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Law Reports
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November 2007 (SALR) |
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Fuel Retailers Association of South Africa v Director General :
Environmental Management, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and
Environment, Mpumalanga Province, and Others (CC)
Moseneke D C J ; Madala J ; Mokgoro J ; Ngcobo J ; Nkabinde J ;
O'Regan J ; Sachs J ; Skweyiya J ; Van der Westhuizen j : Navsa A J
2007 March 6 ; June 7
Environmental law - Identified
activities - Prohibition on undertaking same - Impact on environment -
Obligations of environmental authorities (provincial director-general
and minister) in considering application in terms of s 22 of
Environment Conservation Act
73 of 1989, as well as
National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 - Nature and
scope of obligation to consider social, economic and environmental
impact of proposed development - Whether environmental authorities
complying with that obligation - If not, appropriate relief
Environmental law - Protection of environment - Administrative
approval of activities deemed detrimental to environment - Grant of
authorisation for construction of filling station in terms of
Environment Conservation Act
73 of 1989, s 22(1) - Review of - On ground of failure by
environmental authorities to consider socio-economic impact of
proposed development - Respondents relying on 'need and desirability'
assessment by local authority as equivalent to consideration of
socio-economic impact - Environmental authorities obliged to consider
cumulative impact on environment - Consideration of socio-economic
impact wider than consideration of need and desirability -
Environmental authorities misconstruing obligations and failing to
apply minds to socio-economic impact of proposed development -
Decision set aside
Environmental law - Protection of environment - Prohibition on
undertaking of environmentally detrimental activities without written
authorisation of competent authority as intended in s 22 of
Environment Conservation Act
73 of 1989 - Scope of mandate of competent authority -
Consideration of socio-economic factors - Nature and scope of
obligation - Extending to consideration of impact of proposed
development in combination with and on existing developments -
Obligation thus being wider than assessment of need and desirability
as required of local authority in application for rezoning - Requiring
consideration of cumulative impact of proposed development on
environment
Environmental law - Protection of environment - Review of
administrative decision taken under
Environment Conservation Act
73 of 1989 (ECA) - Permit to construct filling station - Review
of decision - Provisions of s 36 of ECA, read with provisions of
Promotion of Administrative
Justice Act 3 of 2000, setting out grounds of review
Bell v Road Accident Fund (SCA)
Streicher J A ; Cameron J A ; Jafta J A ; Snyders A J A ; Theron ; A J
A
2007 May 17 ; June 1
Motor vehicle accidents - Compensation - Claim for in terms of
Multilateral Motor Vehicle
Accidents Fund Act 93 of 1989 (Act) - Definition of 'motor
vehicle' in s 1 of Act - Whether flatbed transporter being 'motor
vehicle' as defined - Test of use for which designed - Flatbed
transporter objectively designed for propulsion on airport road -
Meaning of 'road' in definition of 'motor vehicle' - Whether limited
to public road or bearing ordinary meaning - Flatbed transporter
qualifying as 'motor vehicle' as defined
Minister of Defence and Others v
Dunn (SCA)
Harms A D P ; Brand J A ; Lewis J A ; Cachalia J A ; Theron A J
2007 May 10,31
Administrative law -
Administrative action - Review of - Powers of Court - Award of
compensation - Impermissible to award compensation having effect of
substituting Court's decision for that of administrative body -
Promotion of Administrative
Justice Act 3 of 2000, s 8(1)(c)(ii)(bb)
Review - In what cases - Decision by Minister of Defence, upon
recommendation, not to appoint applicant (respondent) to post within
Department - Court a quo reviewing decision and ordering
payment of compensation equal to salary respondent would have received
had he been appointed - Order contravening principle that award of
compensation not to have effect of substituting Court's decision for
that of administrative body -
Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000, s
8(1)(c)(ii)(bb)
Hangklip Environmental Action
Group v MEC for Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Development
Planning, Western Cape, and Others (CPD)
Thring J
2007 May 29, 30, 31 ; June 1, 15
Administrative law - Decision of
functionary - Review of - Grounds for - Mistake of fact - Whether
discretion of functionary, required by empowering statute or
regulation, regularly and lawfully exercised - Whether Court can set
aside functionary's decision where material mistake of fact having
effect that actual facts not supporting finding - Zoning of land
reviewed and set aside
Township - Zoning
Scheme under Land Use Planning Ordinance 15 of 1985 (C) (LUPO)
- Process required under s 14(1) and 14(3) being two-stage -
Envisaging factual enquiry into utilisation of land ; followed by
exercise of discretion in zoning thereof - Deemed zoning in accordance
with utilisation of land in terms of s 14(1) - Mistake as to
utilisation of land - Where factual enquiry yielding incorrect result,
subsequent zoning decision made under mistaken apprehension of fact
and, on that ground, vitiated by irregularity - Minister (on appeal
from decision of local authority) zoning land 'agricultural' in terms
of s 14(1) - Facts not supporting finding that land used for
agricultural purposes - Zoning of land reviewed and set aside - No
valid zoning of land made under s 14(1) or (3)
Environmental law - Protection of environment - Enforcement of
environmental legislation - Legal costs - Special costs order in terms
of National Environmental
Management Act 107 of 1998, s 32(3)(a) - 'Any other statutory
provision concerned with the protection of the environment' - What
constitutes - Whether including
Land Use Planning Ordinance 15
of 1985 (C) and Scheme
Regulations made thereunder
Lodhi 2 Properties Investments
CC and Another v Bondev Developments (Pty) Ltd (SCA)
Streicher J A ; Lewis J A ; Ponnan J A ; Maya J A ; Snyders A J A
2007 May 23 ; June 1
Practice - Judgments and orders - Rescission - Application for
in terms of Rule 42(1)(a) of Uniform Rules of Court - Default judgment
to which plaintiff procedurally entitled - Whether judgment
'erroneously granted' as intended in Rule 42(1)(a)
Practice - Judgments and orders - Rescission - Of default
judgment - Plaintiff procedurally entitled thereto - Defence
subsequently disclosed - Whether subsequently disclosed defence
transforming validly obtained judgment into erroneous judgment
Practice - Judgments and orders - Rescission - Of default
judgment - Rescission in terms of Rule 42(1)(a) of Uniform Rules of
Court - Of default judgment - Whether judgment 'erroneously granted'
in terms of Rule where Judge unaware of facts at time of granting
judgment
Engelbrecht v Road Accident Fund
and Another (CC)
Langa C J ; Moseneke D C J ; Madala J ; Mokgoro J ; Nkabinde J ;
O'Regan J ; Sachs J ; Van der Westhuizen J ; Yacoob J ; Kondile A J ;
Van Heerden A J
2006 November 2 ; 2007 March 6
Constitutional law - Human rights - Right of access to court -
Regulation prescribing period of time within which to comply with
requirement before exercising right - Whether time period unfair -
Unfair if so inadequate or restrictive as unduly depriving majority of
claimants of right of access to courts or if indefinite and prolonged
uncertainty depending on claimant's subjective knowledge of regulation
- Assessment of reg 2(1)(c) of
Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1996
Accident Fund Regulations - Period of 14 days too short
to amount to real and fair opportunity to access court - Regulation
2(1)(c) inconsistent with s 34 of
Constitution and
accordingly invalid
Motor vehicle accidents - Compensation - Claim for in terms of
Road Accident Fund Act 56 of
1996 - Unidentified owner or driver - Victim of negligent
hit-and-run motorist - Having legal and justiciable right to claim
compensation for loss actually suffered under common law and s
17(1)(b) of Act - Section 34 of
Constitution applying
and victim relying on right of access to courts
Motor vehicle accidents - Compensation - Claim for in terms of
Road Accident Fund Act 56 of
1996 - Unidentified owner or driver - Provision in s 17(1)(b)
read with reg 2(1)(c) that, where identity of neither owner nor driver
of motor vehicle established, Fund not liable to compensate third
party unless 'third party submitted, if reasonably possible, within 14
days after being in a position to do so, an affidavit to the police in
which particulars of occurrence were fully set out' -
Constitutionality of reg 2(1)(c) - Regulation inconsistent with s 34
of Constitution and accordingly invalid
Citibank NA v Thandroyen Fruit
Wholesalers CC and Others (SCA)
Scott J A ; Nugent J A ; Heher J A ; Maya J A ; Hancke A J A
2007 May 10, 28
Contract - Terms of - Validity of - Clause in agreement
permitting creditor to sell property of debtor and keep any amount in
excess of agreed amount by which debt to be deducted, or bear loss of
any shortfall, not being contrary to public policy
Practice - Judgments and orders - Judgment on confession in
terms of Rule 31(1) of Uniform
Rules of Court - Must be founded on cause of action contained
in summons or notice of motion
Commissioner, South African Revenue
Service v Trend Finance (Pty) Ltd and Another (SCA)
Howie P ; Cloete J A ; Heher J A ; Van Heerden J A ; Combrinck J A
2007 May 7, 23
Revenue - Customs and excise - Customs duty and VAT -
Customs and Excise Act 91 of
1964, s 107(2)(a) - Interpretation of - Whether section capable
of construction permitting Commissioner to release goods by way of
agreement - Whether appellant should be awarded costs of proceedings
in relation to issues referred to oral evidence
Revenue - Customs and excise - Seizure of goods - Seizure
pending investigation into liability thereof to forfeiture - Right of
detention enduring only for period reasonable for determination -
Customs and Excise Act 91 of
1964, s 88(1)(a)
Revenue - Customs and excise - Seizure of goods - Right of
retention of provisional payments made pursuant to release of goods -
Right of retention enduring only for period reasonable for
investigation into liability thereof to forfeiture - SARS Customs may
not detain security for unreasonable periods -
Customs and Excise Act 91 of
1964, ss 88(1)(a) and 93(1)(c)
Revenue - Customs and excise - Determination of value of goods
- Determination to be made within reasonable period of time, failing
which right to retain goods seized or security given falling away -
Customs and Excise Act 91 of
1964, s 65(4)(a)
Revenue - Customs and excise - Determination of value of goods
- Not reviewable - Where Commissioner seizing imported goods pending
investigation into liability thereof to forfeiture, he cannot be
compelled under Promotion of
Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000 to make such determination
- Promotion of Administrative
Justice Act, ss 6(2)(g), 6(3) and 8(2)
Cohen and Another v Lench and
Another (SCA)
Streicher J A ; Farlam J A ; Nugent J A ; Jafta J A ; Cachalia J A
2007 May 18, 29
Sale - Immovable property - Agreement of sale - Right to cancel
- Whether notice to remedy breach properly delivered - Whether notice
received in fact
Contract - Breach of - Mora debitoris - Mora ex
persona - Demand for performance - Contract stipulating both
domicilium and that notice to remedy breach to be delivered by
prepaid registered post or by hand to such domicilium - Proper
service - What constitutes - Domicilium chosen being unit in
gated townhouse complex - Seller attaching notice to perimeter gate of
townhouse complex since unit not accessible - Not constituting
delivery - Fact that domicilium unreachable because perimeter
gate locked not entitling sellers to choose alternative place for
delivery, whether or not delivery at gate ordinarily bringing notice
to attention of addressee
Amalgamated Services v Bojanala
Platinum District Municipality (TPD)
Patel J
2006 October 26 ; 2007 February 14
Practice - Trial - Removal of to another Division - When
permitted - Section 3(1)(a) of
Interim Rationalisation of Jurisdiction of High Courts Act 41 of 2001
- Relevant contextual considerations in interpretation of section -
Court hearing application for removal not required to have
jurisdiction to entertain matter on merits, regardless of when action
instituted
Practice - Trial - Removal of to another Division - When
permitted - Section 3(1)(a) of
Interim Rationalisation of Jurisdiction of High Courts Act 41 of 2001
(Act) - Section providing additional ground to s 9 of
Supreme Court Act 59 of 1959
for removal from one Division of High Court to another - Section
conferring jurisdiction on High Court to transfer matter to another
Division of High Court which it would otherwise not have had. Semble :
Not necessary to determine, but probable, that s 3 of Act superseding,
without expressly repealing, s 9 of
Supreme Court Act
ER24 Holdings v Smith NO and Another
(SCA)
Scott J A ; Cameron J A ; Cloete J A ; Maya J A ; Theron A J A
2007 May 4, 18
Employment law - Workmen's compensation - Compensation under
Compensation for Occupational
Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993 - Whether employee in
training amounting to employee as defined - Definition of 'employee' -
Meaning of remuneration 'in kind' in that definition - 'In kind'
meaning provision of something with objectively ascertainable value
serving as basis for employer's s 83 assessment and for calculation of
compensation payable in terms of Ch VI, read with Schedule 4 -
Volunteer worker gaining vocational experience for purposes of
obtaining qualification not being 'employee'
Alton Coach Africa CC v
Datcentre Motors (Pty) Ltd trading as CMH Commercial (DCLD)
Ndlovu J
2006 December 22
Close corporation - Liquidation - Inability to pay debts -
Deemed inability - Failure to pay debt on demand - Debt must be 'due
and payable', ie debt to be liquid or for liquidated amount of money -
Claim for loss of profits not such -
Close Corporations Act 69 of
1984, s 69(1)(a)
Costs - Attorney and client costs - Abuse of process -
Liquidation proceedings set in motion purely as tactical device to
compel payment of debt by opponent - Constituting abuse of process -
Costs awarded on attorney and client scale
Practice - Parties - Unauthorised proceedings - Objection taken
to authority of deponent to founding papers - Authority to bring
application
Prophet v National Director of
Public Prosecutions (CC)
Langa C J ; Moseneke D C J ; Madala J ; Mokgoro J ; Nkabinde J ;
O'Regan J ; Sachs J ; Skweyiya J ; Van der Westhuizen J ; Yacoob J
2006 March 7 ; May 10 ; September 29
Constitutional practice - Appeal - New evidence on appeal -
Stringent test adopted for admission of new evidence on appeal - Rule
31 of Constitutional Court Rules permitting parties to adduce relevant
material where common cause or otherwise incontrovertible, or of
official, scientific, technical or statistical nature and capable of
easy verification - Section 22 of
Supreme Court Act 59 of 1959
permitting tendering of new evidence in exceptional circumstances,
where weighty, material and to be believed, and subject to reasonable
explanation for late filing of evidence - Applicant in casu remiss
in not adducing scientific evidence at trial - Respondent disputing
veracity of evidence - Further evidence sought to be adduced amounting
to opinions on matters possibly to be decided by a Court and therefore
irrelevant - Application dismissed
Appeal - To Constitutional Court - Leave to appeal -
Application for - When to be granted - Applicant to satisfy two
requirements : application must raise constitutional matter or issues
connected therewith ; and must be in interests of justice for Court to
grant leave - Where applicant raising constitutional issues for first
time in application for leave to appeal, whether in interests of
justice to grant leave - Applicant seeking to challenge
constitutionality of Ch 6 of
Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998 (POCA) -
Applicant failing to seek declaration of invalidity in either High
Court or Supreme Court of Appeal - Applicant also failing to file
application for direct access and, despite requirements of Rule 5, not
joining Minister of Justice as party - Constitutional litigation
requiring accuracy in identification of statutory provisions being
attacked, reasonable precision in formulation of attacks and
disciplined compliance with Rules - In view of applicant's
non-compliance, not in interests of justice to grant leave to appeal
on challenge to Ch 6 of POCA
Criminal procedure - Prevention of crime -
Prevention of Organised Crime
Act 121 of 1998 - Forfeiture proceedings in terms of ss 48 and
50 of Act - Requirement that property instrumentality of offence -
Such to be proved on balance of probabilities - Beyond doubt that
property appointed, arranged, organised, furnished, and adapted or
equipped to enable or facilitate applicant's illegal activities -
Clear that property concerned in commission of drug offences, and not
merely incidental thereto - Appeal against constitutionality of
forfeiture dismissed
Criminal procedure - Search and seizure - Forfeiture order in
terms of Ch 6 of Prevention of
Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998 - Forfeiture proceedings in
terms of ss 48 and 50 of Act - Proportionality enquiry - Court
weighing severity of interference with individual rights to property
against extent to which property used in commission of offence - Fact
that only small quantity of prohibited substance found on property not
decisive - Given nature of offence and extent to which property used
as instrument of offence, forfeiture satisfying proportionality test
Department of Land Affairs and
Others v Goedgelegen Tropical Fruits (Pty) Ltd (CC)
Moseneke D C J ; Madala J ; Mokgoro J ; Ngcobo J ; Nkabinde J ;
O'Regan J ; Sachs J ; Skweyiya J ; Van der Westhuizen J ; Navsa A J
2007 March 8 ; June 6
Land - Land reform - Labour tenants - Claim for restitution of
rights in land - Whether termination of labour tenancies by private
farmers entitling labour tenants to redress under
Restitution of Land Rights Act
22 of 1994
Land - Land reform - Claim for restitution of rights in land -
Claim by community - Claim by community in terms of s 2(1)(d) of
Restitution of Land Rights Act
22 of 1994 - Time limitation in respect of dispossession 'as a
result of' past discriminatory practices - Whether dispossession
before 19 June 1913 actionable - Regard may be had to racially
discriminatory laws or practices before that date in determining
whether dispossession after 1913 being 'as result of' such laws or
practices
Land - Land reform - Claim for restitution of rights in land -
Claim by community - Claim by community in terms of s 2(1)(d) of
Restitution of Land Rights Act
22 of 1994 - 'Dispossession of right in land . . . as a result
of past racially discriminatory laws or practices' - Requirements for
claim - Causation - Test - Dispossession to be causally related to
such laws or practices - Narrow but crucial enquiry being whether
termination of land right by private farmer serving as causal link
required by operative legislations - Requisite causal connection to be
gathered from all facts - Racist practices and policies not meaning
single decisive cause but concurrence of events conducted over time -
'As result of' meaning 'as consequence of' and not 'solely as
consequence of'
Land - Land reform - Claim for restitution of rights in land -
Claim by community - Claim by community in terms of s 2(1)(d) of
Restitution of Land Rights Act
22 of 1994 - 'Community' - Meaning of in 'community
dispossessed of a right in land' - Whether occupational rights in land
derived from shared rules determining access to land held in common -
Tribal identity or hierarchy not being requirement - Possession to be
derived from common rules
Statute - Interpretation of - 'Purposive construction' of
statutes - Where statute enacted to give content to constitutional
right or obligation of Legislature -
Restitution of Land Rights Act
22 of 1994, s 2(1) - Act being intended to express
constitutional values and to remedy failure to respect such values in
past, particularly those of dignity and equal worth - To achieve
remedial purpose, history and context within which land rights
dispossessed and manner in which labour tenancy operating and
terminated must be considered - Causal enquiry required by s 2(1) of
Act to be understood in light of purpose and full context of
dispossession of land rights in issue
Road Accident Fund v Grobler
(SCA)
Farlam J A ; Hancke A J A ; Musi A J A
2007 March 23 ; May 31
Negligence - Liability for - Doctrine of sudden emergency -
Error of judgment in sudden emergency - Emergency not of own doing -
Whether fault attaching and driver contributorily negligent - Once
error of judgment established, question being whether reasonable man
in circumstances would have done same - Wrong to examine options
meticulously in light of after-acquired knowledge - No contributory
negligence proved
Lubbe NO and Others v Millenium
Style (Pty) Ltd and Others ; Lubbe and Others NNO v Millenium Style
(Pty) Ltd (SCA)
Harms A D P ; Brand J A ; Cloete J A ; Ponnan J A ; Cachalia J A
2007 February 23 ; March 16
Intellectual property - Trade mark - Expungement of -
Application for removal of trade mark from register -
Trade Marks Act 194 of 1993,
s 24(1) - Locus standi - 'Interested person' - Who is -
Determined at time of litis contestatio - Person in trade area
covered by impugned trade mark in principle being interested party
since having interest in register clear of objectionable registrations
- Once party having legal standing, other party not able to destroy
such standing - Applicant's choice no longer to rely on respondent's
infringement of mark not depriving respondent of standing as
'interested person'
Intellectual property - Trade mark - Register - Purpose of -
Court condemning practice of registering marks in order to stifle
competition, rather than for statutory purpose
Intellectual property - Trade mark - Registrability of -
Application not to be granted merely because not opposed or something
similar not already on register
Intellectual property - Trade mark - Registrability of -
'Distinctiveness' as criterion for registration or remaining on
register - Whether mark distinctive - Whether indicating source of
origin - Pattern or shape of shoe sole - Typically regarded by
purchaser as either ornamental or as part of design of shoe tread and
seldom considered as source identifier - Shapes not registrable under
Trade Marks Act 62 of 1963
- Calling shape 'device' not obviating exclusion - Design of sole not
registrable - Mark liable to be expunged
Stewart and Another v Botha and
Another (CPD)
Louw J
2006 April 20 ; 2007 May 7
Negligence - Liability for - Wrongful birth and wrongful life
actions - Wrongful life - Child born with severe congenital physical
disabilities - Whether natural guardian entitled to sue doctors in
delict on child's behalf for future damages - Doctors negligently
failing to diagnose or inform parents of potential birth defects to
enable them to make informed decision whether to abort foetus -
Doctors' negligent conduct and breach of professional duties causing
child to be born - Doctors not causing severe state of disability in
which child born - Doctors' negligent conduct legally irrelevant to
child's disabled state - Wrongful life claim not disclosing cause of
action
Negligence - Liability for - Wrongful birth and wrongful life
actions - Wrongful life - Whether disclosing cause of action. Semble :
Not against public policy to allow wrongful life action -
Choice on Termination of
Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996 permitting mother to abort potentially
deformed child - No valid reason for refusing wrongful life action on
basis of sanctity of life when wrongful pregnancy and wrongful birth
actions not disallowed for this reason - Objection to wrongful life
claim not relating to difficulty in assessing damages but fundamental
question of whether child suffered damage at all
Parent and child - Right of action against parents - Right of
disabled child to sue parents. Semble : Where parents of disabled
child allowing child to be conceived or born whilst knowing risks such
parents exercising constitutional right to reproductive choice -
Whether disabled child having right to sue parents depending on
circumstances and views of community incorporating constitutional
values and norms - Whether having right to sue not following from or
depending on whether disabled child having right to sue doctor
Verimark (Pty) Ltd v BMW AG BMW
AG v Verimark (Pty) Ltd (SCA)
Harms A D P ; Streicher J A ; CLoete J A ; Ponnan J A ; Combrinck J A
2007 May 2, 17
Intellectual property - Trade mark - Infringement -
Trade Marks Act 194 of 1993,
s 34(1)(a) - Section not to be interpreted as giving greater
protection than that necessary for protecting mark as badge of origin
- Establishing infringement - Requiring interpretation of mark as used
by alleged infringer through consumers' eyes - If use creating
impression of material link between infringer's product and owner of
mark, then infringement - Use of mark for purely descriptive purposes
not creating such impression - Not necessarily definitive test -
Context of use could not be ignored
Intellectual property - Trade mark - Infringement -
Trade Marks Act 194 of 1993,
s 34(1)(c) - Section not requiring trade mark use as precondition for
liability - Use of mark in non-trade mark sense relevant for
determining unfair advantage or whether use detrimental - Whether
unfair advantage answered with reference to customers' perception of
alleged infringer's use of logo - Mental association not necessarily
leading to blurring or tarnishing
eThekwini Municipality v Tsogo
Sun KwaZulu-Natal (Pty) Ltd (SCA)
Howie P ; Brand J A ; Heher J A ; Musi A J A ; Theron A J A
2007 March 13, 28
Local authority - Town planning - Building plans - Approval of
- National Building
Regulations and Building Standards Act 103 of 1977, s 7(1) -
'Refuse to grant approval' - What constitutes such refusal - Not to be
equated with rejection which connotes outright final refusal - Refusal
to approve connoting flexibility and not precluding future approval -
Refusal to approve to be unequivocal - Local authority refusing to
approve of plans, despite plans qualifying for reconsideration under s
7(5)(a) or (b) of Act - In such event, earlier refusal to approve
being conditional and reversible, and local authority not functus
officio - Party contesting refusal to approve bound to exhaust
appeal remedies in s 9 of Act before approaching court
Van der Merwe v Road Accident
Fund (SCA)
Harms A D P ; Lewis J A ; Heher J A ; Cachalia J A ; Hancke A J A
2007 May 14, 29
Motor vehicle accidents - Compensation - Claim for in terms of
Road Accident Fund Act 56 of
1996- Claim by supplier in terms of s 17(5) - Nature of
supplier's right to claim directly from Fund - Arising only if third
party entitled to claim amount as part of compensation from Fund -
Third party must have valid and enforceable claim against Fund and
comply with necessary formalities - Supplier's claim is accessory
claim as dependent on third party being able to establish claim - If
third party's claim not prescribed at time supplier submits claim,
supplier's claim also not prescribed, since supplier's claim part and
parcel of third party's claim
Motor vehicle accidents - Compensation - Claim for in terms of
Road Accident Fund Act 56 of
1996 - Claim by supplier in terms of s 17(5) - Prescription of
claim - Supplier submitting claim more than three years after accident
and after third party submitted claim - If third party's claim not
prescribed at time supplier submits claim, supplier's claim also not
prescribed, since supplier's claim part and parcel of third party's
claim
Janse van Rensburg and Others NNO v
Myburgh and Two Other Cases (TPD)
Murphy J
2007 May 17
Estoppel - Res judicata - Issue estoppel - Requirements
for - Earlier proceedings must have finally adjudicated essential
founding issues of later case - Plaintiffs in earlier proceedings
having sought to set aside impeachable transactions under certain
sections of Insolvency Act 24
of 1936 - Claims finally determined - Plaintiffs subsequently
instituting action to have transactions set aside under different
section of Act - Defendants pleading issue estoppel - Judgment in
earlier proceedings having finally pronounced on issues forming part
of essential foundation of judgment - Facts admitting of plea of issue
estoppel
Estoppel - Res judicata - Requirements for - Same cause
of action - Meaning of - Plea of res judicata covering not only
points actually decided in earlier proceedings but also points that
should have been raised but were not - Parties to bring forward whole
case in earlier proceedings
Insolvency - The insolvent - Unlawful alienations and
preferences - Proceedings for setting aside of - Choice of remedy -
Plaintiffs having in earlier proceedings sought to set aside
impeachable transactions under s 26 (dispositions not for value) or s
30 (undue preference) of
Insolvency Act 24 of 1936 - Claims finally determined -
Plaintiffs subsequently instituting action to have transactions set
aside under s 29 (voidable preference) - Defendants pleading issue
estoppel - Judgment in earlier proceedings at same time finally
pronouncing on essential foundation of later claim - Plea of issue
estoppel admissible
Gumede v Road Accident Fund (CPD)
Van Reenen J
2006 November 23 ; 2007 May 8
Practice - Trial - Removal of to another Division - When
permitted - Section 3(1)(a) of
Interim Rationalisation of Jurisdiction of High Courts Act 41 of 2001
- On ground that 'proceedings should have been instituted in another
High Court' - Court ordering removal not required itself to have
jurisdiction
Practice - Trial - Removal of to another Division - When
permitted - Section 3(1)(b) of
Interim Rationalisation of Jurisdiction of High Courts Act 41 of 2001
- On ground that 'proceedings would be more conveniently or more
appropriately heard or determined in another High Court'. Semble :
Unlike s 3(1)(a), Court ordering removal under s 3(1)(b) itself
required to have jurisdiction to hear matter |
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Source :
OSALL
(Marina)
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on the Electronic Front |
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Recent
Judgments Available on the Internet |
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Constitutional
Court of South Africa
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www.constitutionalcourt.org.za
Ministers
red-faced after unlawfully detaining man - 16 November
The advocate for the ministers of justice and correctional
services had a difficult time yesterday explaining to the
Constitutional Court how it was lawful to detain for nearly five
years a prisoner who had won his appeal against a conviction and
sentence for murder. The ministers' advocate, Rudi van Rooyen, was
defending an action launched by Jonathan Zealand who was kept in
prison as a convicted prisoner at the St Albans maximum prison
from 1999 until 2004. - allAfrica
website
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Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa
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http://www.supremecourtofappeal.gov.za/index.html
; wwwserver.law.wits.ac.za/sca/index.php ;
http://www.uovs.ac.za/apps/law/appeal/
Battle of the braai saga just a gas - 10 November
A marathon legal wrangle between South Africa's two biggest braai
product manufacturers, Cadac and Weber, ended this week with
Weber's assets, including various trademarks, being attached in
terms of a court order. But Weber averted the prospect of the
trademarks being sold on auction after it paid the legal costs
that the court had awarded against it. The two companies have been
at each other's throats from as far back as 2004, when Weber
accused Cadac of infringing on its trademark and selling
counterfeit goods. - IOL
website
The Zuma tightrope - 11 November
Scorpions get ready to finally take ANC deputy president to court
on charges of corruption, tax-evasion and fraud.
He is likely to accept nomination for the ANC
presidency while out on bail and with a potential 15-year minimum
sentence hanging over his head.
The prosecution team is emboldened by the comment by
SCA judge Richard Nugent that the defence claims of a political
conspiracy were without merit
In the next few days, Scorpions prosecutors will draft
a recommendation to acting National Director of Public
Prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe that he charge ANC deputy president
Jacob Zuma. They want him charged with a package of
offences, including corruption, tax-evasion and money-laundering.
- The Times website
Will NPA dare to charge Zuma? - 9 November
The National Prosecuting Authority's
victory in its fight for the right to use evidence gathered in
raids against Jacob Zuma and his associates has cleared the way
for Zuma to be recharged before the African National Congress's
December conference. But the case is unlikely to be heard in the
near future. On Thursday Zuma's lawyers
indicated that they are ready to take the decision of the Supreme
Court of Appeal (SCA) to the Constitutional Court. Given the
division between the appeal court judges and the constitutional
issues involved in search and seizure operations, which were
central to the case, the court is likely to grant leave to appeal.
- Mail & Guardian website
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Equality Courts
'Whites only' landlord ordered to pay R10 000 - 15 November
The equality court ordered a Durban landlord with a "whites only"
policy to pay a woman R10 000 in compensation and scrap his
discriminatory policy. The court yesterday declared the offending
clause in the lease agreement unconstitutional and invalid, and
ordered the man to notify his tenants it was no longer
enforceable. In July the landlord of the Dunmarsh building in
Amanzimtoti agreed to let a flat to a Mrs Gerber, but changed his
mind when he discovered she was married to an Indian man. -
Pretoria News website
14 November 2007
SA Human Rights Commission wins a racial discrimination court
challenge
SA Government Information
website
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Labour Courts
-
http://www.saflii.org/
One month's maternity leave ruled too short - 15 November
The Solidarity Gender Committee on Thursday welcomed the ruling of
the Labour Court which ordered a company to pay 20 months salary to
an employee who was dismissed for not resuming her duties after one
month's maternity leave. "The
Basic Conditions of
Employment Act stipulates that a woman cannot resume work
within six weeks after her confinement.
Although SA
Export Connection charged the woman with breach of contract, the
Labour Court found that the contract was in violation of the Act and
that the woman had been unfairly dismissed," said Ilene Barrie of
Solidarity's Gender Committee. The court found that the condition of
a child after birth was linked to pregnancy and that there may be no
discrimination against a woman who returns to work after six weeks
and then, for instance, takes additional leave if the baby should
fall ill during the four-month maternity leave period. -
IOL website
Johannesburg
Teachers'
union loses wages claim - 14 November
Gauteng teachers face more salary deductions linked to this year's
month-long public sector strike, after the Labour Court yesterday
dismissed a union's urgent application to have the deductions
declared illegal. The Gauteng chapter of the Suid Afrikaanse
Onderwysersunie (SAOU) was considering its options after
Johannesburg Labour Court Judge Ronald Hendricks dismissed the
union's application with costs. -
allAfrica website
Labour
dept takes Comair to court - 13 November
The Department of Labour has taken Comair Limited to court for
breaching provisions of the
Employment Equity Act.
Labour Department Director-General Vanguard Mkosana filed the
application with the Johannesburg Labour Court after several
warnings against the airline company, which has since been given
until Tuesday to respond. -
BuaNews Online website
Teachers
get order on strike deductions - 12 November
The Johannesburg Labour Court has indicted the Gauteng education
department from making any more deductions from teachers' salaries
where these are linked to the month-long public sector strike. The
indictment would stand until tomorrow , when the court would hear
full argument on whether the department had made unlawful
deductions from teachers' salaries, said attorney Louw Erasmus,
who represented the Suid Afrikaanse Onderwysersunie. -
allAfrica website
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Cape
Provincial Division
-
http://law.sun.ac.za/cgi-bin/list.php
9 November
2007
12166/2007
D Gerber v R B Gerber and Another
This is an application for the attachment and retention
of the proceeds from a sale of immovable property, due to the
respondent for the payment of future maintenance claims. The Court
granted an interim order authorizing the Sheriff to attach and
seize the net proceeds on 11 September 2007, pending the return
date. Today is the return date. The applicant and the first
respondent were divorced. When the parties were divorced, they had
one child, a daughter, now 11 years old and the applicant was
awarded sole custody. They concluded a Settlement Agreement in
terms of which the respondent agreed to pay a sum of R1500-00 per
month towards the maintenance of the minor child. In addition to
the maintenance, the respondent was ordered to pay all expenses
reasonably incurred in respect of the child at primary, secondary
and tertiary levels of education
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Eastern
Cape Division
-
http://wwwserver.law.wits.ac.za/echc/index.php
Motorcyclist suing RAF for R2m 'jumped
traffic lights' - 8 November
An independent witness in a lawsuit against the Road Accident Fund
told the Port Elizabeth High Court yesterday that a motorcyclist
failed to stop at a traffic light when it turned amber.
Motorcyclist Allen Klein is claiming almost R2-million from the
fund after he was seriously injured in an accident on the
Uitenhage road on June 3, 2004. He said the accident was due to
the negligence of taxi driver Xolile Sitole in making a U-turn. -
The Herald Online
website
Illegal PE guesthouse cleared for demolition after six-year
struggle - 6 November
The Constitutional Court has dismissed an application by
controversial Summerstrand guesthouse owners to overturn a Port
Elizabeth High Court ruling. The ruling, ordering the demolition
of an illegal guesthouse that accommodates students in Seventh
Avenue, Summerstrand, was issued against members of the Shan Trust
in May. The trust turned to the Constitutional Court after a
similar application was unsuccessful in the Supreme Court of
Appeal in Bloemfontein. But the Constitutional Court ruled that
their application for leave to appeal be dismissed with costs
because "there are no prospects of
success". The trust members are
Perapanjakam and Pursotham Naidoo, of Summerstrand, and Shashi
Naidoo, of Sidwell, Port Elizabeth, and Seshamma Moodley, of
Chatsworth, Durban, and Anthosh Naidoo, of Cape Town. The High
Court ordered the guesthouse owners to demolish one building and
the top storey of another within two months. -
The Herald Online
website
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Witwatersrand Local
Division -
http://www.saflii.org/
Tigon accused refuse to disclose financial status - 12
November
Former Tigon CE Gary Porritt and former Tigon and PSG Guaranteed
Growth Fund director Sue Bennett have refused a request from the
Legal Aid Board to make full disclosure of all their trusts and
financial standing.
This is despite the fact that the two, who have been
accused of misappropriating more than R150m in funds, claim to
qualify for legal aid.
Porritt justified his decision by telling Judge
Geraldine Borchers on Friday that the request by the board for
information was "not an attempt to
assist them but an attempt to justify a bad decision".
- Business Day website
WA man a suspect in African execution - 11 November
A millionaire Perth businessman has been named in court documents
as a suspect in the mafia-style killing of his colleague in a
South African goldmining company, which police allege was ordered
to conceal the theft of $400 million. John Stratton, who has been
a director of dozens of WA companies, has tried to block his
extradition to Johannesburg where his former billionaire business
associate was gunned down in a hail of bullets two years ago. -
The West website
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Competition
Commission, Tribunal and
Appeal Court
-
http://www.compcom.co.za/
;
http://www.comptrib.co.za/
Banks do keep the lid on competition : Jali - 16
November
South Africa's banks have been found to be engaging in
anti-competitive practices. This was revealed yesterday in a
statement issued by the competition commission inquiry panel set
up to investigate the sector. The panel also said the release of
its full report would be delayed. The team said it had completed
its investigations, which included hearings on ATM charges,
interchange and payment cards, access and interoperability, and
market power and pricing. -
Business Report website
Banking enquiry panel to postpone release of report - 15
November
The report into the Competition Commission enquiry into whether
bank charges and access to the national payment system thwart
effective competition for consumers is to be delayed according to
Enquiry Chairperson Thabani Jali. "The
proceedings of the enquiry hearings were transparent and
well-covered in the media. I believe that this has been beneficial
to consumers and the sector as it has raised awareness and led to
constructive self-reflection on the part of the banks".
- ITInews
website
Food firm fined R99m for fixing bread prices - 13 November
If you thought you'd been paying too much for bread, you were
probably right. Tiger Consumer Brands has been fined R99
million after being caught fixing the price of bread and costs of
milling with a cartel of major national competitors - and that's
getting off lightly. At least one other major bread producer now
faces an even heavier fine. Yesterday, the Competition Commission,
which levied the fine, said the handful of national
bread-producing giants had been fixing the price for at least 12
years, affecting both bread production and milling industries. -
Cape
Times website
Spears accuse rival rugby teams of foul play - 13 November
The Southern Spears, the southeastern Cape rugby franchise, has
lodged a complaint with the competition commission against SA
Rugby for alleged abuse of power and anti-competitive
practices. SA Rugby prevented the Spears from participating in the
Super 14 competition this year despite a Cape high court ruling in
the Spears' favour. - Business
Report website
How SA rugby painted itself into a corner over team participation
in the Super 14 - 13 November
Business Report website
Tribunal
go-ahead for media merger - 12 November
The 'unconditional' approval of the sale of the 38% M-Net/SuperSport
stake to Naspers for R4 billion by the competition tribunal
yesterday, Thursday, 8 November 2007, may result in a takeover
battle for Johncom, writes Business Report. Caxton has been
opposing this merger and may take the decision to the Supreme
Court of Appeal, according to Business Day, and reasons for
approving the merger will be given at a later stage, reports
Fin24. The Mail & Guardian editorial this week focuses on
the Koni deal, which it describes as "anything but groovy". -
allAfrica website
See also
Media below
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Government
and Legislation |
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South
Africa Government Information
-
http://www.gov.za
;
http://www.polity.org.za
Statements and
Speeches
15 December
2007
Statement on the denial of burial rights to the Majola family
13 November
2007
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to host
Provincial Consultative Workshop on Traditional Justice System
13 November
2007
SA Institute of Race Relations : old news used to promote annual
survey
8 November
2007
Statement on Cabinet meeting of 7 November 2007
7 November
2007
South African Police Service resumes with festive season
Liquor Act
compliance operations
6 November
2007
Speech by Dr Jean Swanson-Jacobs, Deputy Minister of Social
Development, on Second Tabling of the
Children's Amendment
Bill, at National Assembly, Cape Town
2 November
2007
Home Affairs welcomes court judgement on deportation of Rashid
Khalid
1 November
2007
Fire damages Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and
Arbitration (CCMA) power cables
30 October 2007
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development engaged
on a road show to educate Community Development Workers (CDWs)
on the Promotion of
Administrative Justice Act, 2000 (Act 3 of 2000) (the
PAJA)
25 October
2007
Statement on the Auditor-General's Report on Department of
Agriculture and Environmental Affairs [KwaZulu-Natal]
24 October
2007
South African Human Rights Commission Crime Conference Report on
"Crime and its impact on Human Rights: Ten Years of the Bill of
Rights"
24 October 2007
B Mabandla to open Madadeni Magistrate's Office, 26 October
14 November 2007
Benoni's revamped court to speed delivery
BuaNews Online website
24 October
2007
Farm workers urged to know their workplace rights
23 October
2007
The African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal
Legislature says Cele's remarks not unparliamentary
19 October
2007
South African National Parks (SANParks) process to proclaim the
Garden Route National Park
Keyphrase :
Forest Act 84 of 1998
16 October
2007
Human trafficking viewed from an African perspective
16 October
2007
Newspaper editor investigated?
12 October
2007
Speech by Gauteng MEC for Agriculture, Conservation and
Environment, Khabisi Mosunkutu at the launch of the Environment
Matters Series
28 September 2007
Address by the Deputy Minister of Public Works, Mr Ntopile
Kganyago, on the occasion to launch a book on Workplace Dignity,
organised by the Workplace Dignity Institute, South African
Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) Offices, Parktown, Johannesburg,
Gauteng
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Parliamentary Monitoring Group
-
http://www.pmg.org.za/
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Documents may generally be accessed immediately by clicking on the
underlined hyperlinks. Subscription-protected documents are
indicated by * * * Subscription required * * * ; KZNLS
members who require access to restricted documents should
cut-and-paste the reference/s into an e-mail to
help@lawlibrary.co.za. |
Committee Minutes
Arts and Culture
Portfolio Committee
13 November 2007
War
Museum of the Boer Republic, Artscape and Robben Island Museum
Annual Reports 2006/7 : Briefings
Communications
Portfolio Committee
* * *
Subscription required * * *
9 November 2007
Universal
Service and Access Agency of SA and National Electronic Media
Institute of South Africa : 2006/7 Annual Reports : Briefings
6 November 2007
Department and SABC Annual Reports 2006/7 : Briefings ;
Electronic
Communications Amendment Bill : Adoption
Justice and
Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee
* * *
Subscription required * * *
13 November 2007
Judicial Service
Commission Amendment Bill : Deliberations
7 November
2007
Commission on Gender Equality : Annual Report 2006/07 ;
SA
Judicial Education Institute Bill : Adoption
Justice, Crime
Prevention and Security Cluster Briefing
8 November 2007
http://www.pmg.org.za/briefings/briefings.php?id=383
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Legislation
Childrens Amendment Bill
Children's Bill limps through, nearly
jinxed again by many text mistakes - 7 November
A page and a half of errors in the text of the seemingly jinxed
Children's Amendment Bill yesterday
again nearly derailed its passage through parliament. The mistakes
– mainly "typos",
according to Deputy Speaker Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde – were enough
to prompt both the DA and the IFP to rise on points of order and
object to being asked to pass legislation with errors in it. -
The Herald Online
website
Parliament strengthens fight against worst forms of child labour
- 5 November
The anticipated passing of the Children's Amendment Bill by the
National Assembly when it sits again is a foregone conclusion
after wide support for the final draft of the legislation in the
portfolio committee, writes Sholain Govender. The
International Labour Organisation (ILO), which runs a regional
programme 'Towards the Elimination' of worst forms of Child Labour
(TECL), released a statement last week applauding the Assembly for
taking another step along the road to ending exploitation of
children. - BuaNews Online
website
Cross-Boundary
Municipality Laws Repeal and Related Matters Bill, 2007
20 September
2007
Draft speech for the Deputy Minister for Provincial and Local
Government, Nomatyala Hangana, on the Debate on the Cross-boundary
Municipality Laws Repeal and Related Matters Bill 2007
SA Government Information
website
Local Government Laws
Amendment Bill
25 October 2007
Closing remarks by the Minister of Provincial and Local Government,
Sydney Mufamadi, during the second reading debate on the Local
Government Laws Amendment Bill of 2007, National Assembly
SA Government
Information website
Revenue Laws Amendment
Bill
Discussion document
http://www.sars.gov.za/legislation/policy/2007/Response/PCOF -
Revenue Laws Amendment Bill 2007.pdf
Source :
OSALL
(Lara)
30 October 2007
Introductory speech by the Minister of Finance T Manuel on Revenue
Laws Amendment Bills, 2007 and Securities Transfer Tax Bills, 2007
SA Government Information
website
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Useful
Links and Items of Interest |
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Legal Profession
South Africa
Foreign rivals raise the bar for SA's
lawyers - 16 November
Law in SA is no longer the cosy environment it was back when the
country was in isolation. Now, law firms not only have to compete
against each other, but also with the English and French firms that
do business in Africa, including multidisciplinary practices and
accounting firms.
"Law firms are competing
against the best in the world. We can no longer afford to practice
in one centre. It is insufficient for the large law firms today to
be national only. They need to have international reach",
says David Lancaster, a managing partner at Webber Wentzel Bowens. -
Business Day website
13 November 2007
News release from Webber Wentzel Bowens
Webber Wentzel
Bowens merges with Mallinicks to create legal powerhouse
Webber Wentzel
Bowens (WWB), one of South Africa's leading corporate law firms,
will merge with Cape Town-based law firm Mallinicks to create
one of the largest legal firms in South Africa.
The partners from
both law firms have already approved the merger which remains
subject to regulatory approval.
The combined firm
will start operating from the 1st of March 2008 with over 110
partners and 300 lawyers in total, almost half of whom are
women. More than 100 of the lawyers will be black.
Webber Wentzel
Bowens' senior partner David Lancaster said, "The combination of
the two firms is an especially good fit in terms of practice
strength, key markets and culture.
"The merger will
be particularly beneficial for existing and potential clients in
Cape Town where Mallinicks has close on 40 years of experience
and an outstanding reputation. It will further augment our drive
for a greater market presence and hiring of top talent in that
city.
"We have been
focused on growth for some time now and we believe the new firm
will allow us to enhance our service delivery to clients by
capitalising on the enhanced quality, scale and scope of the
merged firm to the advantage of our clients and staff," said
Lancaster.
Webber Wentzel
Bowens has operated in South Africa for over 140 years and has
been involved in many of South Africa's record breaking deals
like the ICBC purchase of a stake in Standard Bank, Barclays's
buyout of Absa and MTN's purchase of Investcom in Dubai.
Mallinicks was
established in 1969 and specialises in commercial law, property
law, litigation, tax and public law. With its history rooted in
human rights law in the 70s and 80, the firm has played a key
role in the empowerment transactional environment.
Michael Evans,
Chairman of Mallinicks, said the deal made good business sense
for both firms.
"Webber Wentzel
Bowens is the major force in corporate law in South Africa and
merging with them will undoubtedly result in a strong strategic
and regional fit as a large part of our business is in corporate
law too. The merger will allow us to deepen our service
offering to clients on a national and international level".
From March 2008,
the merged firm will operate from new offices at the Convention
Tower, adjacent to the Cape Town International Conference
Centre, as well as offices in Johannesburg and London.
Prepared by :
FDBeachhead
Australia
Law
Council project to encourage family law dispute resolution - 14
November
A new Law Council initiative is encouraging parties involved in
family law disputes to consider arbitration and mediation as an
alternative method of resolving conflict. The Law Council's
Family Law Section recently launched the Melbourne Project, which
has been designed to assist the Family Court in dealing with the
back-log of cases. - Law
Council of Australia website
Canada
Law
Society of Alberta to hold Media and the Law Seminar - 14
November
The Law Society of Alberta will host the 2007 Media and the Law
Seminar : Bans, Blogs & Boundaries at
the new Calgary Courthouse Centre on Saturday, November 17, 2007
from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. The conference sessions will address timely
issues including The Uneasy Marriage Between the Courts & Media
: A case study of the Medicine Hat triple murder trials
; Courthouse Journalism, American Style
: Electronic Access to Justice
; and Who Let the Blogs Out? : Citizen
journalism and the rise of Internet Reporting. The conference
will be facilitated by Paula Todd, host of CTV's The Verdict, and
the lunch keynote speaker is Ian Hanomansing, host of CBC's News at
Six. - Marketwire website
Details at
http://www.lawsocietyalberta.com/news/events.cfm
United Kingdom
Survey reveals fifty per cent slump in individual pro bono
hours - 12 November
The number of hours individual lawyers dedicate to pro bono
work has almost halved in the past five years, new research
commissioned by the Law Society has found. Each lawyer on average
now provides 15 hours of free advice a year, compared with 32
hours in 2002, according to the survey. The findings, which polled
more than 1 000 solicitors, found that
51 per cent of lawyers had conducted pro bono work within
the past 12 months compared with 45 per cent five years ago. -
The Lawyer website
Outside investors will demand a very different type of law firm
- 12 November
For the first time in England, it may soon be open to non-lawyers
to invest in law firms. In the autumn of 2006, I took part in a
revealing seminar that squarely addressed this possibility. The
focal point of the event was the inclusion in the
Legal Services Bill
of "alternative business structures",
the device that would enable this outside investment. It is a move
that is being mirrored in several other jurisdictions and is
anticipated for many more. -
Business Times
website
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South Africa
2010
Union threatens to spread World Cup stadium strike to all stadia
- 11 November
A South African trade union on Sunday threatened to call all
workers involved in the construction of stadia for the 2010
football World Cup to strike if their demands for those working on
a venue in Durban are not met by Monday. -
Monsters and Critics
website
Business
New world of business calls for new business law - 13 November
The Companies Act was
enacted in 1974. Since then, the way business is conducted
throughout the world has undergone radical change, mainly because of
the ascendance of the free enterprise system, the ease of global
travel and the telecoms revolution. These factors, among others,
have resulted in an exponential increase in cross-border
transactions and the emergence of stock markets and unit trusts as
vehicles through which trillions of dollars are invested to enable
people in different countries to invest throughout the world. -
Business Report website
Correctional Services
Correctional services faces State music - 8 November
Members of Parliament on two committees took it in turns yesterday
to tear into the staff of the correctional services department,
criticising them sharply for their poor management. In the finance
portfolio committee, officials were summoned to defend an adjustment
to the appropriation needed for prison building. In particular,
members wanted to know the reason for a request to roll over funds
until the next year. In the standing committee on public accounts,
the commissioner himself, Vernie Petersen, had to answer questions
about the control of assets which did not appear in any register. -
The Herald Online website
7 November 2007
Correctional Services puts the record straight on 11% reach of its
rehabilitation programmes
SA Government Information
website
Education
Number's up for abuse of cellphones at
school - 16 November
Guidelines to regulate cellphone usage in Western Cape schools
inched closer to reality yesterday, with various schools providing
input on the issue. School governing bodies had until yesterday to
comment on the provincial education department's
draft guidelines. Education MEC Cameron Dugmore said his department
could not develop a general cellphone policy for all schools in the
province. "Each school governing body
needs to develop its own cellphone policy . . . linked to the school's
own individual code of conduct for pupils . . . developed after
consultation among teachers, parents and learners".
His department had drawn up the guidelines to help schools develop
their own cellphone policy. The draft document was drawn up by the
department's institutional management and
governance planning directorate. It was presented to senior district
officials at a policy meeting two weeks ago and then to school
governing bodies for discussion. -
The Herald Online website
Environment
Municipalities
to nurture biodiversity - 9 November
South African cities have joined an international initiative
focusing on strategies to protect and develop biodiversity as a
natural resource within municipalities. The initiative follows an
historic biodiversity workshop in the Croatian capital of Zagreb
attended by 20 cities from across the globe. The event was
convened by Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB), which was
pioneered in 2006 by the City of Cape Town and eThekwini, and is a
project of the International Council of Local Environmental
Initiatives (ICLEI). - South
African Cities Network website
Power to
sting - 15 November
Dressed in black, white and khaki with FBI-style skip caps, South
Africa’s Green Scorpions look more like a security service SWAT team
than your traditional environmental regulator. The 859-strong unit
set was up two years ago with increased powers are ensuring that the
environmental laggards in industry take notice. Amendments to the
National Environmental Management Act of 1998 (NEMA),
finalised in 2005, provided the Scorpions with the framework they
needed. The Green Scorpions uniform is just one indication of the
professional approach that the agency is taking in busting South
Africa's environmental offenders. -
miningmx website
Most
people don't feel that global warming will affect them, but they are
wrong - 14 November
Only a third of adults living in SA's metro areas feel that climate
change or global warming will affect them much. This is one of the
findings of a study conducted in September 2007 by South Africa's
leading marketing and social insights company, TNS Research Surveys.
The company interviewed 2 000 adults in all seven of SA's major
metropolitan areas in a study that looked at how people feel about
climate change, their use of key resources and what their carbon
footprint is. - Bizcommunity
website
R2m later, Chapman's Peak pass to re-open - 14 November
Chapman's Peak will open in time for the holiday season in the
second week of December after a R2-million upgrade to the rock catch
fences. So far, engineers and the province have forked out almost
R200-million on the scenic pass to protect the road from further
rockfall damage since it opened in 2003. It has also been revealed
that the tollgate has only provided 78 percent of the projected
revenue since opening. - IOL
website
Finance
Govt's R10.6bn headache - 11 November
Unpaid landlords, disgruntled officials, cancelled business
contacts, tortured suspects and inmates are suing national
government departments for R10.6bn. These claims are contained in
27 annual reports of the 29 national government departments -
including the Presidency - which are being tabled in the national
legislature. At the beginning of the last financial year, national
departments had accumulated claims of R8.174bn. In that year, they
incurred further claims of R2.209bn but only managed to settle
R302m. The total outstanding in claims in March this year was
R10.687bn. - Fin24 website
Health
Complementary-health shock - 15 November
Urgent meetings were held all over the country on Wednesday night by
complementary health practitioners following a health regulation
published in the Government Gazette of October 19. According to the
regulation, counsellors, life coaches, psychotherapists and personal
development practitioners - to mention but a few - will be
considered "illegal". - IOL
website
Insurance Industry
Panel
beaters march to M&F headquarters - 16 November
About 250000 Mutual & Federal (M&F) insurance policy holders in
Gauteng may struggle to get professional panel beaters to repair
their vehicles, as the panel beaters are in a dispute with the
short-term insurer. Thousands of panel beaters and their employees,
accompanied by tow-truck drivers, marched to M&F headquarters in
Johannesburg yesterday to hand over a memorandum urging the insurer
to change from negotiating individual contracts to collective
bargaining. - allAfrica website
Judicial Service
Commission
Motata 'worked as hard as he could' - 16 November
Pretoria High Court Judge Nkola Motata, who is due to stand trial
next year for drunk driving, has himself been under fire for
delayed judgments. The drunk driving incident happened less than
three months after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC)
interrogated Judge Motata on why he had taken more than a year to
write several judgments. Tackled on the slow pace of his
judgments, Judge Motata stated that he was working as hard as he
could. - IOL website
Hlophe profile full of inaccurate reporting and startling
omissions - 11 November
In your profile of Cape Judge President John Hlophe a fortnight
ago, "The judge whose middle name is
controversy" (October 28), it was
inaccurate to state that Norman Arendse SC denied the gravamen of
the incident when Hlophe is alleged to have indicated that he
allocated a sensitive matter to Judge Wilfred Thring so that he
could "f**k it up",
thereby undermining the position of one of his senior judges and
treating him with the utmost contempt. Response from Paul Hoffman,
director : Centre for Constitutional
Rights. - The Times
website
Judge Hlophe's accuser turns on colleagues - 10 November
Advocate Peter Hazell SC is "disgusted
and angry".
The man who caused all the trouble for embattled Cape
Judge President John Hlophe by calling for his impeachment has
launched a blistering broadside on the Cape Bar Council (CBC)
and accused colleagues of "double
standards". -
The Times website
Judge's death penalty comments slated - 10 November
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has rapped a Free State
judge over the knuckles for having said there should be a
referendum on the death penalty. Judge Gerhardus Hattingh called
for a referendum when he convicted three men for the murder of
murdering three-year-old Makgabo Matlala, the granddaughter of
Transvaal Judge-President Bernard Ngoepe. -
The Star
website
KwaZulu-Natal
KZN
traditional leaders urged to remain calm - 15 November
Traditional leaders have been urged to remain calm amidst reports
that there are tensions in various traditional institutions over
their status compared to that of King Goodwill Zwelithini. The call
by KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs
Mike Mabuyakhulu on Wednesday comes after five KwaZulu-Natal
traditional leaders lodged claims with the Nhlapho Commission to
have their clans upgraded to fully fledged kingdoms that will be
equivalent to that of Zulu King Zwelithini. -
BuaNews Online website
Labour Issues
80% of Seta students not completing their studies - 16 November
About eighty per cent of all registered Sector Education and
Training Authority (Seta) students are not completing their studies.
The latest implementation report on skills development by the labour
department shows that nationally only 16 507 of the 87 687
registered students – mostly young unemployed people – completed
their studies from April 2005 to March 2007. -
The Herald Online website
Possible
merger of Setas 'will not harm training programmes in banks sector'
- 16 November
The merger of the three sector education and training authorities (Setas)
that serve SA's financial sector would not jeopardise present
training programmes being sponsored by the banking sector Seta. This
is according to Bankseta CEO Max Makhubalo, responding yesterday to
the African National Congress policy document on labour, which calls
for closer alignment of Setas with its National Industrial Policy
Framework (NIPF). The ANC is to discuss the future of the Seta
"landscape" at its national conference next month. -
allAfrica website
New labour giant maps its way forward - 10 November
The country's largest non-politically
aligned labour federation was launched on Friday - a full year
behind schedule. The National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu) and
the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) merged to form the
South African Confederation of Trade Unions (Sacotu). With one
million paid-up members, Sacotu is the second-largest representative
of organised workers, behind the the Congress of South African Trade
Unions (Cosatu) which has 1.8 million members. -
City Press website
Land Affairs and
Property
Coastal development tops Bay's ratings - 15 November
The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality has placed the North End
coastal development project at the top of its priority ratings as
recent research has shown that the area's
coastline is worth a minimum of R5,25-billion a year. The project
entails the reclamation of land from the sea by dredging, which
would then be made available for development. The area is about
200m wide and 7km long to the north of the harbour next to North
End and Deal Party. The municipality wants the coastline developed
as it will dovetail with the 2010 World Cup stadium precinct,
providing the opportunity to make the North End area a vibrant
precinct. - The Herald
Online website
Highest price paid for undeveloped land - 12 November
A vacant plot in Cape Town's Clifton area has been sold for
R11,25-million - believed to be the highest price per square metre
ever paid for undeveloped property in South Africa. The 449 square
metre erf realised more than R25 000 per square, Lew Geffen
Sotheby's International Realty, Atlantic Seaboard, MD Rob
Stefanutto confirmed on Monday. The stand is situated on Clifton's
famous second beach. - IOL
website
Support for new housing delivery plan - 16 November
The housing and land directorate yesterday unveiled a housing
delivery blueprint which was praised by all members of the
committee and described as the municipality's
"housing bible"
to address the various woes afflicting housing delivery. The
objectives of the seven-year plan are to accelerate housing
delivery, devise a structured informal settlement upgrade
programme, unblock blocked projects, determine clear and
measurable delivery targets, improve project management, meet
targets and spend the budget in the stipulated period while
ensuring a high quality is maintained. -
The Herald Online
website
Don't delay your property plans – 9 November
The property market is still on track for a recovery - possibly as
early as the third quarter in 2008 - notwithstanding the latest
interest rate increase. That's the view of Gerhard Kotzé, CEO of
the ERA South Africa property group, after canvassing analysts and
commentators in the industry. "The general consensus is that the
market will move sideways for about 12 months, but thereafter, it
should start to recover and gradually build up a head of steam
going into 2009," he says. –
Property24 website
Sectional title unit rates to skyrocket - 16 November
Sectional title homeowners may see their rates going up by about
400 per cent once the
Rates Act is applied, Trafalgar sectional title managers
said. Managing director Andrew Schaefer said sectional title
homeowners would have to be rated at between 25% and 40% of
ordinary residential owners to avoid such a rate increase.
Sectional title bodies corporate were rated on the value of the
property's commercial buildings on
single stands with unit owners paying a portion of the rates as
part of their levies. The new Rates Act stipulates that
municipalities must value and rate sectional title units
individually. - The Herald
Online website
Making sectional title alterations - 14 November
Several houses within a complex have had building alterations,
they are sectional title homes. All alterations were done in
accordance with Council regulations. However these homes cannot be
sold until they have been registered at the Deeds Office. They say
it requires permission from all other owners in the complex and
all Bonds from relative Banks have to detail mortgages, before any
house may be sold. Could you clarify the correct position in
respect of the above? -
Property24 website
Hiding the shame of poverty for 2010 - 11 November
The shacklands of post-apartheid South Africa, which would surely
have been seen by tourists coming to South Africa for the 2010
World Cup, will be removed to hide the shame of poverty. Speaking
this week at the second KwaZulu-Natal 2010 sports Indaba,
provincial director-general Kwazi Mbanjwa, announced that more
than R1,4-billion would be spent in eradicating slums in townships
where soccer training camps would be held. Mbanjwa said more than
R22-million would be used to clear shacks at Umlazi near the
KwaMnyandu Railway Station. A further R92-million would be spent
in clearing slums in Lamontville, while R1,2-billion would be
spent upgrading hostels in KwaMashu. Stadiums which will be used
as training grounds include the King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi,
Princess Magogo in KwaMashu, Sugar Ray Xulu in Clermont and the
Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg. They will be upgraded at
a cost of R184,5-million. - IOL
website
Police probe R600m land deal - 12 November
Cape Town police are investigating a corruption complaint while
the city council and the Land Claims Commission (LCC) have
promised to halt a R600-million deal to sell to developers land at
Wingfield that was earmarked for people evicted from Ndabeni years
ago. A member of the Ndabeni Communal Property Trust (NCPT), a
trust serving about 500 claimants, and a claimant have asked
police to probe the circumstances that led to a pre-sale agreement
to sell the land near Maitland for commercial and residential use.
- IOL website
New twist in billion rand Land Bank 'looting' saga - 16
November
New information has come to light in the Land Bank one billion
rand 'looting' saga. SABC News can now reveal that some senior
members of the bank have assisted with the investigation to
uncover the massive mismanagement of state funds through illegal
deals. We can confirm that all those suspended are board members
who had been appointed by former Agriculture and Land Affairs
Minister Thoko Didiza. - SABC
News website
How fat cats looted land bank billions - 10 November
Top Land Bank officials siphoned off more than R2-billion meant
for farmers to fund their close friends and business associates'
luxury golf estates, a sugar mill, equestrian estates and
residential developments. The extent of the fraud has forced
Cabinet to call for the Land Bank board to be fired and for
criminal charges to be brought against virtually the entire top
executive who were implicated in the forensic probe. Xingwana is
set to announce a new board this week. -
The Times website
8 November
2007
Statement on the Forensic Audit Report into the financial
management of the Land Bank to Cabinet
SA Government Information
website
30 October
2007
DBSA and CRLR partnership to facilitate land
restitution and sustainable settlement of outstanding land claims
SA Government Information
website
Victory at last for Group Areas land claimants - 11 November
An Indian community has scored a major victory in a 15- year
battle for compensation for prime land from which it was forcibly
removed under apartheid.
The KwaZulu-Natal Land Claims Commission has made the
first payments of R150 000 for commercial plots and R86000 for
residential plots to the Block AK claimants who lost their Durban
properties under the Group Areas Act.
In 1991, 317 families applied to the then Advisory
Commission on Land Claims for the restoration of their properties.
The first batch of claimants are part of a group of 52
whose compensation has been approved. The next batch of claimants
will be compensated soon.
Block AK consisted of 5.5 hectares of prime real estate
in the Greyville area opposite the Independent Newspapers
building. - The Times
website
Deep land claims - 9 November
SA is conducting an extensive geophysical data-collecting survey
around its ocean margin to support its claims to additional marine
territory. If successful, SA will be able to add 300 000 km² to
its existing international 200 nautical-mile Exclusive Economic
Zone (EEZ). Under the management of Petroleum Agency SA, a team of
SA experts departed last week on the RV Boris Petrov for the
51-day expedition, expected to cover 11 000 km. Cape Town-based
Petroleum Agency SA, is responsible for the regulation,
exploration and exploitation of oil and gas resources, onshore and
offshore. SA is confident it can double its coastline to 600 000
km² if the area were to include SA's sub-Antarctic Prince Edward
Islands - about half its land area. The SA claim is part of a
remarkable international process that will see an estimated 50
coastal states staking claims to enormous areas of the ocean
floor. - Financial Mail
website
Media
History casts scary light on issue of media control - 12
November
It was entirely coincidental that the Cape Town Press Club hosted
Rex Gibson, the last editor of the sadly long-deceased Rand Daily
Mail, at the launch of his book Final Deadline last week, amid
rumours that agents of President Thabo Mbeki were trying to buy
Johnnic Communications (Johncom), which used to own that very
newspaper. But it was a fitting warning about current political
interventions in South Africa's free media. -
Business Report website
See also
Competition Commission above
Minerals and Energy
Court oks Eland Platinum deal - 14 November
Xstrata PLC has received approval from South Africa's High Court for
its $1 billion (720 million euro) takeover of Eland Platinum
Holdings Ltd, the Swiss mining company said Wednesday. Xstrata said
the decision Tuesday means it can assume full control of Eland
Platinum immediately. - Forbes
website
'Responsible'
mining firms welcome in Katanga : governor - 14 November
A top official in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has
reiterated that responsible mining companies need not fear the
review the country is doing on mining permits. The DRC's Katanga
province governor Moise Katumbi in a letter dated November 13 said
that "responsible mining companies that have invested in my
province, or are about to, are very welcome", in a move to calm
nerves after an unofficial report on the State's mining contract
review was leaked. -
Creamer Media's Mining Weekly website
'Raid on site planned'
- 14 November
The raid last week on Pelindaba, the nerve centre of South Africa's
nuclear industry, was an apparently coordinated attack by two
separate armed groups and not a simple attempted robbery as
previously announced. -
The Sowetan website
Second attack on South African nuke plant - 13 November
"On the same night last week that four robbers shot an emergency
officer at Pelindaba" - South Africa's most important atomic
facility - "another attempt was made to bypass the nuclear site's
security," according to The Sowetan.
It was not long ago - in 1990 to be
precise - that this institution was
involved in the South Africa's nuclear
weapons production. The assumption must be
that there would be no computer records of this process on the
premises. But there may well be invaluable
research and data stored at the facility on the process of producing
weapons-grade nuclear material at Pelindaba. -
Wired blog
Municipal Management
and Procedure
Development
Bank improves municipalities - 13 November
Amidst continuing efforts to improve service delivery, the
Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), through its Vulindlela
Academy, has to date trained over 1 500 delegates from
municipalities country wide. The DBSA, which is the leading
Development Finance Institution (FDI) in Africa south of the Sahara,
seeks to maximise its contribution to sustainable development by
mobilising financial, knowledge and human capital support to
Government and other development role players to improve peoples
quality of life. - allAfrica
website
3 October 2007
Local Government Capital and Operating Expenditure of approved
budgets for the 2007 Medium Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework
(MTREF)
SA Government Information
website
Cape Town
Cape Town could become gated community - 13 November
The City of Cape Town, initially opposed to gated communities, has
backed down and could consider applications for suburbs to be
fenced off and access controlled by booms or gates. In its final
draft policy on gated communities, the city proposes to adopt a
"cautious approach" to requests for restricted access to
residential areas and new developments. -
IOL website
Johannesburg
Inner city partners get on board -
9 November
Stakeholders have lent their support to the Inner City
Regeneration Charter, which was signed at the launch of the
charter partnership forum. The signing formed part of the
official launch of the inner city charter partnership forum, to
which all stakeholders will belong, on Wednesday, 7 November. It
took place at the Lutheran Church and community centre in an
inner city hotspot, Hillbrow, more renowned for its high levels
of crime and extreme dirt. But the event marked the start of a
long relationship in which both the City and other stakeholders
are making a tangible promise to create a safe, clean and
uncompromised inner city. - Official website of the
City
of Johannesburg
Taxation Law
Transfer pricing emerges as most critical tax issue - 13
November
Transfer pricing will be seen as the most critical tax issue in two
years’ time, followed closely by indirect tax and tax minimisation,
according to a preliminary study by Ernst & Young this year.
The study found the majority of multinational companies
(71%) considered transfer pricing documentation to be more important
than it was two years ago. -
Business Day website
Trade and Industry
Textile
tariff plan a boost for factories - 13 November
The trade and industry department's plan to cut tariffs on key
inputs into strategic industrial sectors has got under way in
earnest, with its International Trade Administration Commission (Itac)
announcing the review of tariffs on textiles, which should help
lower costs for SA's embattled clothing manufacturers. The review
was published in Friday's Government Gazette, along with an
announcement of a review on aluminium and chemicals tariffs, in line
with the industrial policy's aim to reduce the cost of inputs in a
bid to bolster downstream beneficiation. -
allAfrica website
Miscellaneous
Poor S
Africans double in decade - 12 November
The number of South Africans living on less than $1 a day has more
than doubled in a decade since shortly after the end of apartheid.
The South African Institute of Race Relations survey said 4.2m
people were living on $1 a day in 2005. This is up from 1.9m in
1996, two years after the first all-race elections. -
BBC News website
When there's a serial killer in our midst . . . - 10 November
South Africa has one of the world's highest incidences of serial
killers in the world, but it is also a global leader when it comes
to their arrest. On average, the SA Police Service's Investigative
Psychology Unit (IPU) takes about three months to capture a serial
killer, says IPU investigator Dr Gerhard Labuschagne. The unit has
a 70 percent success rate in capturing these killers and 100
percent conviction rate. But it is difficult to say whether serial
killings in South Africa are on the increase or if the police are
simply getting better at tracking them down, he said. -
IOL website
Keyphrase :
Richard Jabulani Nyauza
Sachs tells how he crafted ANC's code of conduct - 9 November
Designing a code of conduct for a liberation struggle in exile was
the most significant work of his career, Constitutional Court
Justice Albie Sachs said in Johannesburg on Thursday. It was a
task he carried out at the behest of former African National
Congress (ANC) president Oliver Tambo after he discovered that
suspected agents of the apartheid regime were being tortured in
ANC camps. "To my mind that was the beginning of the
constitutionality at the heart, at the core of the freedom
struggle," Sachs said in delivering the second annual Abdullah
Omar Memorial Lecture. - Mail &
Guardian website
Feathers ruffled with praise singer's
chicken analogy - 6 November
A Xhosa praise singer has been criticised for shouting out that a
cabinet minister had a large posterior. Two isiXhosa-speaking
reporters attending the launch of the Land and Agrarian Land
Reform Project and Land Rights Awareness Campaign at Rockhurst
Farm north of Grahamstown agreed that the young, unnamed praise
singer had compared Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu
Xingwana to a "chicken with a big bum".
He said : "Le
ntombi inempundu ezinkulu ngathi yinkukhu ehleliphezu kwamaqanda
(This woman with a big bum that looks like a chicken sitting on
eggs)". The comment was in the
metaphorical context of a chicken sitting on a nest of eggs which
would hatch with great benefits for the people. -
The Herald Online
website
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Africa
Refugees
and displaced people in Africa - 15 November
Bahame Tom Mukirya Nyanduga, commissioner responsible for upholding
the African Charter on Human
and Peoples' Rights talks to Hakima
Abbas about Africa's commitment to protecting refugees and his
belief that democratic states that tolerate diversity do not
experience the conflict that generates the displacement of their
citizens. -
allAfrica website
Environment
Africa
must preserve marine resources - 9 November
Africa must preserve its deteriorating marine and coastal
resources in a bid to minimise the negative impact of a depleted
coastal economy, on the poorest people in rural areas. This call
emerged from the four-day Joint Conference of Parties (COP) for
the Abidjan and Nairobi Conventions, which kicked off Monday. The
meeting was aimed at finding better ways to preserve Africa's
marine resources. Addressing the event Thursday, Executive
Director of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
Achim Steiner warned that "Africa is in the midst of depleting its
natural capital". - BuaNews
Online website
Namibia
Land
reform reproducing poverty - 15 November
Namibia's land reform programme is a "zero sum game" that merely
swaps one form of poverty for another in its current resettlement
programme, according to an independent report on attempts to find
a equitable solution to racially skewed land ownership. The Legal
Assistance Centre (LAC), a non-governmental human rights
organisation based in the capital, Windhoek, said in a report
reviewing the achievements so far of Namibia's land reform
programme, No Resettlement Available, that "most [resettlement
farms] are not doing very well; in fact, it is not apparent that
any are". - allAfrica website
See also :
Land, Environment
and Development Project : publications on
the Legal Assistance Centre
website
No
Resettlement Available [pdf]
Author(s) : Sidney L Harring and Willem
Odendaal
Language(s): English
Publisher : Legal Assistance Centre,
LEAD: 2007
Price (N$): 30.00
This report was designed to provide an assessment of the
expropriation principle and its impact on land rewform in Namibia.
Following the first expropriation of three farms in 2005, this
report describes the operation of the legal process, offers a
critical analysis of what has been accomplished since that
Agricultural (commercial)
Land Reform Act 6 of 1995 was enacted and makes
recommendations for an effective land reform and resettlement
programme
30 August 2007
Statement regarding signing of agreement by the Minister of Home
Affairs of South Africa and the Minister of Home Affairs and
immigration of Namibia regarding the transfer of records relating
to persons who were born, married or who died in Namibia
SA Government Information
website
Zimbabwe
Mugabe
government admits Zimbabwe white farmers were wronged - 12
November
Zimbabwe's lands and security minister Didymus Mutasa has admitted
in a court in Europe that the government wrongfully seized white
farms which belonged to Dutch citizens who considered Zimbabwe
their home. Peta Thornycroft reports that at a hearing in Paris
recently, a court is considering what amount of compensation the
Zimbabwe government should pay to this group of farmers. -
Voice of America website
Zimbabwe farmers a step closer to compensation - 8 November
A group of Dutch farmers is one step closer to gaining
compensation for land and farms lost to the government of
Zimbabwe, after a recent hearing in Paris. The tribunal, at the
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, heard
evidence from 10 dispossessed white farmers, represented by the
Dutch Farmers Association. Each made the case for Robert Mugabe's
ZANU (PF) government to accept liability for a breach of the
Netherlands-Zimbabwe bilateral investment treaty and pay
compensation. - Farmers Weekly
Interactive website
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Asia
China
China special :
growing pains of a
superpower - 7 November
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19626291.400-china-special-growing-pains-of-a-superpower.html
India
Multiplicity of laws, agencies make land deals a nightmare -
13 November
When Pune-based software engineer R Venkatraman was looking to
help his sister buy land in Bangalore in 2005, he found that doing
the due diligence to buy the property cost as much as registering
the property later. Before buying the 2 400 square metre plot of
land in HRBR Layout in Bangalore, Venkatraman had to check whether
the developer selling the property had a rightful claim to it or
there were any outstanding mortgages, and also get permission from
the village panchayat that had jurisdiction over the area. This
would have entailed visits to a host of government departments.
Not willing to make the effort, Venkatraman hired the services of
a lawyer. "If somebody was going to sue us later, there was
nothing I could have done," he recalls. Venkatraman's case is not
an isolated instance. The lack of a single window to address these
clearances has not only created additional tiers of bureaucracy
but also raises the cost of the land transaction substantially. -
LiveMint (Wall Street
Journal) website
State-run agencies in Delhi may be answerable to realty regulator
- 2 November
The urban development ministry is looking at expanding the scope
of a proposed real estate regulator for New Delhi to include the
regulation of government- linked agencies such as the Delhi
Development Authority (DDA) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD),
besides private realty developers and agents, in a bid to make all
urban bodies more accountable. "We are
looking at a proposal where the authority will check unfair
practices by not just developers, but also other bodies such as
DDA and MCD", an official in the urban
development ministry said. "This is a
proposal made by the Delhi government, which felt regulation
should not be restricted just to developers and should include all
the players". - LiveMint
(Wall Street Journal) website
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Australasia
Australia
Outcry as wild horses are culled from helicopters in Australia
- 14 November
An Australian state government's plans to shoot more than 10 000
wild horses to protect the environment have been attacked by some
animal rights activists as inhumane. The Queensland government had
attempted to keep the cull of the horses, or brumbies, a secret
because of fears of a public outcry. But government documents
confirming the cull were obtained by the media while the Save the
Brumbies charity reproduced photographs it said were of the cull
on its website. - Cape Times
website
See
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-37,GGLG:en&q=%22save+the+brumbies%22+australia
Videoclip at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhCaljar4m8
Petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/STBrumby/petition.html
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Europe
Fifth Report from the Commission to the Council and the European
Parliament on the Statistics on the number of animals used for
experimental and other scientific purposes in the member states of
the European Union - 15 November
Commission of the
European Communities website
EU accounts
failed for 13th year - 13 November
The auditors for the EU have refused to sign off the bloc's
financial accounts - for the 13th year in a row. A report by the
European Court of Auditors (ECA) criticises nearly every major area
of the EU's expenditure. However, it says there has been a big
reduction in the overall level of error in the EU's Common
Agricultural Policy. The European Commission has blamed member
states for audit failings, but the report criticises the commission
itself, our correspondent says.
- BBC News website
EU to unveil reform plan for telecoms - 13 November
The European Commission is expected to propose the creation of a
regulatory body with power to separate telecom networks and access
providers to foster competition in Europe and reduce costs for
customers. Calling the existing panel of national telecom regulators
a "do-nothing group" that has ignored the interests of consumers in
the European Union, the EU's executive arm will call Tuesday for the
creation of a European Telecom Market Authority that could push
national regulators to tackle large telecommunications companies and
their stranglehold over national markets. -
Associated Press on Google
Reform of the EU's eCommunications Regulatory Framework
- 13 November
On 13 November, the European Commission will publish its proposal
for Reform of the EU Regulatory Framework for eCommunications. The
EU states that these reforms will take account of the convergence of
digital technologies that allow everything from phone calls to
entertainment to be delivered over all sorts of networks to all
sorts of devices, PCs, televisions, mobile phones and more. -
ecommercelawdirect website
The growing role of the euro in emerging market finance - 10
November
More than eight years after the introduction of the euro, impacts on
developing countries have been relatively modest. Overall, the euro
has become much more important in debt issuance than in official
foreign exchange reserve holdings. The former has benefited from the
creation of a large set of investors for which the euro is the home
currency, while demand for euro reserves has been held back by the
dominance of the dollar as a vehicle and intervention currency, and
the greater liquidity of the market for US treasury securities.
Fears of further dollar decline may fuel some shifts out of dollars
into euros, however, with the potential for a period of financial
instability. -
World Bank via
Docuticker website
Finland
'You have to get inside young people's heads' - 12 November
As Finland mourned the Jokela high school massacre last week,
education officials, teachers and school principals were asking
how the country's worst peacetime shooting could have occurred in
school in a country where teachers pride themselves on their
individualised teaching, special support and understanding of
child development. -
Guardian Unlimited website
Russia
"Chessboard killer" appeals sentence - 2 November
Russia's "chessboard killer" has appealed his life sentence,
saying he thinks spending the rest of his life in jail is too
strong a punishment for murdering 48 people, his lawyer said on
Friday. Alexander Pichushkin, who showed no remorse during his
trial, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison last
month. But his lawyer said the serial killer thinks the punishment
does not fit the crime and should be cut to 25 years. -
Reuters website
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Middle East
Iraq
Iraqi bloggers at home and abroad - 3 November
BBC News website
Saudi Arabia
Court sentences rape victim - 16 November
A Saudi court sentenced a woman who had been gang raped to six
months in jail and 200 lashes - more than doubling her initial
penalty for being in the car of a man who was not a relative, a
newspaper reported Thursday. The decision by the Qatif General
Court came in a case that had sparked rare debate about the
kingdom's justice system when it surfaced more than a year ago. In
its decision Wednesday, the court also roughly doubled prison
sentences for the seven men convicted of raping the 19-year-old
woman. According to Arab News, the court said the woman's
punishment was increased because of "her attempt to aggravate and
influence the judiciary through the media". She had initially been
sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicting her of violating
Saudi's rigid laws on segregation of the sexes. -
Associated Press on Google
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United Kingdom
Anti-Terrorism
New terror limits to be unveiled - 15 November
New proposals to extend the period that terrorist suspects can be
detained without charge are to be unveiled by ministers, the BBC
has learned. They would permit detainees to be held for a maximum
58 days - 28 as now, plus 30 extra under emergency powers laws.
Tories, Lib Dems and some Labour MPs plan to block the plans,
claiming there is no evidence for raising the limit. -
BBC News website
Control orders breach human rights, lords rule - 1 November
The Government's terror strategy was dealt a blow this morning
when law lords ruled that the controversial control order regime
must be watered down. Britain's most senior judges ruled that the
most draconian power - an 18-hour home curfew - was in breach of
the human right to liberty. They held that a 12-hour curfew was
acceptable. - Telegraph
website
Banking
Credit union rules to be eased - 25 October
The government will ease restrictions on credit unions to encourage
growth in the sector and ensure the public has a viable alternative
to banks for loans and savings, junior Treasury Minister Kitty
Ussher will announce on Thursday. Under the changes, credit unions -
which offer members loans out of savings built up by the membership
- will be able to communicate with stakeholders electronically and
expand their membership to include tenants and employees of housing
associations. - Reuters website
Courts
Extradition ordered for preacher - 8 November
A court has ordered the extradition of a Kenyan pastor who claims
he can give infertile couples "miracle babies". Gilbert Deya, the
self-proclaimed bishop of Gilbert Deya Ministries, is charged with
five counts of child stealing between 1999 and 2004. Mr Deya's
wife, Mary Deya, has already been convicted of child stealing
offences in Nairobi. Lawyers for London-based Mr Deya said he had
been unfairly targeted and will appeal against the extradition
order. - BBC News website
Ministers
win Darfur court appeal - 14 November
Ministers have won an appeal against a court ruling which could
have widened the grounds for being given asylum. The Law Lords
upheld Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's complaint about the Court of
Appeal's decision to overturn a tribunal ruling. The tribunal said
sending refugees to camps in the Sudanese region of Darfur was not
"unduly harsh" resettlement. -
BBC News website
Serial sex offender can stay in UK, judge rules - 31 October
A serial sex offender from Sierra Leone has been allowed to stay
in the UK after a judge ruled deporting him would breach his human
rights. -
Telegraph website
Defence
Growing suicide toll among troops - 15 November
The number of troops who have committed suicide after serving in
Iraq and Afghanistan is equivalent to 10 per cent of deaths
suffered on operations. The Ministry of Defence has disclosed that
17 serving personnel have killed themselves after witnessing the
horrors of conflict. There are also fears that the number of
suicides among troops who have recently left the Armed Forces
could be significantly higher than 17. However, no records are
kept once they leave the Services. -
Telegraph website
Military brain damage study launched - 27 October
The Ministry of Defence has launched a major inquiry into brain
injuries suffered by troops caught near explosions in Afghanistan
and Iraq. The effects of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI)
include loss of memory, mood swings and depression. They can last
from a matter of hours to up to three months. The condition, which
has no external physical manifestations, is caused by the high
velocity shockwaves from roadside bombs which jar the brain. At
its simplest, it is similar to a concussion. But at its worst it
can be completely debilitating. -
Reuters website
Environment
Climate change bill published - 15 November
The government published a ground-breaking climate change bill on
Thursday, starting a parliamentary process that could lead to a
legal limit on national emissions of carbon gases within six months.
The bill sets a target of cutting national emissions of
climate-warming carbon dioxide by 60 percent by 2050. It would make
Britain the first country to adopt such a legally binding
commitment. - Reuters website
Human Rights
Smacking ban ruled out - 12 November
Parents will not be banned from smacking their children, the
government said on Thursday, despite pressure from campaigners who
say it is ineffective and sends mixed messages. Ministers said the
law in England and Wales will remain unchanged after a review found
that most parents do not want a complete ban. The government's
critics called the decision a missed opportunity while opponents of
a ban said it was rooted in common sense. -
Reuters website
Land Affairs and
Property
Coast villages to be sacrificed to the sea - 11 November
Whole villages and swathes of agricultural land will be
surrendered to the sea because the Government is unwilling to
spend billions of pounds on flood defences. Ministers have
admitted privately that they are preparing to evacuate settlements
on the east coast within the next 30 years because it is not "cost
effective" to save them. Thousands of acres of farmland will be
allowed to flood, potentially jeopardising food production in
areas such as East Anglia. -
Telegraph website
Legislation
New security law plans to be unveiled - 6 November
The government will unveil a raft of new security proposals on
Tuesday which are expected to include a controversial plan to
extend the period a terrorism suspect can be held without charge
to 56 from 28 days. Details of the new counter terrorism law will
be given during the Queen's Speech which comes a day after the
head of the domestic intelligence agency MI5 warned there was a
growing number of Islamists at large in the country. -
Reuters website
Privacy
EU plans to collect personal data on air passengers - 4
November
The European Union will seek to collect personal data on air
passengers travelling to or from the 27-nation bloc and store them
for 13 years, under draft anti-terrorism proposals to be unveiled
on Tuesday. The bloc's executive Commission will tell EU states
they need to collect 19 pieces of personal data on international
air travellers including phone number, e-mail address, payment
details and travel agent, a draft seen by Reuters shows. -
Reuters website
Miscellaneous
Civil servant faces official secrets trial - 12 November
Foreign Office civil servant Derek Pasquill has begun the long
trial process after being charged under the
Official Secrets Act.
He is accused of making six damaging disclosures of documents that
came into his possession as a civil servant. These concerned
Government policy on two of the most pressing issues of the age
: extraordinary rendition, and dialogue with radical
Islamist groups in the Middle East such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
The charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty are said to refer
to articles that appeared in the Observer and the New Statesman
under my byline. - Article by Martin Bright on the
Campaign for Press and
Broadcasting Freedom website
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United States
Courts
Apartheid suit puts
corporations on notice - 12 November
In giving the go-ahead to a historic class-action suit against
businesses that sold to South Africa's apartheid regime, a federal
appellate court here has put the world's largest companies on
notice that they can be held liable for doing business with
foreign regimes that commit human-rights abuses. The decision last
month by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan revives
several class-action suits brought by South Africans against the
arms suppliers, oil producers, and computer manufacturers that
sold goods to the apartheid government during the second half of
the 20th century. The claims earlier had been dismissed by a lower
court as being beyond the jurisdiction of American courts. -
New York Sun website
A shot at justice in foreign courts - 10 November
Some time next year, the US Supreme Court will decide whether or
not to hear an appeal against last month's decision by a court in
New York to reinstate a lawsuit that would call some of the
world’s biggest multinationals to account for their South African
activities under apartheid.
They include giants such as Barclays, Citicorp,
Mercedes-Benz , IBM, Shell and General Motors.
President Thabo Mbeki said in Parliament this week that
the government would have no part in the suit, but he acknowledged
the rights of individuals and communities to pursue their
grievances in foreign courts.
- Business Day
website
19 October
2007
Apartheid lawsuit : US court of appeal
decision [B Mabandla]
SA Government Information
website
Cyberlaw
White House ordered to back up e-mail - 13 November
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking
the White House from destroying back-up copies of deleted e-mails.
The order by US District Judge Henry Kennedy came Monday as part of
a lawsuit by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington (CREW), a private watchdog group, that claims the White
House has failed to preserve millions of deleted e-mails it was
supposed to keep. CREW filed suit in September against the Executive
Office of the President and the National Archives and Records
Administration. CREW said it sought a temporary restraining order
after the White House refused to give adequate assurances that it
would preserve backup copies of the deleted e-mails. -
CNet News website
See also
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/30422
Emigration and
Immigration
South
African fights denial of US visa - 16 November
A South African scholar and critic of the war in Iraq is now
fighting in US courts to clear his name, after being denied a visa
for having "links to terrorism". "I think it's completely
outrageous," says Dr Adam Habib, a respected social scientist and
deputy vice chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, who has
filed a court challenge in Boston with the help of the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). -
Christian Science Monitor website
Environment
BP fined 182 million pounds in US - 26 October
BP on Thursday agreed to pay $373 million (182 million pounds) to
settle US charges stemming from a deadly Texas refinery explosion,
an Alaska oil spill and allegations it manipulated the propane
market. BP will pay up $303 million in civil and criminal penalties
for attempting to corner the US propane market in 2004, the largest
fine ever handed down by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
In addition, the British oil giant will pay a $50 million criminal
fine for the massive 2005 explosion at its Texas City refinery - the
deadliest US industrial accident in more than a decade - that killed
15 people and injured more than 170. BP will also pay $20 million in
criminal fines and restitution to Alaska to resolve criminal
liability for a pipeline spill at its Prudhoe Bay oilfield in Alaska
in 2006. - Reuters website
Health
Vioxx
settlement to total $4.85bn - 9 November
The maker of Vioxx has agreed to pay $4.85bn to settle legal
claims that the controversial drug caused many users to suffer
strokes and heart failure. Merck & Co said it was setting up a
fund to compensate victims, adding that claimants would only
receive payment if certain key conditions were met. To qualify,
individuals must prove they suffered serious illness, at the most
two weeks after they bought the drug. The deal may end multiple
lawsuits but Merck has not admitted any liability. -
BBC News website
"No liability for doctor who revived newborn" - 9 November
The Washington Supreme Court has ruled that doctors in Vancouver,
Wash. can't be held liable for resuscitating a baby after he was
born without a heartbeat. The parents said the medics had wrongly
failed to ask their permission before saving the child's life. The
infant survived but with severe disabilities. -
Overlawyered blog
Miscellaneous
Death, happiness, and the
calculation of compensatory damages - 11 November
This paper studies the mental distress caused by bereavement. The
largest emotional losses are from the death of a spouse
; the second-worst in severity are the losses from the
death of a child ; the third-worst is
the death of a parent. The paper explores how happiness regression
equations might be used in tort cases to calculate compensatory
damages for emotional harm and pain-and-suffering. We examine
alternative well-being variables, discuss adaptation, consider the
possibility that bereavement affects someone's
marginal utility of income, and suggest a procedure for correcting
for the endogeneity of income. Although the paper's
contribution is methodological, and further research is needed,
some illustrative compensation amounts are discussed. -
Institute for the Study of Labor
via Docuticker
website
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International
Environment
World's worst polluters revealed - 14 November
Australians are the world's worst polluters, according to a new
'name and shame' league table based on power station emissions.
Although no single country comes close to the 2.8 billion tons of
CO 2 produced annually by the US power sector, other countries
collectively account for three-quarters of all the power-related
CO2 emissions. China comes second with 2.7 billion tonnes,
followed by Russia with 661m tonnes ;
India 583m tonnes, Japan 400m tonnes,
Germany 356m tonnes, Australia 226m tonnes, South Africa 222m
tonnes, the UK 212m tonnes and South Korea 185m tonnes. -
Telegraph website
Learn how much your power plant pollutes
- 14 November
There's growing worry about global warming, but how much of it is
the work of that power plant just outside town? And if Congress
limits heat-trapping greenhouse gases, will it affect utility and
electric bills? And who's the biggest corporate culprit when it
comes to climate change? A new interactive online database
unveiled Wednesday provides maps, color-coded categories and
detailed information about who is putting 10 billion tons of
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually from power plants
around the world - about a fourth of it from the United States.
The Web site, which includes information from 4 000 utilities and
50 000 plants, shows not only the biggest CO2 emitters, but also
the facilities and companies that are most green, releasing little
if any carbon. -
Washington Post website
Sports and Recreation
World Sports
Law Report is organising a full-day briefing examining
how sport and its partners can protect their contracts, if
allegations of
doping or match-fixing are made.
Integrity in Sport : Contractual Risk
Management will be held on 21 January 2008 in London
Details at
http://www.e-comlaw.com/IntegrityinSport/
FIFA bans third-party ownership of players - 29 October
FIFA is banning third-party ownership of players and outlawing the
practice of clubs buying licences from teams in higher divisions
to secure promotion, its president Sepp Blatter said on Monday.
Soccer's world governing body would amend its rules to cover both
matters, Blatter told a news conference after a meeting of FIFA's
executive committee. -
Guardian website
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Miscellaneous
"Tomorrow never knows" : the end of cataloguing?
This paper reviews the perceived threats to the future of
cataloguing posed by the increasing volume of publications in all
media, coupled with a resource base which is declining in real
terms. It argues that cataloguing is more rather than less important
in such an environment and considers some of the ways in which
cataloguing will have to change in order to survive. Article by Alan
Danskin on the IFLA website (IFLA
Journal v.33.3)
Libraries for the
future : progress, development and partnerships
Opening address, World Library and Information Congress : 73rd
IFLA Council and General Conference, Durban, South Africa
Alex Byrne, IFLA President on the
IFLA website (IFLA
Journal v.33.3)
Libraries dump 2m volumes - 16 November
A rush to liberate space for e-learning suites is blamed for
disposal of printed material. Rebecca Attwood reports. Universities
dispose of more than 1.8 million books and journals a year,
according to official figures. Statistics obtained by The Times
Higher show that 36 institutions got rid of more books and printed
volumes than they acquired. In 2005-06, ten universities disposed of
more than 40 000 items. Dundee University
disposed of 100 035 items and acquired 18
067 hard-copy texts in the year. Bangor University withdrew
55 500 items from reader use, Ulster
University withdrew 50 493, and Imperial
College London 48 911, according to
figures from the Society of College, National, and University
Libraries (Sconul). With an increase in the use of online resources
and with students demanding virtual learning environments and more
study space, the number of books removed from university libraries
is on the increase. - Times Higher
Education Supplement website
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Miscellaneous E-Things
What kids
learn in virtual worlds - 15 November
Kids who are active members of virtual worlds are learning how to
socialize, how to be technologically savvy, and how to be good
little consumers. That's according to a group of academics and
researchers who met Wednesday evening at the University of Southern
California to discuss the effects of virtual worlds on children
today. Of course, virtual worlds are still so new that researchers
haven't had much time to study their impact on kids. In many cases,
kids are getting an early education with technology, learning how to
be members of a citizenship, and picking up skills that they'll need
in the future workforce, Thomas said. The downside, he said, is the
inherently commercial nature of virtual worlds like Club Penguin
and Webkinz, which encourage kids to play games, dress up
online characters, and buy virtual goods to decorate their in-world
homes or avatars.
"If you're a parent, I would be much less concerned about things
like online predators or violence, then I would be about the
conflation between consumption and consumerism and citizenship (in
virtual worlds). Because our kids are being taught that to be a good
citizen of this world you got to buy the right stuff," Thomas said -
CNet
News website
Reality bytes Dutch virtual thief - 15 November
Dutch police have made their first arrest of an online thief
- a 17-year-old accused of stealing
virtual furniture from rooms in the Habbo Hotel - a popular teenager
networking website. An Amsterdam police spokesperson confirmed a
report that the teenager was accused of stealing e4 000 worth of
virtual furniture by hacking into the accounts of other online game
players. - Cape Times
website
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