| News
on the Electronic Front |
|
|
|
|
Recent
Judgments Available on the Internet |
|
|
|
|
|
Constitutional
Court of South Africa
-
www.constitutionalcourt.org.za
5 October
2007
CCT 51/06
KZN MEC of Education v Pillay
FXI
welcomes Constitutional Court judgment in "nose stud" case - 5
October
The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) welcomes today's
Constitutional Court (CC) judgment in the "nose-stud" case, as a
vindication of school pupil Sunali Pillay's cultural and religious
rights, as well as her right to freedom of expression. This case
turns on whether Pillay had the right to wear a nose stud, as an
expression of her religious and cultural beliefs, to school (the
Durban Girl's High School) in spite of the fact that the school's
Uniform Code forbade the wearing of jewelry. -
allAfrica website
5 October 2007
CCT 85/06
Sidumo v Rustenburg Platinum
Mines Ltd and
Others
Court ruling shifts balance in cases of unfair dismissal
- 8 October
It was a landmark judgment that had been eagerly awaited by
employers and employees, and was of special significance to the
Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and
Cosatu, which obtained permission to intervene. On Friday the
constitutional court overturned a supreme court of appeal (SCA)
decision that had severely criticised the labour appeal court
(LAC). - Business Report
website
Blow for
employers in dismissal ruling - 8 October
The Constitutional Court has ruled that when the Commission for
Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) decides on cases
about dismissal, it does not have to defer to the decision of the
employer to sack workers. The court on Friday overturned a Supreme
Court of Appeal judgment which confirmed a mine employee's
dismissal. This restored the CCMA commissioner's award overturning
the dismissal. The ruling clarifies the point that the CCMA, not
the employer , decides whether a dismissal is fair or not. -
allAfrica website
Court reinstates guard after 7 years - 5 October
A landmark Constitutional Court ruling has reinstated a security
guard fired seven years ago at Rustenburg Platinum Mine with full
benefits. The court overturned a ruling by the Supreme Court of
Appeal (SCA) regarding Zandise Sidumo, who was dismissed for
failing to "apply established search procedures" at a facility
where precious metals were separated and graded accordingly. "Even
though he was not a member of the union, we are excited about this
ruling. It's a victory not only for the mine industry but labour
force generally," said the general secretary of the National Union
of Mineworkers (NUM). - IOL
website
Court sanctions Baby R adoption - 11 October
Baby R has finally been adopted by the US couple who fought so
hard to make her part of their family. Tears streamed down the
face of the Johannesburg's Children
Court Commissioner who granted Baby R's
adoption, while her secretary, Baby R's
foster and adoptive parents and a court appointed adviser were
also in tears. The 25-minute session marked the end of a two-year
legal battle by Baby R's
African-American parents in which they sought to obtain
guardianship of the little girl so they could adopt her in the US.
A report in The Mercury says the court decision was
prompted by an unofficial Department of Social Development
'policy' which
discouraged inter-country adoptions to the US. The department
subsequently admitted that the policy had no basis in law. -
Legalbrief website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa
-
http://www.supremecourtofappeal.gov.za/index.html
; wwwserver.law.wits.ac.za/sca/index.php ;
http://www.uovs.ac.za/apps/law/appeal/
25
September 2006
532/2006
Progress Office Machines v SARS [2007] SCA 118 (RSA)
Appeal
Court landmark for antidumping - 10 October
A landmark judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeal may have
far-reaching implications on the expiry of antidumping duties for
companies, say tax analysts. The court recently upheld an appeal
from the Durban High Court concerning the duration of antidumping
duties imposed by the finance minister under the provisions of the
Customs and Excise Act of
1964. - allAfrica
website
13
September 2007
391/2006
CSARS v Brummeria Renaissance (Pty) Ltd
[2007]SCA 99(RSA)
Ruling
proves interest-free loans still a taxing issue - 9 October
Tax analysts have raised concerns in view of a recent Supreme
Court of Appeal judgment that all interest-free loans will give
rise to an income tax liability in the hands of the borrower,
including loans by a founder to a family trust. In the Brummeria
Renaissance judgment delivered last month, a company which
developed retirement villages entered into an agreement with the
prospective occupant of a unit. In terms of the agreement, the
prospective occupant made the developer an interest-free loan and,
in return, received a contractual right to live in the unit until
he died. The court held the benefit of getting a loan
interest-free had to be included in the developer's income for tax
purposes. - allAfrica website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Equality Courts
Landlord challenged over whites-only lease - 7 October
A South Coast landlord has promised to revoke a whites-only clause
in a lease agreement after it was challenged in the Equality Court.
Bronwyn Ellen Gerber who is married to a South African
Indian, said her lease agreement, after being approved by Stephen
Thomas Evenwell of Dunmarsh Building in Warner Beach, was cancelled
owing to the clause.
Gerber lodged a complaint with the SA Human Rights'
Commission, asking it to intervene on her behalf in the Equality
Court. - The Times (SA)
website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Labour Courts
-
http://www.saflii.org/
SAA
gains another
victory over
unions - 8 October
Efforts by South African Airways (SAA) to retrench some of its
employees, including pilots and senior managers, received a boost on
Friday when the Labour Court dismissed with costs an urgent
application brought by the airline's powerful pilots' union. This
was the second time in three months that the national carrier had
won a court battle against trade unions that are opposed to the
retrenchment of their members or the alteration of their conditions
of employment. - allAfrica
website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Land
Claims Court of South Africa
-
www.law.wits.ac.za/lcc/
Tears of joy as Richtersveld land claim is settled - 9 October
Tears of joy flowed on Tuesday when the Richtersveld community
finally won back the diamond-rich land taken from them almost a
century ago. The restoration of the land was part of a settlement
agreement confirmed by Land Claims Court Judge Antonie Gildenhuys,
sitting in Cape Town. His order, handed down just after 4pm, ended
a decade-long legal battle that went all the way to the
Constitutional Court. "I am overwhelmed with joy. I can't hold
back my tears," said community leader Willem Diergaardt
afterwards, as other Richtersvelders sang and hugged each other
around him. - Mail & Guardian
website
Richtersveld settlement on cards - 8 October
A settlement has been reached on the Richtersveld community's
troubled land restitution deal, lawyers said on Monday. They said
the settlement would be presented to Land Claims Court Judge
Antonie Geldenhuys on Tuesday morning. If Geldenhuys makes the
settlement an order of court, it will end the Richtersvelders'
decade-long legal battle over diamond-rich land taken from them by
the state in the 1920s. "We've settled," said Rudolph Jansen,
national director of Lawyers for Human Rights. "The court has
already given its inputs, so it's likely the agreement will be
made an order of court tomorrow [Tuesday]". -
IOL website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cape
Provincial Division
-
http://law.sun.ac.za/cgi-bin/list.php
Oudekraal development finally put to rest - 10 October
The Cape High Court has set aside a decision made 50 years ago to
allow Oudekraal owners to develop the stretch of pristine
coastline between Bakoven and Llandudno. This means that owner,
Kassie Wiehahn, will not be able to use township rights, granted
in 1957, to develop a portion of the land. -
IOL website
Travelgate MP's bid to use 'Pikoli loophole' fails - 9 October
An attempt by one of the Travelgate accused to link the suspension
of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) director Vusi Pikoli to
the case was stopped abruptly yesterday by Cape Judge President
John Hlophe who said his court was not to be used to have the
charges against the accused relaxed. Hlophe reacted to Adv Andre
Parries, representing travel agent Estelle Aggujaro, who had
argued that just as police commissioner Jackie Selebi's case was
being reviewed following Pikoli's suspension, so too should the
Travelgate case against four travel agents. -
allAfrica website
Court battle over drunk driving car - 9 October
The first car in South Africa to be attached by the State in a
drunk driving case was the subject of a legal tussle in the Cape
High Court on Monday. In 2004 the National Prosecuting Authority
obtained a preservation order for the Toyota Corolla driven by
Laingsburg municipal official Benjamin Kleinbooi, following two
arrests only weeks apart. The NPA is now asking the court for a
permanent forfeiture order, which is being opposed by Kleinbooi
and by Toyota Financial Services, from whom Kleinbooi was leasing
the car. - Citizen website
Fidentia Case
Cruikshank House for sale in quest for Fidentia millions - 10
October
The upmarket Ruimsig, Johannesburg, home of Angus Cruikshank,
whose company, Ovation, was allegedly used to launder money for
Fidentia, goes on auction at the end of the month in the latest
bid to recover R1,4bn owed to Fidentia creditors. It is believed
most of the money that went via Fidentia to either Ovation or
Cruikshank's companies came from the Living Hands Trust, or the
orphans and widows fund, as it is better known. Fidentia curators
have to queue with 17000 investors in Ovation Global Investment
Services and its trust company Ovation Global Investment nominees
who are owed R271,4m. - allAfrica
website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Natal
Provincial Division
-
http://www.uovs.ac.za/apps/law/highcourt/
'We became hungry and escaped' - 10 October
As a heavy vehicle driver stopped to drop off a young woman hitch
hiker, four gunmen emerged from the bushes and held the driver and
his assistant captive for about 10 hours, the Pietermaritzburg
High Court heard on Monday. The woman was picked up near
Pietermaritzburg while the driver was taking 34 tons of liquor
from Durban to Gauteng. She then asked to be dropped off at an
off-ramp near Mooi River where the hijack gang was waiting to
pounce, the court was told during the trial of alleged hijack
kingpin Jackson Khumalo. Khumalo faces charges of the murder of a
heavy vehicle driver, Johannes de Witt, who was shot dead soon
after he dropped off a young woman lure near Howick. -
News24 website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Transvaal
Provincial Division
- (Court rolls at
http://www.courtroom.co.za/roll.php)
Judge intervenes in patient's will - 8 October
A social worker claims that a "moment of clarity" resulted in her
87-year-old Alzheimer's patient making her a beneficiary in her
R700 000 estate. A Pretoria High Court acting judge has expressed
concern over a social worker "assisting" her patient in drawing up
her will in which she (the social worker) and the woman's
caregiver, were the sole beneficiaries. Acting Judge Louis Visser
said the social worker, Dr Hendrina Hattingh, and caregiver,
Herodia Baloyi, were hand in glove with each other regarding the
inheritance of the estate of Catherina Burger, who has never
married and does not have any children. -
IOL website
Pensioners sue KPMG Mauritius - 10 October
KPMG Mauritius is being sued in the Port Louis Supreme Court for
$57m by 1700 disgruntled southern African investors, most of whom
were South African pensioners who lost millions in the Leaderguard
Spot Forex (LSF) investment scam. In March 2005, LSF's South
African holding company, Leaderguard Securities, was liquidated
after its financial director, Maria Fryer, brought an urgent
application for its winding up in the Pretoria High Court.After
the collapse of the company, the two main directors of Leaderguard
Securities and LSF, Basie Venter and Stephan Pretorius, were
prosecuted and fined in the Mauritius court and ordered to leave
the country. They now live in SA. -
allAfrica website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Regional Courts
Bellville
Air-hijack 'joker' not guilty - 9 October
Johannesburg
entrepreneur Mncedisi Eric Maluleka, who joked on board a
kulula.com flight about hijacking the aircraft, was found not
guilty on Tuesday of jeopardising the safety of an aircraft and
its passengers in flight. He appeared in the Bellville Regional
Court, before magistrate Clive Linden, who agreed with defence
counsel Hugo Rossouw that Maluleka had merely made a joke to the
flight crew, and had at no stage intended to jeopardise the safety
of the aircraft, passengers and crew. Kulula.com policy demanded
that the flight commander be informed of such incidents -
Mail & Guardian website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Magistrates Courts
Bellville
Cops smash teen 'child porn ring' - 10 October
Six teenage boys will appear in court on Wednesday after they were
arrested for the alleged production and distribution of child
pornography using cellphones. The boys, aged from 16 to
18-years-old, will appear at the Bellville Magistrate's Court on
charges of rape, soliciting and the production and distribution of
child pornography. - News24
website
Germiston
Nassif negotiations to be finalised on Friday - 10 October
Negotiations between the Scorpions and the late Brett Kebble's
security chief, Clinton Nassif, will be finalised in court on
Friday. Scorpions prosecutor Gerrie Nel said the Scorpions had not
yet completed discussions with Nassif about his arrest for
involvement in alleged drug dealing. Magistrate James van Wyk said
"some or other problems were experienced" and therefore court would
reconvene at 9am on Friday. Nassif had been expected to enter into a
plea bargain agreement on Wednesday. -
Mail & Guardian website
Nassif may
hold key to Agliotti trial - 10 October
Clinton Nassif, former security chief of slain mining magnate Brett
Kebble, may reach a plea bargain with the state today and testify in
the drug trial of Kebble murder accused Glenn Agliotti and three
others. The state told the Germiston Magistrate's Court yesterday
that it wanted to add Nassif as the fifth accused in the trial
relating to drugs worth R250m intercepted by the Scorpions in
Alberton last year. The other accused are Agliotti, Dimitrio Paparas,
Stephanos Paparas and Stanley Poonin. -
allAfrica website
Libode
Killer's 'accomplice' in court - 9 October
The man accused of being an accomplice in the murders of ten
women, whose decomposed bodies were found in sugar cane fields in
KwaZulu-Natal, has appeared in an Eastern Cape court, police said
on Tuesday. Superintendent Leonie Verster, head of the province'
organised crime unit, said the man accomplice appeared at the
Libode Magistrate's Court on Monday on a charges of a double
murder, a murder and an armed robbery. She said the man's identity
could not be revealed as yet but court officials named the accused
as Zandisile Bhadla Somanikiniki who resides in Majola, in the
Port St Johns area. - News24
website
Umzinto
Charges dropped against accused in KZN
murders - 10 October
Charges against a man accused of participating in the murder of
ten KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) women were withdrawn in the Umzinto
Magistrate's Court on Wednesday. The state has withdrawn its
charges against Zandisile Bhadla Somanikiniki (28), who resides in
the Majola, Port St Johns, area but no reasons were given for the
withdrawal. The court heard that the remaining two accused had
failed to make an application for bail. -
Mail & Guardian website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Competition
Commission, Tribunal and
Appeal Court
-
http://www.compcom.co.za/
;
http://www.comptrib.co.za/
|
Update on merger
and acquisition decisions, investigations and referrals/legal
matters |
|
|
|
Merger cases
notified : |
| |
Initial date
filed |
Parties |
| |
19-Sep-07 |
Thomson-Reuters
Plc/Reuters Group Plc |
| |
20-Sep-07 |
Beaux Lane (SA)
(Pty) Ltd/Lot 2973 Kokstad Property CC |
| |
21-Sep-07 |
Kulungile Metals
Group (Pty) Ltd/Global Roofing Solutions (Pty) Ltd |
| |
21-Sep-07 |
Sanlam
Investment Holdings Limited/Blue Ink Investments (Pty) Ltd |
| |
25-Sep-07 |
Serafina
Acquisition Limited/Intelsat Holdings Limited |
| |
25-Sep-07 |
Belfast Merger
Corporation/Dade Behring Holdings Incorporated |
| |
25-Sep-07 |
Doosan Infracore
Co. Limited/The Utility Equipment and Attachment businesses
and the Bobcat Business of Ingersoll Rand Company Limited |
| |
25-Sep-07 |
General Cable
Industries, Inc/Phelps Dodge National Cables Corporation |
| |
25-Sep-07 |
Canyon Springs
Investments 12 (Pty) Ltd/Glenrand MIB Benefit Services (Pty)
Ltd |
| |
26-Sep-07 |
Rickshaw Trade &
Invest 41 (Pty) Ltd/Tsebo Outsourcing Group (Pty) Ltd |
| |
26-Sep-07 |
Universal Food
Systems (Pty) Ltd/The Baking Solutions Business being disposed
of by Macadams Baking Systems (Pty) Ltd |
| |
26-Sep-07 |
M&F Guiricich
Developments (Pty) Ltd/The Various
Rental Enterprises held by Diversified Properties
2 (Pty) Ltd |
| |
27-Sep-07 |
GVM Metals
Limited/Coal of Africa Limited |
| |
28-Sep-07 |
Schaffer
Technologies Trust/Brookfield Investments 250 (Pty) Ltd in
respect of the Retail Rental Enterprise known as "Eikestad
Shopping Mall Stellenbosch" |
| |
01-Oct-07 |
Paracon Holdings
Limited/X-Pert Group (Pty) Ltd |
| |
02-Oct-07 |
Calshelf
Investments 152 (Pty) Ltd/Orley Foods (Pty) Ltd |
| |
03-Oct-07 |
Quince Debt
Finance No.1 (Pty) Ltd/Certain discounted rental agreements
owned by RC&C Finance Company (Pty) Ltd |
| |
05-Oct-07 |
Scharing Mining
Ltd/Mainstreet 432 (Pty) Ltd |
| |
05-Oct-07 |
Westbrooke
Investments (Pty) Ltd/Nent Investments
(Pty) Ltd |
| |
05-Oct-07 |
Sphere Equity
Fund 1 Partnership/Dynamic Fibre Moulding (Pty) Ltd |
|
|
|
The Commission
approved the following merger transactions : |
| |
Initial date
filed |
Date finalised |
Parties |
| |
03-Jul-07 |
27-Sep-07 |
Schering-Plough
Corporation/ Organon BioSciences NV |
| |
11-Jul-07 |
02-Oct-07 |
Autovest
Limited/Maxe (Pty) Ltd,
SA Canopy Centre (Pty) Ltd
and Rhino Linings SA (Pty) Ltd |
| |
27-Jul-07 |
02-Oct-07 |
CFMM
Développement/Uramin Inc |
| |
08-Aug-07 |
02-Oct-07 |
Xstata South
Africa (Pty) Ltd/Eland Platinum Holdings Limited |
| |
17-Aug-07 |
02-Oct-07 |
Crown Mobile
(Pty) Ltd/ Swiltcon (Pty) Ltd |
| |
24-Aug-07 |
02-Oct-07 |
Cavaleros
Property Holdings (Pty) Ltd/Erven 4912 and 4687 Montague
Gardens |
| |
28-Aug-07 |
02-Oct-07 |
PPG Industries
Netherlands BV/ Sigmakalon (BC)
Holdco BV |
| |
30-Aug-07 |
02-Oct-07 |
Safariplans
(Pty) Ltd/The Drifters Group |
| |
06-Sep-07 |
02-Oct-07 |
Brookfield
Investments 250 (Pty) Ltd/The Retail Rental Enterprise known
as "Eikestad Shopping Mall Stellenbosch", held by SA Retail
Properties Limited |
| |
16-Jul-07 |
04-Oct-07 |
Imperial Cargo
(Pty) Ltd/P&J Botha Transport (Pty) Ltd |
| |
01-Aug-07 |
04-Oct-07 |
GSM Trading
(South Africa) (Pty) Ltd and Newshelf 878 (Pty) Ltd/The
wholesale business conducted by
Billabong South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Von Zipper South Africa CC,
Element Skateboards South Africa CC, Country Feeling CC,
Kustom and Palmers Surf (Pty) Ltd and The manufacturing
business conducted by Billabong South Africa (Pty) Ltd |
| |
22-Aug-07 |
04-Oct-07 |
Thornbird Trade
and Investment 25 (Pty) Ltd/Davidson's Holding Company (Pty)
Ltd |
| |
24-Aug-07 |
04-Oct-07 |
Schneider
Electric South Africa (Pty) Ltd/RBF Technology (Pty) Ltd |
| |
27-Aug-07 |
04-Oct-07 |
Africa Cellular
Towers Limited/ K Shelters (Pty) Ltd |
| |
07-Sep-07 |
04-Oct-07 |
S Process
Equipment AcquiCo GmbH/Schenck Process Holding GmbH |
Information supplied by
www.fd.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pension Funds Adjudicator
- http://www.pfa.org.za/
Ruling
alters divorce act, pension accrual - 8 October
A landmark ruling by pension fund adjudicator Mamodupi Mohlala is
likely to affect thousands of divorced spouses awaiting payment of
the divorce benefits from various retirement funds. Mohlala has
ruled that, following the promulgation on September 13 of the
Pension Funds Amendment
Act, benefits are deemed to "accrue" to the member on the
date of the court order of divorce. -
allAfrica website
|
|
|
|
Government
and Legislation |
|
|
|
|
|
South
Africa Government Information
-
http://www.gov.za/
Statements and
Speeches
10 October
2007
Minister of Correctional Services, Ngconde Balfour appoints two
women to executive management positions
Excerpt :
"The
new appointees are Advocate Tozama Mqobi as Regional
Commissioner (Deputy Director-General) of Gauteng and Ms Grace
Molatedi as Area Commissioner (Chief Director) of Pretoria
Management Area"
9 October
2007
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Gigaba investigation temporarily
suspended
9 October 2007
Green Scorpions arrest woman dumping hazardous waste
8 October
2007
Speech Delivered by Premier Mr Sibusiso Ndebele during the Gala
Dinner of the 12th Regional International Labour Organisation
Seminar held at the International Convention Centre, Durban
8 October
2007
Speech by Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Sibusiso Ndebele at the 12th
International Labour Organisation regional seminar at the
International Convention Centre, in Durban
8 October 2007
Address by North West MEC of Public Works Jerry Thibedi at the
gala dinner of the Property Valuers Profession Conference held
at Mount Amanzi, Hartebeespoort
8 October 2007
Four state vehicles impounded
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legislation
Children's Act
Hitting a child may
cost R300 - 10 October
That's what parents will have to cough up if they're prosecuted
under the provisions for corporal punishment in the proposed
Children's Act and if they are given the option of a fine. The
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Tuesday told the
parliamentary Social Welfare Services portfolio committee that
unless clause 139 of the Children's Act was changed, "any minor
smack on the buttocks or rap over the knuckles" would be illegal and
punishable by law. -
News24 website
Electronic
Communications Act
Policies and Policy
Directions in terms of section 3(1) and (2)
www.pmg.org.za/gazettes/070917com-poldirections.pdf
Local
Government Laws Amendment Bill
Municipal
unions at odds with Mufamadi - 10 October
Municipal trade unions have taken aim at Provincial and Local
Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi for giving them limited time
to comment on legislation that seeks to make sweeping changes to
the way local government is run. The Local Government Laws
Amendment Bill, if enacted in its present form, will compel all
municipal managers to declare their business and financial
interests within 60 days of their appointment. It also seeks to
make it compulsory to establish ward committees and to delegate
executive powers to them. -
allAfrica website
|
|
|
|
Useful
Links and Items of Interest |
|
|
|
|
|
Mahatma Gandhi
celebrations
Judge highlights importance of Gandhi's philosophy - 6 October
Constitutional Court judge Albie Sachs says the spirit of service to
others as espoused by Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy is under attack in
South Africa. He says some of the people who participated in the
struggle now only want to be powerful and rich. Sachs was honoured
by the Indian High Commission at a ceremony yesterday to celebrate
the International Day of Non-Violence. -
SABC News website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legal Profession
Canada
Paralegals get trust account rules - 9 October
Ontario's newly regulated paralegals will soon have the same trust
account rules as lawyers, but some benchers say the two-year
transitional period is too long. According to the new requirements
passed by Convocation last month, paralegals are being given more
than two years to transfer money collected before they were licensed
to a trust account. That transitional period is set to last from the
day the paralegal receives the licence until May 1, 2010. After that
date, any fees from services not yet provided have to be transferred
to the trust account. -
Law
Times website
United Kingdom
Judges furious over plan to cut appeal court's powers - 6
October
The government has suppressed for more than six months an
overwhelmingly hostile reaction by judges and legal experts to
proposals to restrict the appeal court's powers to quash
convictions. Senior appeal court judges, the council of circuit
judges, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) and, in a
personal response, its chairman, Graham Zellick, all lambasted the
plans in unpublished responses, the Guardian has learned.
Other bodies, including the Law Society, the Criminal Bar
Association and the campaigning groups Justice and Liberty, have
made their objections public. But the government has ignored
Cabinet Office guidelines on publishing the responses to
consultations, though the measures are now part of a bill due for
a second reading next week. -
Guardian Unlimited website
United States
Lawyers who mediate, not litigate - 9 October
The civilized resolution of conflict in American society recently
took a giant step forward with the issuance of an important ethics
opinion by the American Bar Association (ABA) upholding the use of
"collaborative law" agreements by lawyers. The concept of
collaborative law may seem like an oxymoron to some, but it is a
widely used process in which the lawyers and clients agree that
the lawyers will participate solely for the purpose of settlement
negotiations and that if the case goes to court, the parties will
hire new counsel. Collaborative law has been hailed by many
lawyers and clients as a godsend, rescuing them from the quagmire
of courtroom battle. -
Christian Science Monitor website
|
|
|
|
|
|
South Africa
Education
Scarce skills unit to endure - 11 October
Cabinet has decided to set up a permanent unit within the education
department to keep up pressure on acquiring scarce and priority
skills even after the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills
Acquisition (Jipsa) is over and done with.
And according to Themba Maseko, the cabinet spokesman,
Jipsa is to be given an extension of life until the end of 2009.
- The Times
website
Emigration and
Immigration
5 October 2007
There is no transit shelter for refugees
SA Government Information
website
Environment
Sasol denies building offices in construction row - 10 October
Sasol and a conservation group clashed on Wednesday, with the
petrochemical giant denying building in an environmentally sensitive
area without permission. Environment and Conservation Association (ECA)
chairperson Nicole Barlow accused Sasol of erecting luxury offices,
without authorisation, along the Natalspruit River in Germiston on
Gauteng's East Rand. - Mail &
Guardian website
Iceberg spotted off Eastern Cape - 9 October
An iceberg, 25 metres in length and 20 metres in height, has been
spotted south-east of St Francis Bay, Eastern Cape, the National Sea
Rescue Institute (NSRI) said yesterday. "This is very unusual and in
fact we don't know of anything in recent history that has being
reported this close to South African waters," said NSRI spokesman
Craig Lambinon. - Cape Times
website
Long wait ahead for news of iceberg off St Francis Bay - 11
October
South Africans agog at the news a fishing crew spotted an iceberg
off St Francis Bay earlier this week might have to wait a little
longer for news because the skipper has told the NSRI he will not be
docking quite yet. The captain of the fishing vessel Ntini was
adamant that his 20-member crew did indeed spot an iceberg off St
Francis Bay. NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon yesterday said there had
been no new developments regarding the iceberg. This would not have
been the first time. Marine geologist John Rogers said a Royal Navy
vessel, the HMS Guardian, was wrecked by an iceberg on December 24,
1789 along a similar route. -
The Herald Online website
Cold weather batters region - 9 October
A late cold snap has battered the Eastern Cape and even blown in an
iceberg – with snowfalls, rain and more chilly weather on the way.
While snow is expected today in the north-eastern parts of the
Eastern Cape, residents of George and Plettenberg Bay in the
Southern Cape said yesterday the Outeniqua Mountains had a light
covering of snow. And in a rare occurrence an iceberg, estimated to
be 25 metres long and 20 metres high, was spotted floating 35
nautical miles south of St Francis Bay yesterday. -
The Herald Online website
Beach repair funds earmarked for Umhlanga - 9 October
It could cost more than R113-million to ready eThekwini Municipality
beaches for the summer holiday season, a report to be tabled at
Tuesday's executive committee meeting reveals. Infrastructure was
damaged along the coast during two storms this year, the first in
the middle of March, and the other at the end of July. Umhlanga in
the north, and Amanzimtoti in the south, were among the worst
affected areas. According to the report, most of the coastal
clean-up work has been completed, and rehabilitation and repair work
is on schedule in other areas. - IOL
website
Foreign Affairs
9 October 2007
Press comments made by South African Ambassador to European Union
Anil Sooklal
SA Government Information
website
Excerpt :
"You are aware that for the first time the Ministerial
Troika meeting will be hosted in South Africa. This is since we
signed the comprehensive agreement with the European Union (EU) that
came into effect in 2000. Soon after the new dispensation came into
power, we began our dialogue with the European Union which led to a
very prolonged series of negotiations – almost four and a half years
– which eventually manifested in the Trade, Development and
Co-operation Agreement (TDCA) which came into partial effect in
2000. It was fully operationalised in 2004. Now, it was one of the
first comprehensive agreements that South Africa entered into with
any global partner. The TDCA is basically composed of four pillars:
political dialogue, trade chapter, economic and other co-operation,
and development co-operation"
Health
10 October
2007
Media Statement on KwaZulu-Natal Health Head of Department Busi
Nyembezi
SA Government Information
website
Excerpt :
"The
report follows the institution of an investigation into a number
of allegations levelled against Nyembezi who has taken voluntary
leave while the matter is being finalised"
Durban nurse arrested with human tissue - 8 October
A woman has been arrested with human tissue in her possession at a
Durban hospital, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Sunday.
Superintendent Muzi Mngomezulu said the 33-year-old assistant
nurse was caught with a baby's umbilical cord in the hospital's
parking lot at 2.15pm. At her house, they discovered four bottles
containing human parts in her fridge. -
Mail & Guardian website
Sunday Times apologises to Qunta - 8 October
Cape Town lawyer Christine Qunta on Monday welcomed the Sunday
Times's retraction of defamatory statements made by the
newspaper against her, saying the apology was proof that the
principle of media accountability was being upheld. -
Mail & Guardian website
20 September 2007
Speech by the Eastern Cape MEC of Health Mrs Nomsa Jajula at the
inauguration of retired nurses held in East London
SA Government Information
website
Human Rights
Boys Town faces fresh abuse claim - 6 October
The Catholic Church in South Africa could face a class action suit
after another former Boys Town student has come forward with more
allegations of molestation by the late Bishop of Johannesburg and
founder of Boys Town, Reginald Orsmond. -
Pretoria News website
Intellectual Property
Rights
South African heritages and their owners - 5 October
On a trip to Cape Town, Laura Foster, an attorney and UCLA
doctoral student in women's studies, discovers that intellectual
property rights are not marginal concerns for marginalized and
historically oppressed communities. They're near the center of
efforts to reclaim and reaffirm cultures. -
UCLA International
Institute website
Judicial Service
Commission
Judicial focus now turns from Hlophe to Desai - 6 October
As the Judicial Service Commission closes the file on Cape High
Court Judge President John Hlophe, the complaints body's attention
will focus on another senior judge in the division, who ironically
contributed to his judge president's landing in the soup in the
first place. - IOL website
JSC under fire from Cape Bar over Hlophe - 10 October
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has come under fire again
for its handling of the inquiry into misconduct by Cape Judge
President John Hlophe - this time from the Cape Bar Council. The
Cape Bar Council said it would have liked the JSC to be more open
about its investigation of Hlophe and its finding and decision not
to push for impeachment. It complained that the judgment by Chief
Justice Pius Langa and details on the commission's vote on the
matter were kept under wraps. -
IOL website
UCT law professors in attack on Hlophe - 10 October
Members of the faculty of law at the University of Cape Town are
the latest influential group in legal circles to question whether
Cape Judge President John Hlophe is fit to occupy his position.
"Judge Hlophe should consider whether his continuation in high
judicial office in our legal system will not further damage our
constitutional democracy," the group of 14 academics said in a
letter to the Cape Times. -
Cape Times website
Hlophe may have R2m reasons to ride out storm - 10 October
In spite of the controversy swirling around Cape Judge President
John Hlophe, sources say it is unlikely he will retire, as he is
due for a R2-million tax-free gratuity in just over two years.
Sources believe Judge Hlophe will ride out the storm because of
the big payout due to him under the law that governs judges who
have served at least 15 years on the bench. Judge Hlophe,
appointed in 1995, is expected to be paid the gratuity in 2010. -
IOL website
Racial divide over payment row South African judge - 9 October
Allegations of improper conduct against a top judge have divided
South Africa's legal profession along racial lines with black
colleagues rejecting calls for his resignation by white advocates.
Criticism of Cape judge president John Hlophe by retired judge
Johann Kriegler has received the backing of nine non-black
advocates but drew flak on Tuesday from the country's Black
Lawyers Association (BLA). "His (Kriegler's) unsolicited and
gratuitous attack on a sitting judge reveals him to be intemperate
and disorderly in his outburst, conduct absolutely unbecoming of
the dignity of the bench," the Cape Times newspaper quoted the BLA
as saying. - Africasia
website
A judge we should all dread - 10 October
Judge President of the Western Cape, John Hlope must resign now.
He is a disgrace to the legal profession and an embarrassment to
a country which is battling to persuade the world that its
criminal justice system is capable of winning the war against
crime. - The Times
website
Includes comments from readers
Excerpt :
"yes, it is easy to blow that flame like a candle in the
rain. It is very sad to me for I know
where the judge comes from. I know the
storms he has had to battle to come to where he is"
Is justice blind over Hlophe? - 10 October
Daily Dispatch website
Black lawyers' body backs JSC on Hlophe - 9 October
The lawful decision by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC)
not to continue its inquiry into Cape Judge President John
Hlophe has upset some people, the Black Lawyers' Association (BLA)
said on Tuesday. "It's an outcome they don't like," BLA
president Henry Msimang said. -
Mail & Guardian website
Hlophe has no place on Bench, say legal gurus - 9 October
More voices on Monday joined the call for Cape Judge President
John Hlophe's dismissal. Eight highly respected senior members
of the Cape Bar Council wrote to the Cape Times newspaper in
support of former constitutional and appeals court judge Johann
Kriegler's comment at the weekend that Hlophe was "unfit for the
Bench". Among them are former acting judges, and chairmen of the
Cape Bar Council and the General Council of the Bar of South
Africa. -
IOL website
Resign,
Hlophe - 9 October
We are
all senior counsel in practice at the Cape Bar. Some of us are
former chairs of the Bar, and of the General Council of the Bar of
SA and from time to time have served, too, as acting High Court
judges. Schalk Burger SC, Michael Fitzgerald SC, Jeremy Gauntlett
SC, Peter Hodes SC, Rob Petersen SC, Les Rose-Innes SC, Nic
Treurnicht SC, Henri Viljoen SC, Renata Williams SC -
allAfrica website
Judge Hlophe betrayed the nation with his greed - 7 October
This week a divided Judicial Service Commission decided not to
press for the impeachment of Cape Judge President John Hlophe.
Although the judge can consider himself lucky to have
gained some kind of not-proven verdict, he was certainly not
exonerated. Far from it : the man's
reputation is in tatters, his name has become synonymous with
scandal in high places, his public utterances and conduct are an
ongoing delight to journalists and an embarrassment to his
colleagues.
The fall-out of the Hlophe saga is more serious,
however. (Kriegler is a former Appeal Court and Constitutional
Court judge). - The Times
(SA) website
Opposition voices concern over Hlophe matter - 5 October
The lack of legislation regulating the conduct of judges has
resulted in Cape Judge President John Hlophe getting away with a
"slap on the wrist", the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on
Friday. "This absence is a result of delays in the passing of
the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) Amendment Bill - these
amendments propose a code of conduct for judges, as well as
rules governing the disclosure of assets and interests," she
said. - Mail & Guardian
website
Judiciary
Chief justice mum on Hlophe and Pikoli - 10 October
Chief Justice Pius Langa steered clear on Tuesday of the controversy
around Cape Judge President John Hlophe and suspended National
Director of Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli. He told students at the
University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban that he knew there were many
who wanted him to speak on President Thabo Mbeki's decision to
suspend Pikoli. - Mail & Guardian
website
Labour Issues
8 October 2007
Public hearings and workshops for taxi owners and drivers in KwaZulu
Natal
SA Government Information
website
Land Affairs and
Property
Parallel
agrarian reform plan announced - 10 October
Government will start a Land and Agricultural Reform Project to run
parallel with the current one, focussing on agrarian reform and fast
tracking land acquisition. Addressing media at the Union Buildings
following the Presidential Working Group on Commercial Agriculture,
Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana said the new
programme will not replace the current land affairs programme but
will supplement it. - allAfrica
website
Distribution is
critical for private sector - 9 October
Property owners, particularly corporations and large property
developers, are not playing their part in the ‘critical’ South
African land issue, says property dealmaker and CEO of Property
Partners Stuart Chait. – Cape
Business News website
Development
'New
direction' for Bonatla in Kwazulu - 9 October
Listed
property company Bonatla Property Holdings said yesterday it had
entered into two transactions to acquire substantial land assets on
long leases in KwaZulu-Natal for about R57m. The land acquisitions,
which will be acquired on 99-year leases, will be concluded by way
of the issue of Bonatla shares to the black-empowered vendors. One
of the two transactions involved acquiring 2 350ha of land from
Amahlubi Land Trust near Giant's Castle for R24m on a long lease.
This land would be rezoned for mixed-use development, including a
hotel, conference facilities, residential property and a small
commercial property portion. The other transaction was entered into
with the Sibuyelo Matiwane Community Trust for R33m, and saw 3 400ha
of land being acquired on a long lease. Vontas said one portion of
this land consisted of a 2400ha game farm with a lodge. "There is
also an adjacent property that will be rezoned for residential
development," Niki Vontas, a consultant to Bonatla, said. -
allAfrica website
Evictions
State
asked to stop evictions – 9 October
Seven civil organisations have asked the department of land affairs
to declare a moratorium on the eviction of farm dwellers.
Speaking at a press briefing in Braamfontein, Johannesburg,
yesterday, Nkuzi Development Association’s Teresa Yates said the
association had handed over a memorandum to the department, asking
Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana to declare a
moratorium against further evictions. –
Sowetan website
Foreign Ownership
Policy
Attract skills to SA with property - 8 October
If South Africa is to attract sorely-needed professional skills,
property investment should not be made so onerous as to discourage
overseas buyers. This is the view of Barak Geffen, executive
director of Sotheby's International Realty, who was commenting on
new provisions of the law in terms of which persons who purchase
properties from non-residents are obliged to withhold 5% of the
price above R1m, for payment by the conveyancing attorneys to the
Revenue Services in lieu of Capital Gains Tax. -
Property24 website
Land Claims
8 October 2007
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Agriculture and Environmental Affairs
disgruntled over Landless People Movement's threats and claims
SA Government Information
website
90% of land claims settled in F State, N
Cape - 9 October
Most of the land claims in the Free State and Northern Cape were on
schedule to make the cut off date in March 2008, the newly appointed
regional commissioner Sidney Hlongwane said on Tuesday. -
IOL website
Media
Freedom of
expression misunderstood in SA - 9 October
SA independent media has come under a lot of criticism in the past
few years, both from embattled politicians, government officials and
some members of the public, who firmly believe that journalists and
editors have overstepped the press' constitutional limits to
position themselves as 'witchhunters', 'judges' and 'democracy
lecturers' to boost circulations and fulfil their 'hidden agendas' -
all in the name of freedom of expression. "Freedom of expression is
applicable not only to information or ideas that are favourably
received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference,
but also to those that offend, shock or disturb," Linington pointed
out, quoting from the European Court of Human Rights' ruling in the
Handside versus UK affair. -
allAfrica website
Minerals and Energy
Lessons from Zimbabwe - 9 October
Our northern neighbour is in the process of passing an
"empowerment Bill"
to force transfer of the majority stake in private companies to
black Zimbabweans. Though this is indigenisation rather than
empowerment in the South African sense, it raises interesting
parallels with South Africa's draft
Mining Charter,
which led to the outflow of billions of rand in foreign
investment. -
Mail & Guardian
website
President orders safety audit of all SA's mines - 5 October
President Thabo Mbeki has requested South Africa's Minerals and
Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica to conduct an audit of all the
country's mines to determine whether they were meeting the law's
prescribed health and safety standards. South Africa's
mines kill about 200 people every year, despite efforts from the
private sector to operate a zero-fatality industry. -
Creamer Media's Mining
Weekly website
Understaffed DME faces uphill battle to improve safety at SA mines
- 5 October
South Africa's government is struggling
to enforce compliance in mining safety because of dire staff
shortages, unclear legislation, and the difficulties that exist in
prosecuting offenders, Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa
Sonjica said on Friday. -
Creamer Media's Mining Weekly website
5 October 2007
Keynote address at the 5th Mine Health and Safety Council Summit
by Buyelwa Sonjica, Minister of Minerals and Energy
SA Government Information
website
Fire kills 23 miners in South Africa - 8 October
A fire killed 23 miners illegally working an unused shaft of a
mine last week. Police spokesman Motantsi Makhele said 120 illegal
miners were arrested when they made their way out of the mine in
the Free State province on Tuesday. They have appeared in court on
charges of trespassing. -
Brisbane Times
website
5 October 2007
Statement by the Minister of Minerals and Energy Ms Buyelwa
Sonjica on the State Diamond Trader
SA Government Information
website
Killer asbestos diseases stalk South African mining communities
- 6 October
Asbestos mining stopped in South Africa in the mid-1980s, but
people are still being diagnosed with ARDs like mesothelioma and
asbestosis on a regular basis, while many more continue to be at
risk from unrehabilitated sites. Several uses for asbestos, once a
popular insulator due to its heat resistant properties, have been
banned around the world. And foreign-owned mining companies have
in the past six years paid out tens of millions of dollars in
settlements from which an estimated 10 000 South African victims
of their asbestos extracting activities have benefited so far. -
AFP website
Municipal Management
and Procedure
eThekwini
Backlogs impede municipal projects in Durban - 9 October
It could take between seven and 47 years for the eThekwini
Municipality to deal with backlogs in its various departments, based
on current expenditure. Speaking at a breakfast hosted by the Durban
Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday, Municipal Manager
Michael Sutcliffe described the backlogs as one of the biggest
challenges facing the municipality. In many cases new developments
could only take place once the backlogs were dealt with. It would
cost R2-billion and take up to 36 years to alleviate the backlog in
road infrastructure. - IOL
website
Name Changes
Renaming of Grahamstown 'has few supporters' - 9 October
A Grahamstown advocates, Jock McConnachie, who ran his own survey on
whether the historic city's name should
change, has now changed his tune and is running a campaign titled
"Keep Grahamstown Grahamstown".
McConnachie, who has a liberal background, including studying
history at Rhodes under renowned Eastern Cape historian Dr Jeff
Peires, said the war doctor Makana had been given his rightful place
in history when the new extended municipality was named after him,
while Grahamstown had developed an identity which was
"totally divorced"
from John Graham. - The Herald
Online website
National Prosecuting
Authority
Selebi Case
Selebi should take leave during probe : Mpshe - 9 October
It would be advisable for police commissioner Jackie Selebi to
take special leave pending the review of the Scorpions' case
against him, acting National Director of Public Prosecutions
Mokotedi Mpshe said on Monday night. "It will be advisable for him
to step aside, be it special leave or other," he told the Cape
Times. In response Selebi again asked the media not to bother him.
- IOL website
'I will not ask Mbeki' - 7 October
Four independent legal experts are to scrutinise the Scorpions'
case against police commissioner Jackie Selebi to help stand-in
National Director of Public Prosecutions, Mokotedi Mpshe, make his
crucial decision on whether South Africa's top cop should go on
trial. - Sunday Tribune
website
Road Accident Fund
17 in court after accident fund fraud - 8 October
Seventeen people have appeared in court for allegedly submitting
fraudulent claims to the Road Accident Fund (RAF) totalling R573
000, police said on Monday. Director Phuti Setati said ten of them
were arrested in Gauteng and seven in KwaZulu-Natal last month. All
17, including some taxi drivers, appeared briefly in commercial
courts in the respective provinces and were granted bail. -
IOL website
Statistics
Community survey delivers vast data in quick time - 9 October
The first results from Statistics SA's massive community survey will
soon be released. Key data will be made available on demographic
variables, including age, sex, fertility and mortality
; social variables, such as marital status, receipt of social
grants, school attendance and education level
; and shelter and service provision, like the type of housing
and access to water, energy and sanitation of households. -
Business Report website
Trade and Industry
Economists
outline SA trade policy options - 8 October
Economists at the Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa have
recommended that India reduce its tariffs on gold imported from
South Africa. This is outlined in a new book entitled "South
Africa's Way Ahead: Trade Policy Options". The reduction of gold
tariffs would lead to mutual gains for both countries, says
co-writer and leading Tralac economist Ron Sandrey. Dr Sandrey is a
former chief economist at the New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade. The book makes three key policy recommendations.
- BuaNews Online website
Transport
KZN cracks down on warring taxi organisations - 11 October
Two warring taxi organisations in the Empangeni area have been
barred from operating following violent clashes over routes, KwaZulu-Natal
(KZN) provincial minister of transport Bheki Cele announced on
Thursday. "As from midnight on Friday, not even a single taxi from
the rival associations will operate, failing which they will face
the full might of the law," Cele said. Repeated attempts had failed
to resolve the ongoing dispute between the Esikhawini Taxi
Association and the Kwadlangezwa Taxi Association over the route
between two townships, Kwadlangezwa and Eshkhawini, a distance of
about 10km. - Mail & Guardian
website
Miscellaneous
Disaster
warning guidelines to be defined - 11 October
The National Disaster Management Centre has been asked to set up
communications guidelines and procedures to be followed when
warnings are issued to the public, to ensure they receive
substantiated information. This comes after email and SMS messages
did the rounds on Monday, warning Gauteng residents of a tornado
and strong winds which were predicted to hit the province in the
afternoon. The only structures which had the authority to issue
warnings to the public are the South African Weather Services
(SAWS) and the National Disaster Management Centre, said
Government Spokesperson Themba Maseko, at Thursday's post-Cabinet
briefing at the Union Buildings. -
BuaNews Online website
11 October
2007
Statement on Cabinet meeting of 10 0ctober 2007
SA Government Information
website
Former SA ambassador to Indonesia dies - 11 October
Former ambassador to Indonesia Norman Mashabane (51) has been
killed in a car accident outside Polokwane, police confirmed on
Thursday. Mashabane was recalled from Indonesia after
sexual-harassment charges were laid against him. He lost his post
as the South African ambassador to Indonesia when he was found
guilty by the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2001 of 21
sexual-harassment charges against Lara Swart, his colleague, who
was 21 at the time. - Mail &
Guardian website
11 October 2007
Limpopo Premier S Moloto sends condolences on the passing of
Norman Mashabane
SA Government Information
website
See also :
Sex pest Mashabane quits - 6
December
in InfoUpdate
no.46 - 8 December 2006
DA slams rejection of crime-expunging Bill - 7 October
The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is disgusted by the
out-of-hand rejection of MP James Selfe's draft Bill by the
chairperson of the select committee on private member's
legislative proposals and special petitions, Vytjie Mentor.
Selfe's proposed Bill sought to allow for the creation of a simple
mechanism whereby those crimes created under apartheid laws -
which would not be crimes in South Africa today and which would
not be considered as crimes in any normal society - could be
administratively expunged from a person's "criminal" record.
Examples included people who had been barred from overseas travel
because they had sex with someone of another race or owned land in
an area designated for another racial group under apartheid. -
Mail & Guardian website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Africa
S African central bank doubtful about common African currency -
9 October
South Africa's central bank governor expressed doubts Tuesday about
plans for a common African currency, saying countries practising
controversial economic policies might benefit unfairly. Tito Mboweni
accused the African Union of ignoring the opinions of central bank
governors, who felt there should be monetary policy uniformity
before an African central bank was set up. He was speaking to more
than 200 senior banking officials at an international banking
conference at Sun City in the North West province. -
Africasia website
Tito warns of African 'laughing stock' -
10 October
Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni said yesterday that African
leaders risked reducing themselves to "a
laughing stock" if they pressed ahead with
plans for an African central bank (ACB) and a common currency for
the continent - against the advice of technocrats. He warned that
the idea was bound to flounder like other failed grand African
plans. - Business Day
website
Swaziland
CJ blows whistle on sherrifs - 8 October
The Chief Justice Richard Banda believes the judiciary should be
responsive to the concerns of society. The CJ was responding to
the conduct of deputy sheriffs who are terrorising unsuspecting
individuals without due consideration of processes, as well as the
laws governing their conduct and the right of their victims. -
The Swazi Observer
website
Zimbabwe
Report details alleged torture of Zimbabwe women - 9 October
Women are being regularly tortured and sexually abused by
Zimbabwean security forces for their opposition to President
Robert Mugabe's regime, a new report by a leading rights group
charged Tuesday. "Many of us have been detained more than once and
suffered extreme abuse perpetrated by state actors," Jenni
Williams, national coordinator of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA),
said at the launch of the report in Johannesburg. -
Africasia website
Will Zim's last white farmers stand trial? - 11 October
A court was to rule on Thursday whether 11 of Zimbabwe's last
remaining white farmers should stand trial after they stayed on
their properties in defiance of a government eviction order. In a
test case that will likely determine the fate of all the other
white farmers, a magistrate in the farming town of Chegutu was
also to decide whether the 11 can appeal against their impending
eviction in the Supreme Court. -
Mail & Guardian website
Zimbabwe's last white farmers face uncertain future in land row
- 9 October
Eleven of Zimbabwe's last remaining white farmers face a court
battle Thursday to remain on their properties in defiance of a
government eviction order under the country's controversial land
reforms. "The magistrate will make his ruling on Thursday whether
the case should be referred to the supreme court or whether they
should stand trial," their lawyer David Drury told AFP. The
farmers from the northwestern Mashonaland West province were
summoned to a magistrate's court in the farming town of Chegutu,
100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Harare, to answer charges
of breaching the Gazette Land Consequential Provisions Act after
their land was earmarked for expropriation. "They were literally
forced into court after police made them sign statements," Drury
said. -
Africasia website
Payment of electricity bills in foreign currency generates
uninterrupted supplies - 5 October
Zimbabwe's mining breathed a sigh of relief when the country's
central bank agreed to a proposal which will see most mining
companies pay power bills in foreign currency in return for
uninterrupted supplies. Chamber of Mines CEO Douglas Verden has
told local media that the deal between the companies and the
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) has been approved by
the Reserve Bank of Zibabwe (RBZ). -
Creamer Media's Mining
Weekly website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Europe
EU
treaty 'same as Constitution' - 9 October
The EU treaty is "substantially equivalent" to the EU Constitution
thrown out by Dutch and French voters in 2005, MPs have said. The
European scrutiny committee said it should be "made clear" the UK
can keep opt-outs of parts of the document. The Conservatives said
the government was now "morally bound" to hold a referendum on the
treaty, as had been promised on the Constitution. -
BBC News website
France
Passionate kiss lands art lover in court - 11 October
A self-professed art lover stood trial this week accused of damaging
a $2-million painting by kissing it while wearing red lipstick. The
deputy prosecutor in the southern French city of Avignon accused the
defendant on Tuesday, Sam Rindy, of "savagery" for having left a
lipstick smear on the work by United States artist Cy Twombly, and
demanded the court fine her €4 500 ($6 320). The picture's owner,
Yvon Lambert, wants $2-million in damages and a further €33 400 that
he says is needed to pay for the restoration work. -
Mail & Guardian website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Middle East
Saudi Arabia
Saudi
king details succession law - 9 October
Saudi Arabia's king has issued a decree detailing the
implementation of a succession law announced a year ago. The
decree outlines the workings of a committee to choose future Saudi
kings and the crown princes. It stipulates committee members must
be male heirs of the kingdom's founder, Abdul Aziz bin Saud.
Correspondents say the measures are designed to smooth the
transition of power and prevent leadership disputes which have
erupted in the past. - BBC News
website
|
|
|
|
|
|
United Kingdom
Education
Boring break-times 'encourage bullying' - 8 October
One in four primary school children has been the victim of
bullying in the playground, researchers have said. They blame
"boring break-times" for the problem. More than half of mothers
worry what will happen to their child out of lesson time, says
their report. It claims that much of the bullying in playgrounds
is caused by children not being stimulated enough. -
Telegraph website
Labour Issues
|
IOD? |
|
 |
|
Leapfrogging Lord Mayor squashes employee - 5 October
This is the moment that a Lord Mayor was asked to leapfrog an
employee dressed as a tomato to promote a food festival.
Despite initially expressing doubt at the feat of athleticism
required, the Lord Mayor of Belfast gamely took up the
challenge with disastrous consequences. On the advice of a
waiting photographer, Lord Mayor Jim Rodgers took a deep
breath and a running leap, hoping to clear the head of Belfast
City Council worker, Lorraine Mallon. But the Ulster Unionist |
|
councillor
turned out not to be quite as agile
as he thought, and he caught Ms Mallon on the back of the neck
with his leg. She suffered a slipped disc and has been unable
to return to work since the accident on September 4. -
Telegraph website |
Land
Affairs and Property
Surveyors see house price falls - 10 October
House prices are continuing to turn down, says the Royal
Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). Its latest survey says
UK house prices in September generally fell again, with more of
its members reporting a fall in prices locally than an increase.
It said enquiries from new buyers had fallen for the tenth month
in a row. - BBC News website
Property clinic - 6 October
Telegraph
[UK] website
Taxation Law
Chancellor to signal tax changes - 9 October
Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to signal inheritance tax
changes and plans to target private equity bosses' tax loopholes
in his pre-Budget report. Mr Darling is also likely to downgrade
expectations for growth as he outlines his latest thinking on the
UK economy. - BBC News
website
|
|
|
|
|
|
United States and Canada
Canada
Cracking down on workplace harassment - 6 October
What's catching employees and managers off-guard is the expanded
legal definition of harassment to include "psychological"
harassment. This week, Saskatchewan became the second Canadian
jurisdiction, after Quebec, to enact legislation specifically
aimed at abuse of power and workplace bullying. There is "a
pronounced trend" in Canadian courts to crack down on companies
where employees have been hounded to the point that work has
become intolerable, says Toronto-based employment lawyer Janice
Rubin, a partner with Rubin Thomlinson LLP. -
Globe and Mail
website
See also :
Special Lectures
2007 : Employment law
http://ecom.lsuc.on.ca/pdf/flyers/2007/CLE07-0040101-flyer.pdf
Canada's new government to tackle identity theft - 2 October
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Honourable
Rob Nicholson, PC, QC, MP for Niagara Falls, together with the
Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Labour and Minister
of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of
Quebec, today announced that Canada's New Government has developed
a strategy to help combat identity theft, which is a serious
criminal activity that has become more lucrative than ever before.
- Canadian Department of
Justice website
Municipalities want in land claim talks
- 9 October
Both South and Northern Bruce Peninsula councils have supported a
resolution dealing with native land claim disputes. The resolution
was drawn up by an eastern Ontario township asking that
municipalities be granted a place at the negotiating table when it
comes to land claims. -
Bayshore Broadcasting website
Courts
Plea deal after US dad kidnaps daughter pregnant by SA man -
11 October
The parents of a white woman pregnant with a black South African
man's child have reached a plea agreement in which they will serve
no time in prison for trying to kidnap their daughter to make her
have an abortion. Nicholas and Lola Kampf have agreed to plead
guilty to assault and disorderly conduct when they appear in court
tomorrow, their lawyer, Thomas Hallett, says. Under the agreement,
the couple would avoid jail time and the assault charge would be
dropped once they had completed counseling, Hallett said
yesterday. - Cape Times
website
Plea seen in case against parents - 11 October
Under the agreement, the assault case will be erased once they
complete counseling, the lawyers said. The Kampfs' daughter,
Katelyn, said she will be in court to voice her opposition to the
decision to drop kidnapping charges. "What I've been looking for
is some sort of justice," she said. "Them walking away with a
misdemeanor is certainly not that". The Kampfs were accused of
tying up their daughter, forcing her into their car, and heading
toward New York for an abortion. They were arrested at a shopping
center in Salem, NH, after Katelyn fled and called police on a
cellphone. Katelyn Kampf's son, D'Andre Johnson, was born in
January. But Kampf remains worried about the father. Reme Johnson
is scheduled to be deported to his native South Africa, because of
felony convictions for crimes including receiving stolen property.
- boston.com website
The law of the sidewalk, under appeal - 5 October
The New York State Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear a case
this month that could strike fear into the hearts of New York City
tourists who might be tempted to stop in the middle of a sidewalk
in Times Square. cording to court documents, a man named Matthew
Jones was charged with disorderly conduct after doing just that in
June 2004. According to court papers, a police officer
"observed defendant along with a number
of other individuals standing around at the above location, to wit
a public sidewalk, not moving, and that as a result of defendant's
behavior, numerous pedestrians in the area had to walk around
defendants". -
New York Times
website
Education
Supreme Court upholds tuition ruling - 10 October
The Supreme Court on Wednesday let stand a ruling that the New
York City school system must pay private school tuition for
disabled children, even if the parents refuse to try public school
programs first. - New York Times
website
Human Rights
US court
rejects CIA kidnap case - 9 October
The US Supreme Court has thrown out an appeal by a Lebanese-born
German citizen who accuses the CIA of kidnapping and torturing
him. Khaled al-Masri had been appealing against the decision of
lower courts not to hear his case against the CIA on national
security grounds. Mr Masri says he was abducted in Macedonia in
2003 and flown to Afghanistan for interrogation. His case has
highlighted the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" programme. -
BBC News website
Miscellaneous
Blackwater case highlights legal uncertainties - 10 October
If a private in the United States military fires on civilians, a
clear body of law and a set of procedures exist for the military
to use in investigating each incident and deciding if the evidence
is sufficient to bring charges. But when private security
contractors do the same, it is exceedingly unlikely that they will
be called to account. A patchwork of laws that are largely
untested, and practical obstacles to building cases in war zones,
have all but insulated contractors from accountability. -
New York Times website
Harvard Law charters first student poker society as nationwide
network forms on large campuses - 9 October
An initiative at Harvard Law School to promote poker strategy as a
learning tool has prompted students at several top universities to
form poker clubs in preparation for a national collegiate team
tournament and conference next year, among other activities
designed to promote the educational benefits of poker in a
university setting. The student poker clubs - called Global Poker
Strategic Thinking Societies (GPSTS) - are the brainchild of
students at Harvard led by law school professor Charles Nesson.
"Poker teaches many lessons that are transferable to the
challenges of life, including strategic understanding of risk,
resource management and self control," said Nesson. -
Earthtimes website
|
|
|
|
|
|
International
Environment
Greenhouse gas emissions hit danger mark - 9 October
The global economic boom has accelerated greenhouse gas emissions
to a dangerous threshold not expected for a decade and could
potentially cause irreversible climate change, said one of
Australia's leading scientists. Tim Flannery, a world recognised
climate change scientist and Australian of the Year in 2007, said
a UN international climate change report due in November will show
that greenhouse gases have already reached a dangerous level. -
Reuters website
Merkel
expresses concern over climate change - 7 October
German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the potentially
catastrophic spectre of a dramatic rise in the earth's
temperature, while on a visit to the BIOTA research station at
Cape Point, Saturday. She said that a rise in global temperature
of seven-degrees Celsius was a possibility by the end of this
century and that South Africa and its peers on the continent would
likely be hit harder by climate change than Europe. -
allAfrica website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Miscellaneous E-Things
Code of conduct call for price comparison sites - 11 October
Price comparison sites risk misleading consumers and should be
governed by a code of practice, an independent body said on
Thursday. The Resolution Foundation, an independent research and
policy organisation, said Web sites that compare financial products
should sign up to a voluntary code of conduct on accuracy and
impartiality. It would aim to ensure that such services display
up-to-date information, disclose how much of the market they cover
and are transparent in the commercial relationships they have with
product providers. - Reuters
website
|
|