeki said suggestions that the government was planning to reduce the number of provinces were not correct. Mbeki said the government had been looking at the effectiveness of the country's governance system, and what needed to be done to improve it. - Mail & Guardian website

Public Service Commission

Rot starts at the top : Scopa - 31 August
A damning Public Service Commission report on performance management had shown that some key public service departments were rotting from the top down, with serious consequences for service provision, MPs were told. - IOL website

Road Accident Fund

Road fund has 'huge problem' - 30 August
Hot on the heels of its having to pay almost R22 million in the single largest third-party claim ever against it, the Road Accident Fund (Raf) has been accused of "huge mismanagement" by an attorneys' association. On Friday, the Johannesburg High Court ordered the Raf to pay just on R22 million to Chris Herbst, seriously brain-damaged after a vehicle crashed into cyclists in Krugersdorp in September three years ago. The Johannesburg Attorneys' Association maintains the fund should "get its house in order". - Citizen website

Sport

Parreira's salary stirs storm in SA - 1 September
New South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira arrives in Johannesburg on Friday against a background of media fury over his R1,8-million salary. Sensing an outcry in a country where many people survive in abject poverty, the South African Football Association threw a veil of secrecy over the figure. - IOL website

Trade and Industry

SACTWU & clothing makers reach wage settlement - 2 September
Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers' Union (SACTWU) and around 9 clothing manufacturers have reached consensus for wage settlement on August 30 with support of National Bargaining Council for the Clothing Manufacturing Industry. As per the settlement, labour cost will rise 5 percent for metro areas while 6.4 and 8.3 percent for non-metro areas. - fibre2fibre website

Rag trade concludes wage deal - 1 September
The clothing industry reached a wage settlement yesterday that will mean an extra R100 on average in the pockets of the 80 000 workers employed by more than 1 000 companies nationally. - Business Report website

Traditional Leaders

Shake-up for traditional leaders in KwaZulu-Natal - 30 August
Twenty-nine amakhosi, or Zulu traditional leaders, were sworn into the new local and provincial government traditional leadership structures at the Ilembe District House of Traditional Leaders yesterday. The process took place simultaneously in the 10 other districts in KwaZulu-Natal. - allAfrica website

New era for KZN amakhosi - 29 August
The process to transform the institution of traditional leadership in KwaZulu-Natal, which will see more than 280 amakhosi being sworn in afresh and district houses of traditional leaders being established, is going ahead. - BuaNews Online website

Transport

South Africa's messy airport security - 29 August
South Africa has been an increasing source of bad news because of airport thefts. It seems this activity is a growth industry. Indeed, crime seems to be the nation's national sport. - Aviation and Travel Industry News blog

Treasury

New guidelines will help municipalities - 28 August
The national treasury had drafted guidelines on public-private partnerships (PPPs) that would help municipalities improve service delivery, Kogan Pillay, the director of business development at the treasury's PPP unit, said on Friday. According to the Municipal Finance Management Act, a municipality may enter into a PPP agreement if it can show that the project is affordable, that it will transfer technical, financial and operational risk to the private party, and that it gives value for money. The act requires a municipality to do a feasibility study, issue a report for public comment and confer with the national treasury. - Business Report website

Miscellaneous

Paying bills via your phone years away - 1 September
Using your cellphone to pay for your monthly grocery shopping may not quite be a reality, but the cellphone will damage banks' transaction revenue as it favours new credit relationships, says Gartner. In the company's 2006 Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle, which assesses the maturity, impact and adoption speed of 36 key technologies and trends during the next 10 years, mobile payment systems have matured from the "hype" and have entered what the IT research leader terms "the slope of enlightenment". - IOL website

Botswana

Final argument in Bushmen case delayed - 28 August
Final arguments in Botswana's longest-running court case, in which San Bushmen are fighting for rights to ancestral land, will be heard next month after judges agreed to an adjournment request on Monday. - Mail & Guardian website

Chad

Chad defends Chevron, Petronas expulsion - 28 August
A Chad minister denied on Monday that his country's expulsion of two foreign energy companies at the weekend was aimed at winning greater control of its oil resources. - Mail & Guardian website

Libya

'Aids' nurses may be executed - 29 August
A prosecutor in the retrial of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor accused of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the Aids virus called on Tuesday for the defendants to be executed. - News24 website

Zimbabwe

Zim bugging bill to drive out ISPs : critics - 31 August
Internet service providers in Zimbabwe have warned they will be driven out of business if the government goes ahead with proposed bugging laws that will necessitate the purchase of expensive surveillance equipment, reports say. - IOL website

Civic groups demand withdrawal of Zimbabwe's spying Bill - 30 August
Civic society organisations, the business community and political parties on 30 August 2006 urged the government to withdraw the Interception of Communications Bill 2006 to allow for extensive debate on its constitutionality and whether it is necessary and justifiable in a democracy. - Zimbabwe Journalists website

Mugabe delays signing investor law - 22 August
The future of South African investment in mining and precious metals still hangs in the balance as Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has delayed signing laws that will protect the business interests of investors. - Business Day website

China

China passes bankruptcy legislation - 28 August
China's legislature adopted a new bankruptcy law at the weekend that for the first time includes private companies, not only state-owned firms. - Business Report website

Japan

An 'online lie detector' for search - 28 August
The Japanese government intends to create what one newspaper described as an online lie detector that would act in accordance with a search engine. The project has been allotted a budget by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of 300 million yen, according to one source. "The reality appears to be not so much -a lie detector- as an automated fact-checker that draws on related information to spot how likely something is to be a load of old balls," according to Dottocommu. - SearchNewz website

Australia

Australian man given curfew order - 28 August
An Australian man whose terror-related conviction has just been quashed has become the first person to have his movements restricted under new laws. - BBC News website
Keyphrases :
Anti-Terrorism
Joseph Thomas

EU may be powerless to stop US snooping - 25 August
A trans-Atlantic dispute over US snooping on international financial transactions is turning into a full-blown test of legal authority, with US security interests on the one side and European privacy guardians on the other. The Europeans believe this could also be as much a test for international business as international law, with Swift, the Belgian firm that has been caught in the middle, feared to be just the first case of many in which a firm has had its privacy trounced by zealous US anti-terrorist investigators. - The Register website

Austria

Kidnap victim stakes claim to captor's house - 30 August
Austrian kidnapping victim Natascha Kampusch has begun an attempt to claim her captor's house and assets, instructing lawyers to take legal action over the scene of her confinement for eight years. Kampusch is also expected to be paid around €665 000 in compensation by the state of Austria under its criminal injuries compensation board. Since her escape, Kampusch has had minimal contact with her parents, who are separated, and has refused to return to either of them. It is understood that on the morning of her disappearance she had quarrelled with her mother. - Mail & Guardian website

Abductor was 'part of my life' - 28 August
An Austrian teenager who spent more than eight years in a dingy underground cell until her dramatic escape last week issued a statement on Monday defending her captor as "part of my life" and insisting she didn't miss anything during her long ordeal. - News24 website

Norway

Loud sigh of relief as Scream is recovered - 1 September
Two Edvard Munch masterpieces stolen in one of the world's most audacious art thefts two years ago have been recovered, police said on Thursday. A version of the Norwegian artist's most famous painting, The Scream, and his Madonna are in the hands of the authorities apparently in good condition after speculation that they had been irreparably damaged. - Mail & Guardian website

Health

Radical changes for organ donors - 31 August
Laws governing organ donation and tissue retention are to be overhauled, possibly allowing more transplants. Under the Human Tissue Act, people will have a legal right for their wishes to be followed, meaning doctors could over-rule relatives' objections. - BBC News website

Call for fertility ban for obese - 30 August
The British Fertility Society is recommending women with a body mass index of 36 and over should not be allowed access to fertility treatment. Underweight women and those classed just as obese (BMI over 29) should be forced to address their weight before starting treatment, the society said. - BBC News website

Human Rights

Celebrity children will get database privacy - 31 August
Children of celebrities will be given special safeguards in a new database that will store details of every child in England and Wales, it was disclosed yesterday. Ministers said the contentious two-tier level of privacy will protect children of the rich and famous from intrusion. In further embarrassment to the Government, an independent report commissioned by Parliament's Information Commissioner and due to be published next month, is understood to warn that the index is causing serious concern and is possibly unlawful. There are fears that it does not comply with the European Convention on Human Rights and may contravene the Data Protection Act. - Telegraph website
Keyphrase :
Children's Index

UK warned over child trafficking - 29 August
The government is not doing enough to prevent the trafficking of young people into Britain, a report by two children's charities has claimed. Many are smuggled in from south-eastern Europe to be used in the sex trade, slavery or for begging, it says. - BBC News website

Company Law

Optional Sox - 30 August
Christopher Cox, in an interview marking his one-year anniversary as chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, offered a glimpse into his thoughts on the regulatory thundercloud known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Unintentionally, though fortunately for the business community, Cox let loose the beginning of a great idea for regulatory reform - that somewhere out there is a market for less regulation. - Forbes website

Who's at fault? - June 2005
In a decision rendered last year in Hart Building Supplies Ltd v Deloitte & Touche, the British Columbia Supreme Court held that a company cannot claim against its auditors for losses flowing from a fraud committed by its "directing mind", that is, the individual managing or controlling the conduct of a corporation in the course of its business. It also underlined the importance of auditors obtaining proper representation letters from their clients and demonstrated the assistance those letters can have in liability claims against auditors concerning their alleged failure to detect management fraud. - ca magazine website

Crime

Prosecutor says she should be 'held accountable' - 30 August
The prosecutor in the 10-year-old murder case of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey admitted on Tuesday night that she should be held accountable for mistakes made in the botched investigation after the prime suspect was exonerated by DNA evidence. - Mail & Guardian website

JonBenet case is not closed, vow prosecutors - 30 August
The lack of a DNA match between John Mark Karr and evidence from the killing of JonBenet Ramsey has set prosecutors back nearly 10 years, but they vow to keep looking for the killer of the six-year-old beauty queen. - IOL website

JonBenet suspect charges dropped - 28 August
A man arrested in Thailand and accused of killing US child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey will not be charged with the murder, prosecutors say. The case against John Mark Karr was dropped after forensic tests found that his DNA did not match that discovered at the scene of the crime. - BBC News website

Criminal Justice System

Criminal justice resources : prisoners' rights and resources on the Web - 15 August
This guide highlights resources about prisons, the people who occupy them, legal and social services for inmates and their families, issues related to incarceration and reentry, and human rights behind bars. The focus is on selected web resources and online publications. - LLRX website

Cyberlaw

Judge OKs text message use in drug case - 31 August
A man accused of involvement in a Washington, DC, cocaine-distribution ring objects to his text messages being handed over to police. US District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle ruled on Aug 10. Huvelle lets text messages be used as evidence. - CNet News website

NY Times move to block UK readers raises questions - 30 August
A New York Times decision to block British online readers from seeing a story about London terrorism suspects raises new questions on restricting the flow of information in the Internet age, legal and media experts say. - CNet News website

Times withholds web article in Britain - 29 August
If Web readers in Britain were intrigued by the headline "Details Emerge in British Terror Case," which sat on top of The New York Times's home page much of yesterday, they would have been disappointed with a click. "On advice of legal counsel, this article is unavailable to readers of nytimes.com in Britain," is the message they would have seen. "This arises from the requirement in British law that prohibits publication of prejudicial information about the defendants prior to trial". - New York Times website

Health

Scandal grows over suspect body parts - 31 August
If you are scheduled for reconstructive orthopaedic surgery, or need a new heart valve, you might want to check where the tissue you are given has come from. For the second time this year, a firm supplying body parts for surgery has been shut down by the US Food and Drug Administration, and more safety scandals are expected to emerge from this booming industry. The latest scare surrounds Donor Referral Services, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, which harvested body parts, including bone, tendons and heart valves, from corpses in funeral homes. - Forbes website

Raising nicotine doses, on the sly - 31 August
While most of us thought the country was trying to curb smoking, and the rapacious habits of the tobacco companies, it turns out the industry has been sneakily making cigarettes more addictive. Evidence of what looks like an increasingly desperate effort to hook new young smokers and prevent older ones from quitting has been uncovered by a Massachusetts law that forces tobacco companies to report test results showing how much nicotine is inhaled by typical smokers of their various brands. - New York Times website

Transport

Plane crash : families sue - 2 September
Lexington, Kentucky - The family of a woman killed when Comair Flight 5191 took off on the wrong runway and crashed in flames, sued the airline, blaming it for the United States' deadliest airplane disaster in five years. - News24 website

Guitar instruction sites shut down by music industry - 29 August
Music publishers are taking action against guitar fan websites which they say infringe songwriters' copyrights. Publishers have started to use copyright lawsuits to shut down sites which share notations to help musicians to play songs at home. - The Register website

Cyberinsurance could save you from an IT disaster - 28 August
"Disaster" for any law firm is not a question of "if," but rather of "when. " The only unknowns are the type of disaster, when it will occur and how bad it will be. That's particularly the case when disaster jeopardizes confidential client records and work product. Such documentation includes master files, time and billing records, court filings, wills, powers of attorney, corporate records, and any other materials that law firms are required to keep. What about the active files of these records on your computer today? If they were compromised by a hacker, or otherwise threatened by criminal activity, it would certainly qualify as a disaster for any firm - one that happens far more often than most firms want to admit. - LexisNexis website

Source : OSALL (Cathie)

Microsoft

Microsoft tests parental-control software - 30 August
Slightly later than planned, Microsoft on Wednesday released a trial version of a free parental-control tool for Windows XP. Windows Live OneCare Family Safety is designed to help keep Web content that parents deem inappropriate from reaching their children. The beta version of the tool, available to the general public, updates an earlier preview version of the tool made available to about 3,000 testers in March. - CNet News website

'A party for the contract? Will there be cake?' - 2 September
A British government minister may have thought he was keeping up with modern trends when he put a draft policy on the internet on Friday, but was soon left red-faced when hundreds of pranksters defaced it. Web-logging, techno-savvy Environment Secretary David Miliband, tipped as a bright young spark in Prime Minister Tony Blair's administration, had put a draft "environment contract" on his department's website, setting out social responsibilities for people, the government and businesses. But embarrassed administrators were forced to haul it down after more than 170 cyber-jokers trashed the document by adding in bizarre paragraphs for fun. - Mail & Guardian website

Excerpt :
"The page used "wiki" editing techniques, which allow readers to alter the content. . . . The tricky question of "What tools can be used to deliver the environmental contract?" received the answer : "Spade, organic yoghurt stirrer, old washing-up-liquid bottle, sticky back plastic". Meanwhile, a list of tools that "create the right incentive frameworks" was doctored to include "Big stick" and "Owl magnet"."

UK govt scraps web experiment over abuse - 2 September
It was a bold exercise in online democracy - but the British government abruptly ended an internet experiment on Friday as a website requesting ideas for environmental policies was bombarded with abuse and ridicule. - ninemsn website

Visit the site at http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/latest/2006/environ-0816.htm and the once-victimised page at http://wiki.defra.gov.uk/WikiHome/EnvironmentContract

requires the service of a Conveyancer for a post in our Pietermaritzburg offices to start in October.  The ability to read and speak Afrikaans will be a recommendation.

Contact

Daan Steenkamp
Telephone : 033-845 2398
Fax : 033-342 6065

or apply with a CV to daan@swlaw.co.za

South Africa is one of the most sophisticated and promising emerging markets globally and, in addition, is the economic powerhouse of Africa, serving as a gateway for investment into Southern Africa.

South Africa : investor's guide to business law and trade, is an important and useful reference source for traders, potential investors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, students or anyone with an interest in doing business in South Africa. Consisting of some 170 pages, it provides a broad analysis of the investment climate and regulatory environment in South Africa. It is recommended as essential reading preceding any investment or trade decision.

The book is available as a downloadable e-Book, and can be purchased online at www.research-southafrica.com.

'Mooove slowly and don't hug Swiss cows' - 29 August
Keep your distance. Avoid eye contact. And even if it looks cute, never hug a Swiss cow. Responding to numerous "reports of unpleasant meetings between hikers and cattle" along Switzerland's picture-perfect Alpine trails this summer, the Swiss Hiking Federation has laid down a few ground rules. "Leave the animals in peace and do not touch them. Never caress a calf," the group's guidance, posted on the website www.swisshiking.ch, reads. - IOL website [emphasis added]

see http://www.swisshiking.ch/website/tk/Wanderer_und_Rinder.htm

and, from Wordsmith - http://wordsmith.org/

"palinode (PAL-uh-noad) noun

A poem in which the author retracts something said in an earlier poem

[From Greek palinoidia, from palin (again) + oide (song)]

The illustrator and humorist Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) once wrote a poem called The Purple Cow :

I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one ;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I'd rather see than be one.

The poem became so popular and he became so closely linked with this single quatrain he later wrote a palinode :

Confession : and a Portrait, Too,
Upon a Background that I Rue!

Oh, yes, I wrote 'The Purple Cow,'
I'm sorry now I wrote it!
But I can tell you anyhow,
I'll kill you if you quote it."

It was the same Burgess who coined the word blurb."

[accessed on 1 September 2006]
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