| Recent
Journal Articles of Interest |
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De
Jure |
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The harmonisation of
labour law in Southern Africa
K Calitz
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.223 |
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Some comment on the
interpretation and application of section 17 of the Childrens Act 38
of 2005
T Boezaart (Davel)
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.245 |
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Some thoughts on
excluded and exempt property in South African insolvency law
R G Evans
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.255 |
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Some thoughts on
assessment methods used in clinical legal education program at the
University of Pretoria Law Clinic and the University of the
Witwatersrand Law Clinic
F Haup and S H Mohamed
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.273 |
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The class action in South Africa : qu vadis?
E Hurter
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.293 |
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Regional organisations
and their dispute settlement bodies
T Kruger
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.305 |
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The strict approach to party autonomy and choice of law in
e-contracts in South Africa : does the approach render South
Africa an unacceptable jurisdiction?
O Sibanda
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.320 |
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Where two oceans meet : reflections on the interaction between
law and psychiatry in the prediction of future dangerousness in
dangerous criminals
P Stevens
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.332 |
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Kritiese evaluasie van die toepassingsveld van die
"National Credit Act"
P N Stoop
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.352 |
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Fixed-term contracts : a comparative analysis of the Mozambican
and South African legislation
S Vetton
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.371 |
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Model legislation and regional integration : theory and
practice of model legislation pertaining to HIV in the SADC
F Viljoen
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.383 |
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Application of media law : attempts to promote separate
protection measures for journalists. Part 2
A C Welgemoed
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.399 |
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When could a South
African court be expected to apply the United Nations Convention on
contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG)?
Wethmar-Lemmar
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.419 |
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Killing with impunity : the story of an
unborn child
M C Buthelezi
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.429 |
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Globalisation or fragmentation of international
law : challenges for harmonisation
M Olivier
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.437 |
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Gedagtes oor die verwysing van 'n afleggingsdispuut
deur 'n individuele werknemer
Fanie van Jaarseveld
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.442 |
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Recent case law
Van Nieuwkerk v McGrae 2007 5 SA 21 (W)
B Bekink
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.448
Tshabalala-Msimang and Medi-Clinic Ltd v Makhanya 2008 3 BCLR
338(W)
P A Carstens
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.452
Barkhuizen v Napier Case CCT 72/05 (2007) ZACC 5 delivered on 4
April 2008
Kuschke
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.463
Constantaras v BCE Foodservice Equipment (Pty) Ltd 2007 6 SA
338(SCA)
C J Nagel and J T Pretorius
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.469 |
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Book Review
Human rights from a comparative and
international law perspective
C Nicholson
DJ - 2008, v.41(2), p.473 |
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Employment Law |
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Groping for a reasonable standard
Editorial
Employment Law - 2008, v.24(6), p.2 |
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In the shadow of Sidumo : applying the
"reasonable commissioner" test
Employment Law - 2008, v.24(6), p.3 |
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Of prostitutes and
foreigners : invalid contracts and the LRA
Employment Law - 2008, v.24(6), p.13 |
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Planless promotion - Gordon v Department
of Health : KwaZulu-Natal [2008]11 BLLR 1023(SCA)
Employment Law - 2008, v.24(6), p.18 |
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Equal race - Dudley v City of Cape Town
and Another [2008]12 BLLR 1155(LAC)
Employment Law - 2008, v.24(6), p.18 |
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Muddled claim -
Eagleton and Others v You Asked Services (Pty) Ltd [2008]11 BLLR
1040(LC)
Employment Law - 2008, v.24(6), p.19 |
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Truly intolerable - Marsland v New Way
Motor & Diesel Engineering [2008]11 BLLR 1078(LC)
Employment Law - 2008, v.24(6), p.20 |
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Interest arbitration - SAMWU v City of
Cape Town (1) [2008]11 BALR 1071 (SALGBC)
Employment Law - 2008, v.24(6), p.21 |
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No ceiling - Equity Aviation Services
(Pty) Ltd v CCMA and Others [2008]12 BLLR 1129(CC)
Employment Law - 2008, v.24(6), p.22 |
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LexisNexis Property Law Digest |
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Acquiring a servitude
by virtue of prescription : the difficulties and consequences -
Cillie v Glendenhuys [2008]3 AllSa 507(SCA)
Maryna Botha
LNPD - 2008, v.12(4), p.2 |
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Advice for buying sectional title
Jennifer Paddock
LNPD - 2008, v.12(4), p.8 |
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Separate rating of Sectional Title Units
Judith van der Walt
LNPD - 2008, v.12(4), p.11 |
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Case Updates
City of Cape Town v Heldeberg Park Development (Pty) Ltd [2008] JOL
21821(SCA)
Blue Moonlight
Properties 39 (Pty) Ltd v Occupiers of Saratoga Avenue and Another
[2008] JOL 22545(W)
Pondoro (Pvt) Ltd and
Another v Nemakonde and Another [2008] JOL 22162(ZH)
Duys and Others v Snyman
De Jager Inc and Another [2008] JOL 22174(T)
Faan van der Merwe Trust
and Another v Matjila [2008] JOL 22259(LC)
Theart and Another v
Minnaar NO [2008] JOL 22299(C)
Dindinto v MEC for
Health, Eastern Cape and Others [2008] JOL 22308(CK)
Nkqubela Farmers'
Co-operative and Another v Gonya and Others [2008] JOL 22334
Dyubeni
v Minister of Safety & Security and Others [2008] JOL 22415
LNPD - 2008, v.12(4), p.13 |
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News
on the Electronic Front |
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Recent
Judgments Available on the Internet
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Constitutional
Court of South Africa
-
www.constitutionalcourt.org.za
;
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/
11 December
2008
CCT 24/08 ; CCT 52/08
The President of the Republic of South Africa and Others v
Quagliani ; The President of the
Republic of South Africa and Others v Van Rooyen and Brown
; Goodwin v Director General, Department of Justice and
Constitutional Development ; with
The Speaker of the National Assembly and The Chairperson of the
National Council of Provinces intervening
validity of the Extradition Agreement concluded between South
Africa and the United States of America in 1999
To be handed down : subsequently postponed
to 17 December 2008
Stratton delays ruling by top court - 12 December
An Australian businessman wanted in connection with Brett Kebble's
death has effectively stalled South Africa's highest court from
delivering a landmark extradition ruling. Blaming technical
glitches, Constitutional Court Justice Thembile Skweyiya on
Thursday delayed handing down his ruling on the government's
battle with accused stem-cell fraud couple Stephen van Rooyen and
Laura Brown. Because the case impacts on every extradition
agreement concluded by South Africa since 1997, it will have a
major impact on the state's mooted extradition of accused Kebble
killer John Stratton. - IOL
website
Concourt to rule on extradition - 10 December
The Constitutional Court will hand down judgment on South Africa's
extradition law when it sits on Thursday. David van Rooyen and
Laura Brown, who are implicated in a stem cell medical cure scam,
and alleged drug dealer Nello Quagliani are wanted in the USA to
face charges. South Africa also wants to extradite Steven Goodwin
from the USA to face fraud charges relating to the collapse of
Fidentia Asset Management. During the hearing on the matter in
August, the court heard submissions on South Africa's extradition
agreement with the USA. It was argued that the extradition
agreement was not incorporated into South African law under the
Constitution and so was not enforceable as part of South African
law. - IOL website
Keyphrase :
Fidentia Case
8 December
2008
CCT
50/08 [2008] ZACC 23
Gumede (born Shange) v President of the Republic of South
Africa and Others
Application for the confirmation of an order of constitutional
invalidity made by the Durban High Court in respect of certain
provisions of the
Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 1998 (Recognition
Act), the KwaZulu Act on
the Code of Zulu Law, 1985, and the
Natal Code of Zulu Law,
1987
Media release
from the Women's Legal
Centre
8 December 2008
Con Court
abolishes African customary law prohibiting women from owning
property
Today the
Constitutional Court confirmed the Durban High Court Order
which effectively abolishes the rule of African customary law
which says women cannot own immovable property in a customary
marriage.
The Court
decided in favour of Elizabeth Gumede who was married to Amos
Gumede in terms of customary law in 1968. It declared that
sections 7 (1) and (2) of the
Recognition of
Customary Marriages Act are unconstitutional and
invalid as they discriminate against African women. The Court
also held that section 20 of the
KwaZulu Act is
unconstitutional and invalid as well as section 20 and 22 of
the Natal Code of Zulu
Law.
The Minister of
Home Affairs and the MEC for Traditional and Local Government
Affairs were the respondents in the matter. The Women's
Legal Centre Trust was admitted as amicus in the proceedings.
The facts of the
case
Elizabeth and
Amos Gumede were married in terms of Customary Law in 1968.
Their marriage was a monogamous marriage. The marriage broke
down and in 2003 Amos Gumede instituted divorce proceedings in
the Divorce Court seeking a divorce order. Elizabeth Gumede
did not work during the marriage, but maintained the family
home as well as raising four children born in the marriage.
The Gumede family acquired two pieces of immovable properties
during their marriage in Umlazi Township and Adam’s Mission,
both in KwaZulu Natal.
Their marriage
is recognised in terms of the
Recognition of
Customary Marriages Act which was promulgated in
November 2000. The Act provides that customary marriages are
automatically in community of property, however marriages
concluded before the Recognition Act continue to be governed
by African customary law. The
KwaZulu Code of Zulu
Law and Natal
code of Zulu Law provides that a woman cannot be an
owner of property and that men should be the sole owner of all
property acquired during marriage.
The Legal
Resources Centre took the matter to Durban High Court
challenging constitutionality validity of section 7 (1) and
(2) of the Recognition Act on the grounds that it
discriminates on Elizabeth Gumede and other women in the same
position because of their gender, race and status.
The Women's Legal Centre intervened
as amicus in the proceedings arguing that the
distinction made in the Recognition Act in terms of marriages
entered into, before and after the commencement of the Act, is
arbitrary and that it discriminates on the grounds of culture
and custom. It also violates the right to equality and dignity
enshrined in the
Constitution and International and Regional Treaties
that South Africa has rectified. The Women's Legal Centre also
submitted to court that the distinction discriminates against
African women on the basis of their gender, race and culture.
The Women's
Legal Centre welcomes this judgement because it abolishes the
rule of customary law which vest the ownership of property in
a marriage in the husband. Mrs Gumede and women in her
position are now afforded protection which before the
judgement they could not enjoy because their marriages were
governed by customary law. The Centre also made submissions
that the court should extend protection to women in polygamous
marriages. The Court did not go so far, but did note that
parliament should be aware of this gap in the law, and the
need to pass legislation to protect this class of women. This
decision means that all customary marriages are in community
of property, providing women with fair access to resources
acquired during the course of their customary marriages.
Prepared by
: FDBeachhead
Victory for Zulu divorcee - 9 December
A
65-year-old Durban woman, who successfully fought to get rid of
laws that discriminated against women married according to Zulu
customary law, has urged other women to stand up for themselves.
Soon after the Constitutional Court ruled in her favour on Monday,
Umlazi resident Elizabeth Gumede said : "I want to say to other
women, especially those who have been oppressed by their partners,
believe in yourself and fight for what you believe in, no matter
how difficult it is". Gumede's lawyer, Sharita Samuel of the Legal
Resources Centre, said she was very pleased with the judgment. -
IOL 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/
;
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/
How Sars can take money out of your bank account - 8
December
If Sars appoints a bank as its agent prior to a transaction to a
third party being passed, can this transaction be reversed?
MoneywebTax.co.za examines what a recent Appeal Court decision
said on the matter. -
moneywebtax website
See :
27
November 2008
142/08 [2008] ZASCA 140
Nedbank v Pestana
You could pay even after repossession of your car - 7 December
Cash-strapped motorists may end up having to pay monthly
instalments even if the bank repossesses their vehicle.
That is if the Supreme Court of Appeal rules in favour
of Absa Bank.
The Cape High Court ruled last week that Absa could not
attach a defaulting customer's car
because the bank had failed to first cancel the instalment
agreement.
If the court had granted the attachment order, Pieter
de Villiers, from Noordhoek, near Cape Town, would have had to
continue paying until his Opel Corsa Lite was sold by the bank on
auction. - The Times
website
See :
Cape
Provincial Division
25 November 2008
15692/07
Absa Bank Ltd v De Villers and Others
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Equality Courts
Rights group wants Luke to apologise - 12 December
The Afrikaner rights group AfriForum has filed papers against
Springbok flanker Luke Watson asking the Equality Court to compel
him to apologise for allegedly using the word "Dutchmen" in a speech
in October. AfriForum chief executive officer Kallie Kriel filed
papers in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Thursday. -
IOL website
Pagan padre, SAAF 'see eye to eye' - 6 December
Pagan priestess Donna Vos has reached a settlement with the South
African Air Force (SAAF) about her unsuccessful application for the
position of reserve chaplain. - IOL
website
Anti-gay columnist to get his day in court - 6 December
Sunday Sun columnist Jon Qwelane will soon appear before the
Equality Court about an allegedly homophobic column he wrote in
July. The SA Human Rights Commission announced its decision after
press ombudsman Joe Thloloe completed his investigation that found
that, though the columnist was not guilty of hate speech, he had
"fallen foul of the Press Code". Neither Thloloe's office nor the
commission has received as many complaints as they did over the
controversial column titled : "Call me
names, but gay is NOT okay". Thloloe's office received more than
1000 complaints, the commission more than 300. -
IOL website
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Labour Courts
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http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZALC/
Labour court delays a concern for unions - 9 December
Labour unions have expressed concern about the protracted period
that the labour court takes in dealing with disputes, especially
those involving unfair dismissal which could take up to four or five
years to resolve. Unions want a revamp of the system in order for
these disputes to be resolved expeditiously. -
Herald Online website
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Cape
Provincial Division
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http://law.sun.ac.za/cgi-bin/list.php
; Court rolls at
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=134
10 December
2008
A82 / 2008 [2008] ZAWCHC 72
S v Raath
Court reduces wife killer's life sentence - 11 December
A full bench of the Cape High Court has reduced the life sentence
of a 42-year-old former SA Air Force soldier, who murdered his
wife in an act of rage four years ago, in full view of their three
children and neighbours. The court found that the sentence of life
imprisonment did not apply to the case of Edwin Raath, because the
murder was not premeditated. However, the three judges found that
the crime committed was serious, and sentenced him to 22 years
behind bars. - IOL website
9 December 2008
7893/2008 [2008] ZAWCHC 70
Abrahams and Another v R K Komputer
SDN-BHD and Others
Mom free after killing addict son - 12 December
Ellen Pakkies was "relieved" her trial was finally over, but too
overwhelmed on Thursday to appreciate fully the implications of
her three-year suspended sentence and the 280 hours of community
service she will have to complete for murdering her abusive tik
addict son. -
IOL website
Inmates lose bid to be moved - 10 November
Ten inmates held at Mangaung Maximum Security Prison in
Bloemfontein, including two members of the Western Cape's
notorious Flower Gang, have lost a Cape High Court bid to be moved
to prisons closer to their families. The prisoners claimed they
were not informed of their transfer to the Bloemfontein facility,
and so were denied the opportunity to make representations in this
regard. They also asked the court to set aside a department of
correctional services decision to categorise them as maximum
security prisoners. - IOL
website
Taliep Petersen Case
Najwa was 'driven by jealousy' - 7 December
Najwa Petersen, convicted of masterminding the murder of her
husband Taliep,could receive lengthy jail time because she used
other people to help with the crime. Collet Ngwane, researcher
with the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, said
their studies had shown that women who murdered their partners
often served longer sentences than males who committed the same
crimes. "The argument is that men more often commit the crime in a
fit of rage. In the case of women, it is more premeditated. If
they are hiring a third party, they have time to appreciate their
actions". - IOL website
Keyphrases :
Carmen Fortuin
Dina Rodrigues
Ruby Marais
Fight for Taliep's money - 6 December
The attorney representing the estate of slain music icon Taliep
Petersen wants to challenge the Namibian tax authority's claim of
R3,8-million against the estate to ensure Petersen's four younger
children inherit. In 2008, the Namibian tax authority lodged a
R3,8-million claim against Najwa for unpaid taxes. Attorney
Igshaan Higgins from DKVG Attorneys, representing the executors of
the Petersen estate, said he had to deal with a lot of problems
attached to the insolvent estate, which has more liabilities than
assets. The couple were married in community of property, so
Najwa's debts can be claimed from Petersen's estate. -
IOL website
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Eastern Cape Division
-
http://wwwserver.law.wits.ac.za/echc/index.php
;
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAECHC/
; Court rolls
(Grahamstown) at
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=283
5 December
2008
743/2007 [2008] ZAECHC 201
Law Society of the City of Good Hope v Mtshabe
4 December 2008
CA&R 12/07 [2008] ZAECHC 200
S v Andries
3 December 2008
151/07 [2008] ZAECHC 199
Tsika v Buffalo City Municipality
High Court sets aside 'political' job appointment - 10
December
Amathole district municipal manager Dr Vuyo Mlokoti has begun his
new job after the Grahamstown High Court set aside the appointment
of a less-qualified applicant. Mlokoti asked the court to set
aside the council's decision to appoint
advocate Mlamli Zenzile and appoint him with full salary and
benefits backdated to July. The municipality advertised the post
in March and there were more than 20 applicants, with Mlokoti and
Zenzile shortlisted. Zenzile, despite being found to be the weaker
candidate and two legal opinions cautioning the municipality
against it, was appointed after an instruction by the ANC's
regional leadership to its district council members. -
Herald Online website
Farmer
battles to hang onto bargain buy - 9 December
A Bathurst farmer is battling a bank over the sale of valuable
property he scooped up for a bargain at an auction sale from under
the bank's nose.
The farmer, Glenn McCreath, is asking the Grahamstown
High Court to declare valid the sale of the Port Alfred property
worth almost R300 000 and for which he made a winning bid of only
R50 000 at a sale in execution.
But, according to the creditor in the sale of
execution, Nedbank, which subsequently cancelled the sale, the
only reason McCreath scooped the property for such a low price was
due to a "mistake"
by the attorney representing them, Grant Marais. -
Dispatch Online website
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Free
State
Provincial Division
-
www.uovs.ac.za/fac/law/highcourt/
;
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAFSHC/
Lynne Hume Case
Kunene's trial transferred - 5 December
Hoax email accused Muziwendoda Kunene's trial was transferred to
the Bloemfontein High Court on Friday, SABC news reported. The
matter will be heard on 9 February until 20 February. He was
facing charges of kidnapping, murder and two counts of fraud. The
matter relates to the murder of Ballito estate agent Lynne Hume in
October last year. - IOL
website
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Natal
Provincial Division
-
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAKZHC/
; Court rolls
via
http://www.lawlibrary.co.za/notice/highcourts/index.htm
and
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=190
High court : murder accused fire lawyers, refuse to participate
- 10 December
The
trial of two men who face charges including murder continued in
their absence in the Pietermaritzburg High Court yesterday after
they refused to participate in the proceedings. The unusual step
to proceed without the accused was ordered by Judge Vivienne
Niles-Duner in terms of Section 159 of the Criminal Procedure Act
after she gave the accused - Ntokozo Ngcobo and Simanga Amos
Sibiya - a choice. The two men had earlier fired their legal
aid-appointed lawyers and demanded a postponement of the case for
at least four months while they made arrangements to appoint
private representatives. Judge Niles-Duner, sitting with an
assessor, ruled that the application was an attempt by the accused
to employ "delaying tactics" and refused to grant an adjournment.
She said they were already in the middle of the state case,
witnesses were present at court and the trial -
which had been adjourned previously on various occasions
- is ready to proceed to finality. -
The
Witness
website
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North-West Division
-
http://www.saflii.org.za/za/cases/ZANWHC/2008/
21
November 2008
CC81/08
Die Staat v Jozef Johannes Nel
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Transvaal
Provincial Division
-
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPHC/
; Court rolls
at
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=134
Safe in dad's arms again - 11 December
Falsely accused of being an abusive and mentally unstable drug
addict, Jose Williams nearly lost his baby daughter to an adoption
to which he was fiercely opposed. On Wednesday Abba - which had
earlier wrongly branded Williams as an aggressive man who abused
his baby's mother and had argued that
his daughter should be put up for adoption - recommended to the
Pretoria Children's Court that he be given custody. The Children's
Court agreed and awarded Williams custody for a two-year period,
during which he will apply for permanent custody of his daughter
in the Pretoria High Court. Williams, who is preparing to lodge a
complaint of unethical and unprofessional conduct against Abba
with the SA Council for Social Service Professions, now wants to
ensure that no parent ever has to "go through what I did". -
IOL website
Keyphrase :
Children's Act
Williams case has twist - 11 December
Events have taken a bizarre twist after The Star first
published an article about Jose Williams and his plight, in which
the magistrate handling his daughter's case denied that the infant
had ever been the subject of any adoption proceedings and refused
to comment any further. The Star had simultaneously also
asked Abba Adoptions manager Katinka Pieterse to confirm or deny
that the magistrate in question, Sarie Snyman, had previously
travelled overseas with Abba. -
IOL website
Judgment
reserved in ANC-COPE case - 10 December
The Pretoria High Court on Wednesday reserved judgment on the
ANC's efforts to stop the country's newest political party from
using the name Congress of the People. No time frame for the
resumption of the matter was given. -
IOL website
ANC
accuses Electoral Court, IEC of bias - 12 December
The results of several of today's by-elections in the Western Cape
could be declared null and void if the ANC succeeds in its planned
bid to the Constitutional Court, to challenge the Electoral Court
judgment preventing it from participating in certain wards. The
party confirmed that it would be going to the highest court in the
country, after the Electoral Court upheld the decision of the IEC
that ANC members who registered late for the by-elections could
not stand as candidates today. -
allAfrica website
IEC withdraws from ANC-Cope court battle - 10 December
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has withdrawn from the
court battle between the African National Congress (ANC) and the
Congress of the People (ANC). This emerged in the Pretoria High
Court on Wednesday after the IEC reached an agreement with the
ANC. Counsel for the IEC said it would leave the battle over the
ANC's opposition to the Cope name to the two political parties. -
Mail & Guardian website
ANC withdraws interdict against IEC - 9 December
The ANC
has withdrawn an application for an interdict against the chief
electoral officer with regards to the name, "Congress of the
People". "On a technicality there is no point with us taking up
the matter [with the Independent Electoral Commission]," African
National Congress spokeswoman Jessie Duarte said.
This, however, had no impact on the ANC's case to stop
the breakaway Cope movement from using the name, Congress of the
People, which was expected to proceed in the Pretoria High court
on Wednesday. Duarte said the interdict application was withdrawn
against the IEC because the IEC had not yet registered the name
Cope. -
The Times website
COPE hopes Google will settle ANC's hash - 6 December
The Internet search engine Google has been cited in the political
fray about the name of South Africa's new party - Congress of the
People (COPE) - between the ANC and the breakaway movement. The
party's interim deputy leader and former Gauteng premier Mbhazima
Shilowa filed a 92-page affidavit in the Pretoria High Court on
Friday after the ANC sought legal relief to stop COPE from using
the name. Shilowa said the "expression" Congress of the
People was "commonly used" in English as opposed to the ANC's
claim that the name belonged to its historic event in Kliptown
where the Freedom Charter was born. Shilowa said the ANC had
"exaggerated" its connection to the name. To emphasise his point,
Shilowa said when searching for reference to the name on Google,
about half a million pages were found. Most of the pages, he said,
don't make any reference to the Kliptown event. -
IOL website
See also
Politics below
Ex-cop makes minister pay - 9 December
The Minister of Safety and Security has been ordered by the
Pretoria High Court to pay R205 000 in damages to the former
operational commander of the police's anti-corruption unit, Marius
Bouwer. Judge Ben du Plessis, in finding that the police had acted
unlawfully and maliciously in falsely arresting and incarcerating
Bouwer on a charge of murder, also ordered that the police had to
pay his legal costs. Bouwer, who is now an advocate, initially
claimed R649 000 in damages from the police. He claimed he was
arrested on a trumped-up charge created to discredit him. He said
it was part of a witch-hunt by the cops to get rid of white police
officers. He claimed a special task team had been set up to
discredit white cops, but Du Plessis could not make a finding on
this. - IOL website
Derby-Lewis parole hearing could make history - 7 December
Clive Derby-Lewis, the former conservative politician serving a
life sentence for his role in the killing of South African
Communist Party leader Chris Hani in 1993, could make legal
history if his application to be granted parole is heard by a full
bench of the Pretoria High Court. If the hearing, scheduled for
Tuesday, goes ahead before three judges, it will be the first time
that a parole application is heard by the full bench of the court.
- IOL website
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Witwatersrand Local
Division -
-
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPHC/
; Court rolls
at
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=173
10 December
2008
2007/17287 [2008] ZAGPHC 392
Motaung v Road Accident Fund
5 December 2008
2001/13198 [2008] ZAGPHC 393
Sebesho v Minister of Safety & Security
5 December 2008
24286/08 [2008] ZAGPHC 391
Clarke and Others v Semenya NO and Others
SAA taken to court - 12 December
SA Airways has become the second biggest parastatal after the SABC
to be dragged to the High Court to answer to allegations of the
irregular awards of tenders. Yesterday, Mercury Media took SAA to
the Johannesburg High Court after the airliner failed to award
them a R240-million tender to do its marketing and advertising
portfolio. - IOL website
A swallow makes a summer - 21 November
In the High Court, Judge Dirk Marais recently made an
extraordinary costs award, known as de bonis propriis, against
Nondomiso Gagela, the Johannesburg Master of the High Court. She
was thus ordered to pay the costs of a court case in her personal
capacity, effectively punishing her for what appears to be
exceptionally strange behaviour during the ostensible exercise of
her official duties. The costs award went a step further, in
being ordered on an attorney and client basis, which, simply,
translates into "big bucks". The case relates to the
headline-grabbing provisional liquidation of Nationwide Air
Charter on May 12 this year, and the subsequent appointment of
provisional liquidators. The Master is the overlord of
liquidations. - moneyweb
website
Nationwide planes under hammer - 6 December
Asset sales and services company The Alliance Group will be
conducting the sale by auction of the first Boeing aircraft in the
liquidated Nationwide fleet. After several attempts to find a
buyer for the airline, liquidator Hannes Muller of Tshwane Trust
Company had no option but to sell the airline's assets and settle
First National Bank's debt, which is small in comparison to the
potential value of the aircraft. -
IOL website
Future of airline staff up in the air - 13 June
Nationwide Airlines employees are stuck in limbo until the middle
of next month, when they might learn the fate of their
ex-employer. The airline was placed in provisional liquidation
through an order of the Johannesburg High Court on April 29 and
placed in the hands of the master of the High Court. A provisional
liquidator, Tshwane Trust Company, has since been appointed and
will take charge of Nationwide. -
Business Report website
02/05/2008
Circular to creditors : Nationwide Airlines (Pty) Ltd (in
provisional liquidation
Tshwane Trust Co
website
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Regional Courts
Pietermaritzburg
10 December
2008
KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, Ms Peggy Nkonyeni and two others face
corruption charges
SA Government Information
website
9 December
2008
Department perplexed by the scorpions move
SA Government Information
website
Scorpions charge Nkonyeni - 9 December
The soon-to-be-disbanded Scorpions yesterday charged Health MEC
Peggy Nkonyeni with corruption in relation to the controversial
procurement of an ultrasound cancer scanning machine at an
inflated price by her department. The Witness established that
Nkonyeni is suspected of having unlawfully influenced the awarding
of the R1,5 million tender for the procurement of the scanner,
which could have been obtained for about R400 000. It is also
alleged that she accepted a bribe in relation to the tender. The
tender was awarded to Rowmoor Investment, a company allegedly
owned by Lindelihle Mkhwanazi, who, the investigators claimed in
an affidavit, had a "personal relationship" with Nkonyeni. -
The
Witness website
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Magistrates Courts
Durban
Motorist's court victory could open floodgates - 7 December
A Durban lawyer hopes thousands of motorists who have been
wrongfully fined for speeding will be able to get their money back
after his court victory against Durban Metro last week. A Durban
magistrate ruled in Theyagaraj Chetty's favour after he proved that
in issuing him a speeding fine in 2006, Metro Police had ignored
established guidelines for prosecution through the use of a laser
speed timing device. - IOL
website
Grahamstown
Underage
sex : court view
'shocking' -
8 December
Regional Court Magistrate Herman Pieters has come under fire from
gender and children's activists for comments on sex involving young
teenagers.
He reportedly dismissed the
Sexual Offences Act,
which serves to protect minors, as "totally
outdated" as "we
all know that girls of 12 and 14 these days are sexually active".
His comments followed a judgment in which he cautioned
and discharged a 22-year-old who had pleaded guilty to having had
unlawful sex with a 14- year-old girl. In the judgment,
handed down in the Grahamstown Magistrate's
Court, Pieters said that in "hundreds"
of such cases where minors were sexually active, there was
"no criminal activity to be coupled to it".
- Dispatch Online website
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Government
and Legislation
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South
Africa Government Information
-
http://www.gov.za
;
http://www.polity.org.za
; http://www.buanews.gov.za/
Statements and
Speeches
11 December
2008
Statement of the Monetary Policy Committee
11 December
2008
National statement delivered at the United Nations Climate
Change Conference in Poznan by Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, Minister
of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South Africa
10 December 2008
Changes to provisional tax payments
10 December
2008
Auditor-General appoints new head for its audit operations
10 December
2008
Address by HE Ms Balaka Mbete, Deputy President of the Republic
of South Africa, at the launch of the Access to Justice and
Promotion of Constitutional Rights Programme, Orange Farm,
Gauteng
10 December
2008
Address by Ms Balaka Mbete, Deputy President of the Republic of
South Africa, at the launch of the Access to Justice and
Promotion of Constitutional Rights Programme, Orange Farm,
Gauteng
South
Africans must be taught about their rights - 11 December
Given the low level of literacy in the country it is critical to
educate South Africans about their rights and the Constitution,
says Deputy President Baleka Mbete. Speaking at the launch of
Access to Justice and Promotion of Constitutional Rights
Programme in Orange Farm in the Vaal on Wednesday, Ms Mbete said
many people in the country were poor, uneducated and living in
rural areas were vulnerable to gross violations of their rights
on a daily basis. - BuaNews
Online website
Marginalised groups to benefit from justice programme - 11
December
Marginalised and vulnerable communities are to benefit from
government's Access to Justice and Promotion of Constitutional
Rights Programme. Speaking at the launch of the programme in
Orange Farm on Tuesday, the Minister of Justice and
Constitutional Development Enver Surty said the programme will
also improve awareness and knowledge of one's constitutional
rights. "The programme will further enhance participatory
democracy through policy dialogue and strengthening civil
society organisations". -
BuaNews Online website
5 December
2008
National Policy Framework on Women's Empowerment and Gender
Equality being reviewed
4 December 2008
Justice, Safety, and Security, and Correctional Services
parliamentary committees press statement on provincial public
hearings on New Criminal Justice System
Keyphrase :
Victim's Charter
3 December
2008
Call to scrap protection orders
Keyphrase :
Domestic Violence Act
Strong arm of the law our only hope - 11 December
The glaring message to emerge from the parliamentary public
hearings on the new proposed integrated criminal justice system
(CJS), attended by more than 15 000 people in eight provinces
over the past two weeks, is that people are utterly fed up with
crime, have little faith in the police and courts, and want the
state to take much tougher action against criminals. -
IOL website
4 December
2008
Outcomes of Cabinet discussion on water and augmentation of the
Vaal River system
Excerpt :
"The motivation for selecting the Lesotho Highlands Water
Project Phase 2 as the preferred option for the augmentation of
the Vaal include : the project has a
low energy requirement in that water can be transferred under
gravity to South Africa without pumping - unlike the Tugela
option, which is energy intensive as water must be pumped from
the Thukela River over the escarpment"
3 December 2008
Human Resource Development strategy published for public comment
GenN 1488/GG 31646/28-11-2008
29 November 2008
Address by Trevor A Manuel Minister of Finance of the Republic
of South Africa and Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for
the
Doha Conference follow up International Conference on Financing
for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey
Consensus Doha
27 November
2008
Minister Mpahlwa's speaking notes for the bills media briefing
Keyphrases :
Companies Bill
Competition Amendment Bill
Consumer Protection Bill
Nine
Legal Aids Board satellite offices opened - 7 December
The Legal Aid Board of South Africa has improved access to
tax-subsidised legal services in both townships and rural areas.
Nine satellite offices were launched in Musina, Escourt, Dundee,
Bulwer, Hartswater, Ladybrand, Sterkspruit, Elliot and
Wolmansstad and a justice centre was opened in Bellville on
Friday. The Legal Aid Board focuses on remote communities and
vulnerable groups with the intention of increasing access to
independent legal services, both civil and criminal. -
BuaNews Online website
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Legislation
Administrative
Adjudication of Traffic Offences Act
Drivers
face bans under the new demerit system - 8 December
Government intends getting tougher on drivers by introducing a
basket of new laws which will have a huge impact on the way South
Africans drive.
The Administrative Adjudication of Traffic Offences
Act, which governs the issuing of traffic fines, will come into
effect early next year and will impose tough penalties. -
Dispatch Online website
Criminal
Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill
Bill to
help SAPS establish collective fingerprints database - 10
December
The Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill will help
address the urgent need to strengthen South Africa's forensic
crime fighting capacity to effectively fight crime and convict
criminals in South Africa. This is according to Justice and
Constitutional Development Minister Enver Surty, who on Tuesday
said the office for Criminal Justice System Reform (OCJSR), which
is responsible for reviewing the country's Criminal Justice
System, had identified an urgent need to improve and strengthen
the collection, storage and use of fingerprinting and DNA
evidence. The minister said despite the number of government
departments which administer databases containing fingerprints,
the South African Police Services (SAPS) currently only had access
to the fingerprints stored on the SAPS AFIS system. This is due to
legal and information technology reasons. -
BuaNews Online website
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Useful
Links and Items of Interest
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Legal Profession
Ireland
In short : a round-up of other law matters in brief - 8
December
Kosovo
lawyers to visit Dublin to observe workings of Law Society
: the Law Society and the Bar Council
have set up a joint rule-of-law development initiative, which
seeks to train lawyers in countries with an undeveloped legal
infrastructure. - Irish Times
website
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South Africa
Banking
Beware of new banking scam - 6 December
While some quick-thinking bank customers have narrowly escaped being
conned out of thousands of rands by a new banking scam, others might
not be as lucky as the scam is slick and believable. Sars
spokesperson Adrian Lackay warned people about the scam, which had
been going on since 2006. "Twenty people, including a Sars employee,
have been convicted". Usually the
fraudsters' letters have only a cellphone number, but Sars said its
official letters would always have a landline number. Lackay said
anyone who suspected there was an attempt to scam them should report
it to the anti-fraud line on 0860 105 684. -
IOL website
Defense
Motlanthe decides on arms deal inquiry - 10 December
A renewed campaign for an arms deal inquiry which has the support of
several leading South Africans has received short shrift from
President Kgalema Motlanthe. The presidency said on Wednesday
morning a letter would be dispatched to Archbishop Emeritus Desmond
Tutu and former president FW de Klerk rejecting their call. -
IOL website
Education
Clean up your act, UKZN warned - 7 December
Education Minister Naledi Pandor, concerned at the freedom of
expression furore engulfing the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN),
has called on the varsity's council to restore internal and public
confidence in the institution. In an online interview with the
Tribune this week, Pandor expressed concern at the persistent
negative publicity that the university had experienced recently. -
IOL website
The wrecking of a university - 5 December
There is no doubt the
university grew in both size and quality until well into
the 1980s and in research output it had risen to a steady third
place, with only Wits and UCT ahead of it. By
then the university had not only produced many fine scholars and
become the province's major cultural centre but its graduates had
achieved distinction around the world.
All this is now not only under threat but is being actively
dismantled and at great speed. Many of the professional courses
are near the point of collapse where they risk having their
certification withdrawn. Inevitably,
many academic staff have left, the university's traditional
clientele has already deserted it and the complete destruction of
the university is now in sight. The failure of universities in
Africa is not uncommon but this is the first time that one of
South Africa's leading
liberal universities is on the casualty list. R
W Johnson, who graduated from the University of Natal in
1963, has taught at the universities of Oxford, the Sorbonne and
Stanford and is an Emeritus Fellow of
Magdalen College, Oxford, writes that urgent action is needed to
save UKZN from its currrent leadership. -
moneyweb website
Emigration and
Immigration
Tighter borders 'encourage illegal migration' - 9 December
Tightening border controls is the "worst" thing South Africa could
do to curb illegal immigration, Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe
Mapisa-Nqakula said on Tuesday. -
Mail & Guardian website
US court orders review over barred SA Muslim - 9 December
A US judge on Monday ruled that federal courts may review the case
of a Muslim South African scholar denied a visa to enter the United
States on the grounds he had engaged in terrorist activities. While
the refusal by consular services to grant a visa is normally not
reviewable by the judiciary, Judge George O'Toole ruled the lawsuit
challenging the State Department's visa refusal for South African
professor Adam Habib could proceed because the government had not
given a reason for denial. - IOL
website
Environment
Life and death for holy S Africa crocs - 6 December
Scientists in South Africa are trying to find out why so many
crocodiles are dying in the rivers around Kruger Park, to the north
of Johannesburg, where more than 50 of the reptiles have been found
washed up on river banks in Limpopo Province. -
BBC News website
Health
Schemes must pay your doctor's PMB bill in full - 6 December
Two recent medical scheme Appeal Board rulings have confirmed that
your doctor is entitled to charge you his or her normal rates for
treating you for a prescribed minimum benefit (PMB), and your
medical scheme has to pay in full for the treatment even if the
doctor's rate is more than the rate at which your scheme normally
pays claims. The only exception is in cases where the scheme has
specified that you must use a particular healthcare provider to
access the PMBs and you fail to do so. -
Personal Finance website
Human Rights
Why
is South Africa supporting oppression and torture abroad?
- 5 December
As a two-year temporary member of the UN Security Council, South
Africa has voted against imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe, despite the
unthinkable crisis and ruthless dictatorship of Robert Mugabe. When
the UN voted to condemn Myanmar's military junta crackdown on
peaceful protesters and human rights violations, South Africa was
one of the countries that blocked the resolution. In January 2007,
"South Africa was one of 22 countries absent from the UN General
Assembly when a resolution was adopted to condemn Holocaust
denialism". South African diplomats are
currently trying everything to suspend or delay the International
Criminal Court's case against the Sudanese president Omar al Bashir
for the alleged genocide and war crimes in Darfur. -
Blogcritics blog
Judiciary
JSC
interview ConCourt candidates - 12 December
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interviews candidates today to
fill a vacancy for a judge in the Constitutional Court, the Mail
and Guardian reports. - The
Times website
Independent judiciary and free press key to democracy : SA top
judge - 11 December
Freedom of the press and an independent judiciary are key to a
functional democracy and the law should not be used to
disenfranchise opponents, said the Chief Justice of the
Constitutional Court of South Africa, Justice Johann van der
Westhuizen. Speaking at the launch of a book entitled
"The Independence of the Judiciary in
Namibia", edited by Dean of the Faculty of
Law at the University of Namibia, Nico Horn, and Resident
Representative of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Anton Bosl, the
South African Chief Justice remarked that the law should not be used
as an instrument to further the narrow interests of a specific group
of people, as seen in South Africa during the apartheid era. -
Informante website
Judges should avoid court wars - 7 December
The legal battle between Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe
and the Constitutional Court judges will, if not resolved outside
court, damage the judiciary's reputation.
South Africa's foremost
guardians of the constitution better heed the call by the minister
of justice Enver Surty to resolve their disputes outside the courts
over which they preside. News that an out-of-court deal is being
considered is therefore welcome. Editorial -
Sunday Times website
Labour Law
Mdladlana keen to ban labour brokers - 11 December
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana has threatened to ban labour
brokers if the ANC wins next year‘s general elections. His remarks
were hailed by Cosatu, which likened labour broking to
"human trafficking",
"a modernised form of slavery"
and "an extreme form of free-market
capitalism". -
Herald Online website
Land Affairs and
Property
KZN coast open to builders - 11 December
Some of KwaZulu-Natal's most sought after coastal land bordering
Sibaya Casino will be unlocked for development early next year, in a
R4-billion project aimed at making the area just north of Umhlanga
one of the premier tourist regions in Africa. Five luxury hotels,
housing estates and a substantial commercial venture are to benefit
directly from the new King Shaka International Airport, just a
stone's throw away from the Sibaya development precinct. -
IOL website
New property evil: desperate agents undervaluing homes - 10
December
A situation which, it appears, is now cropping up regularly is that
the agent undervalues the home to achieve a quick sale so that he
can collect his commission. Some agents are now desperate and will
resort to this tactic to get hold of much needed earnings. In one
case, the agent compounded the crime by bringing down the price
radically and then selling it to a relative. -
moneyweb website
Land Claims and
Expropriation
"Law and disorder in Johannesburg"
- 8 December
In an editorial entitled
"South Africans are sitting on a time
bomb" dated 2 May 2008, the Editor of
the Zimbabwe Guardian, Itayi Garande wrote
: "Estimates of poverty by the
Southern African Poverty Regional Network, SARPN, show that the
proportion of people living in poverty in South Africa has not
changed significantly since 1990". -
Zimbabwe Guardian
website
Property Law
Residents cry about eviction foul play - 11 December
The battle between Soshanguve Block FF and GG residents and estate
agents rages on as evictions continue. The residents claim estate
agents have sent weapon-wielding youths to force them out of their
homes. Some claim they were forced out even after securing court
orders prohibiting their evictions. Sources close to the debacle,
which has been going on for about 10 years, claim that the
residents are no longer the rightful owners of the houses. The
residents stopped paying for the houses while their bonds were
under the now defunct Saambou bank. According to an anonymous
source, there had been rumours circulating among the residents
that the houses had failed to meet the required safety standards,
and therefore they were no longer legally required to pay. -
IOL website
Minerals and Energy
SA sets up task team to drive future nuclear development - 5
December
The South African government has established a nuclear task team
to develop a framework for procuring a nuclear technology partner
to support both the nuclear power station build programme, and the
associated industrialisation process. "This
will probably take about a year",
Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) DG Portia Molefe told
journalists in Pretoria on Friday. -
Creamer Media's
Engineering News website
Municipal Management
and Procedure
Police to get tough on fireworks - 12 December
The police will ensure that national legislation and by-laws
regulating the use of fireworks are observed during the festive
season, spokesperson Director Phuti Setati said on Friday. Station
commissioners throughout the country had been ordered to obtain
copies of by-laws from the local fire prevention offices and
ensure that they were available in all community service centres,
he said in a statement. - IOL
website
Cape Town
Cape
Town evicts drug-dealers from its property - 9 December
The City of Cape Town has moved swiftly to implement a Cape High
Court ruling to evict people from a council-owned property in
Washington Street, Langa. It was believed that drugs were being
illegally traded on the property. The city has instructed the
Sheriff of the High Court to demolish the structures and evict the
people on the property. The remaining tenants have been given
until March 2009 to find alternative accommodation. -
BuaNews Online website
eThekwini
Resident raises stink about Muslim ritual - 10 December
The ritual slaughter of sheep during the Muslim celebration of
Eid-al-Adhar has raised a stink among some Berea residents, who
are questioning how well authorities are managing the religious
ritual. Those who want to slaughter for religious or cultural
purposes should first request permission and a permit from the
municipal health department, head of communicable disease
division, Dr Ayo Olowolagba, said. -
IOL website
National Prosecuting
Authority
President receives comments from suspended Pikoli - 8 December
President Kgalema Motlanthe has received comments from suspended
prosecutions boss Vusi Pikoli on the report about his fitness to
hold office, and will release his findings in due course, the
presidency said.
Motlanthe's spokesperson,
Thabo Masebe, said yesterday the President would release the
report soon, but it was not possible to say on which day.
- Dispatch Online website
Pikoli lawyers : Mbeki was protected - 8 December
Lawyers for Vusi Pikoli believe the enquiry into his fitness to
hold office was unduly protective of the former justice minister
Brigitte Mabandla and former president Thabo Mbeki. "The enquiry
was unduly protective of the minister and the president. Some of
its findings against Mr Pikoli were a manifestation of its
determination to protect the minister and the president. They
should be judged in that light," read the submissions, signed by
Pikoli's advocates Wim Trengove, Tim
Bruinders and Benny Makola. -
The Times website
See
you in court : Pikoli will challenge government - 9 December
Vusi Pikoli's lawyers are set to take
parliament to court to have him reinstated after he was axed by
President Kgalema Motlanthe yesterday.
Reacting to the axing of the suspended national
director of public prosecutions, advocate Wim Trengove told
Sowetan that if parliament endorsed Motlanthe's
decision, "we will take it to court".
- Sowetan website
National
security, the last refuge of scoundrels? - 8 December
At the heart of the Ginwala Commission of Enquiry Report and the
decision by President Kgalema Motlanthe to recommend the removal
from office of Vusi Pikoli, the National Director of Public
Prosecutions, is a rather troubling interpretation of what is
required to safeguard the constitutionally protected independence
of the NPA. - Pierre de Vos on the
Constitutionally
Speaking blog
Why Ginwala
and Motlanthe are dead wrong - 9 December
After re-reading Frene Ginwala's report,
it is quite clear to me that in her haste to protect the then
Minister of Justice and the then President, she wrote a report
riddled with inconsistencies and contradictions. The President
then decided to fire Pikoli and in doing so, may have misconstrued
his powers in terms of the
NPA Act. He might well have acted ultra vires in
doing so and Pikoli's lawyers will have
at least an even chance of winning a case if they wished to
challenge this decision in court. - Pierre de Vos on the
Constitutionally
Speaking blog
Law expert says Pikoli decision was political - 10 December
There is no chance axed National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss
Vusi Pikoli's lawyers can successfully
challenge his dismissal in court, according to a law academic.
"This is President Kgalema Motlanthe's
prerogative", Wits University
lecturer-in-law Kevin Malunga told The Citizen yesterday.
"This is a political decision and must
be respected as such", he added. -
Citizen website
Pikoli dismissal sets a dangerous precedent - 9 December
While parliament still has to verify the factors justifying
National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli's
dismissal and thereafter approve the same, there can be little
doubt that that is simply a formality which will be overcome
shortly. The true impact of president Motlanthe's
decision to ignore the recommendations of the Ginwala Commission
may however endure for a lot longer. - Michael Trapido on the
Thought Leader blog
The dismissal of the national director of public prosecutions to
protect alleged criminals - 8 December
"President" Kgalema
Motlanthe (or perhaps acting on instructions from Luthuli House)
decided to fire the suspended national director of public
prosecutions, Advocate Vusi Pikoli, even though the Ginwala
Commission of Inquiry absolved him of any wrongdoing and further
recommended that he be reinstated to his position. He believes it
is illogical to reinstate Pikoli but fails to elaborate further
what would be illogical about that. -
Sentletse Diakanyo
blog
Simelane
Conduct
of Justice DG to be investigated - 8 December
President Kgalema Motlanthe has requested the Minister of Justice
and Constitutional Development Enver Surty to investigate the
conduct of the Director General in the department, Menzi Simelane,
in terms of public service regulations. This follows the release
of the Report of the Enquiry into the fitness of Advocate Vusi
Pikoli to hold the office of National Director of Public
Prosecution on Tuesday. -
BuaNews Online website
Justice's Mr Bungle is in the firing
line - 9 December
"Highly irregular, arrogant,
condescending in his attitude . . . In
general his conduct left much to be desired. His testimony was
contradictory and without basis in fact or in law".
These are the words that have likely condemned justice department
director-general Menzi Simelane. His job hangs in the balance
following condemnation of his conduct by Frene Ginwala in her
final report on the inquiry into the fitness of suspended National
Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli to hold office. -
The Times website
Public
Service Commission to handle Justice DG investigation - 9
December
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Enver Surty
says he hopes the investigation into his department's Director
General Menzi Simelane will be complete by the end of January next
year. He has requested the Public Service Commission to handle the
investigation. - BuaNews
Online website
Simelane to answer Ginwala allegations - 10 December
Vusi Pikoli's main accuser - who has been branded as dishonest,
conniving and arrogant by the Ginwala Inquiry - will not be
suffering the sacked prosecuting boss's fate any time soon. But
Justice Director-General Menzi Simelane will be the subject of a
fast-tracked probe into his alleged dishonesty and unlawful
interference in the Scorpions case against suspended National
Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi. -
IOL website
Justice minister defends DG Simelane - 9 December
"I found him to be extremely hard working, very committed,
passionate about his work in carrying out instructions in a way
that will add value to the ministry," said Justice Minister Enver
Surty, speaking at a briefing in Pretoria. -
The Times website
Ginwala report may nail top justice figures - 9 December
Former Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla and incumbent Justice
Director-General Menzi Simelane may find themselves in deep
trouble - and possibly in jail - if some of the findings of the
Ginwala Inquiry are pursued. In her report to President Kgalema
Motlanthe, which was released on Monday, former National Assembly
Speaker Frene Ginwala noted a possible breach of the law by
Mabandla and Simelane - a transgression that could be punished by
up to 10 years in prison. - IOL
website
Pension Funds
Squabbles delay retirement reform - 10 December
Disagreements about the scope of the work involved in reforming
the retirement system and constraints on the availability of
senior officials have delayed the conclusion of the work of the
government's interdepartmental task team on retirement reform. -
Business Report website
Politics
ANC loses bid to stop by-elections - 10 December
An embattled ANC applied to the Electoral Court on Monday to stop
today's Western Cape by-elections, irrespective of how the same
court would rule a day later (yesterday) on another ANC
application to register its 12 disqualified candidates. But the
ANC claimed to know nothing about its Monday application. The
Monday application indicated that, if the court in Bloemfontein
ruled in favour of the ANC regarding the 12 candidates, the party
wanted the by-elections to be suspended because its candidates
would not have had enough time to "campaign effectively". And, if
the court ruled against its candidates, the party said it would
appeal to the Constitutional Court. The Electoral Court dismissed
the ANC's application yesterday. -
The Mercury website
Boycott by-elections, ANC tells voters - 10 December
A
last-ditch attempt by the ANC to have Wednesday's by-elections
postponed failed to prevent polling stations opening their doors
across the province at 7am. The ANC had approached the courts
after it was disqualified from contesting eight by-elections in
the city and another four in the Cederberg after it failed to meet
the registration deadline. A total of 27 by-elections are taking
place in the Western Cape on Wednesday. In Kosovo in Philippi, a
group of ANC supporters were handing out pamphlets telling people
not to vote in the by-elections and Gugulethu residents got a rude
awakening as a white sedan with a loud hailer drove around the
voting stations telling people not to vote. -
IOL website
South Africa's cope wins 10 wards in
municipal polls, Sapa says - 11 December
ANC
candidates didn't take part in the
elections in 12 of the wards because their names weren't
submitted to the Independent Electoral Commission on time. The
Democratic Alliance won nine wards, the Independent Democrats won
five and the ANC won three. -
Bloomberg website
See also
IEC withdraws from ANC-Cope court battle
above
Cope : a policy framework - 7 December
The Times website
Public Service
Civil servants may kiss freebies goodbye - 8 December
It will be a criminal offence to offer or receive free gifts when
doing business with government. That is, if the Public Service
Commission's recommendations are implemented. Most government
departments do not have firm policies on freebies, and some
receive gifts before, during or after tenders or contracts are
sealed with service providers. -
IOL website
20 November 2008
The Public Service Commission releases a fact sheet on complaints
lodged during the 2007/08 financial year
SA Government
Information website
Safety and Security
Crime strategy 'has failed' - 9 December
The government has failed, in some respects at least, to act
decisively to protect the South African people from crime, says
the Institute for Security Studies. The institute says the
government can be criticised for a number of its actions,
including the premature scrapping of the commandos and the
decision to do away with the specialised police units. The
government had also failed to deal with many of the socio-economic
factors that have led to the increase in crime levels. -
IOL website
Taxation Law
Sars's officials given power to arrest - 9 December
With effect from March 31 2009, Sars Customs officials will have
certain extended powers. They will have power of arrest and the
power to possess and use of firearms. -
moneyweb website
Keyphrases :
Criminal Procedure Act 51
of 1977
Customs and Excise Act
Firearms Control Act 60 of 2000
Transport and Roads
LHD vehicles still face banning - 6 December
Attorneys representing the South African Veteran and Vintage
Association and Motorsport South Africa against the Department of
Transport's intention to implement new legislation that will
disallow left-hand-drive (LHD) vehicles from obtaining a
roadworthy certificate remain adamant that such vehicles face
extinction. This is in response to a statement by the Automobile
Association (AA) this week saying these vehicles did not face
being banned. - IOL website
Miscellaneous
Few presidential amnesties granted - 11 December
Only 100 of the 2000 people who applied for a special presidential
amnesty have qualified. The chairman of the reference group,
Tertius Delport, said 200 applications were still under
consideration. He would not identify those who would be granted
amnesty, saying the process was now in Motlanthe's
hands. Mbeki announced the amnesty process late last year
following calls from the IFP, PAC and some ANC organisations. They
argued that some of their members were either languishing in jail
or living under the threat of arrest for crimes they had committed
in the furtherance of their political goals in the 1990s. -
The Times website
De Lille lays charge against Mabandla - 11 December
Independent Democrats' leader Patricia de Lille has laid a charge
against former Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla at the Caledon
Square police station in Cape Town. De Lille has accused Mabandla
of contravening the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Act by
"interfering" in the prosecution of suspended National Police
Commissioner Jackie Selebi. Section 32 of the Act makes it an
offence - punishable by up to 10 years in prison - for a state
employee or any other person to "improperly interfere with, hinder
or obstruct" the NPA in performing its duties and functions. -
IOL website
Mom's fury at daughter's death by fire - 10 December
A man walked into Tamarra Ramazani's office and demanded to see
the manager because he owed him money. The man become angry when
Ramazani did not know where the manager was, and he had poured
petrol over her before throwing a lit match. He then left the room
and locked her inside. She sustained burns to 80 percent to her
body. She died after three days at Durban's Addington Hospital.
- IOL website
Law in pipeline to avert pool drownings - 6 December
Pool owners might have to shell out millions of rands if proposed
legislation on pool safety becomes law. Municipal authorities
could call on ordinary citizens - neighbours or friends - to
report pools that don't comply with the rules. A proposal has been
sent to the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) to force all
pool owners to fence off or net their pools. Drafted by the South
African Emergency Service Institute, the proposal comes in the
wake of the shocking number of pool deaths in South Africa. -
IOL website
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Africa
Central African
Republic
Warlord's
trial gives women hope - 8 December
"I was raped where I lay on my husband's corpse". Maria adds,
gesturing at a lengthy scar that runs across her face : "One man
tried to cut my throat but I was struggling so much that he
slashed my mouth instead all the way up to my ear." It is horrific
testimony like this and that of other victims in the Central
African Republic which have lead the former Congolese warlord
Jean-Pierre Bemba to a prison cell in the Netherlands. There he
awaits trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) accused of
crimes against humanity and war crimes - charges he denies. Some
of those who have given statements to ICC researchers have
received death threats. Mr Bemba's arrest is widely regarded as a
landmark prosecution in a part of Africa where the perpetrators of
major human rights abuses have seldom been held to account. -
BBC News website
Zimbabwe
Criticism shows growing frustration with Mugabe - 9 December
US President George W Bush, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have called in the last week
for Zimbabwe's 84-year-old leader to go. Former US President Jimmy
Carter told National Public Radio that humanitarian conditions are
"horrifying" in the southern African country, and that "the Mugabe
government is so corrupt" only material goods -
not cash - should be sent to help the
country's people, according to an interview posted Tuesday on
NPR's Web site. Some African leaders have again voiced frustration
with Mugabe, transcending their usual practice of saying nothing
against the man who is considered a hero among African freedom
fighters and has ruled his country since its 1980 independence
from Britain. -
AFP website
African Union rejects tougher steps against Mugabe - 9
December
The African Union rejected tougher action against Zimbabwe on
Tuesday and said only dialogue could solve the deepening crisis,
while US President George W Bush joined calls for President Robert
Mugabe to step down. - Reuters
website
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Asia
China
08 Charter - 9 December
A group of 303 Chinese writers, intellectuals, lawyers, journalists,
retired Party officials, workers, peasants, and businessmen have
issued an open letter - the "08 Charter" - calling for legal
reforms, democracy and protection of human rights in China. An
English translation of the Charter by Human Rights in China
is below. - Human Rights
in China website
Petitioners' village in Beijing - 9 August
Videoclip on the Moseys and
Musings of a Canadian girl in Asia blog
'Locked up for complaining in China' - 10 December
In Shandong
province, a small group of people claim they were locked up in a
mental institution against their will after they dared to complain
about the way the authorities treated them. They now have the
satisfaction of knowing their claims are being discussed on internet
bulletin boards throughout the country. One 57-year-old man says he
was locked up in the local mental asylum for three weeks in October
after travelling to Beijing to petition officials there over damage
to his land caused by mining. The petitioners in Xintai say they
have nothing left to fear from speaking out. They complain that they
have suffered greatly already. What worse could happen to them? -
BBC News website
Prisoners and psychiatric wards - 9 December
Detaining pesky petitioners in mental institutes has been a long
rumored practice among local governments. On the website of the
Xintai City Petitioners Office for example, one article blandly
discusses how stubborn petitioners are dealt with.
"The police department will take care of
some, the mental hospitals will take care of some, and the rest can
be left to organized education camps". -
The China blog
'Retrievers' keep petitioners off Beijing streets - 6 August
The street outside the State Bureau of Letters and Visits in the
south of Beijing is packed with about 200 unconvincing actors. Most
are middle-aged men, and some are armed with sightseeing props :
crumpled tourist maps of the capital and Beijing 2008 Olympic
T-shirts. Yet they spend all day in the same spot, sitting on
foldaway stools, chatting and smoking. Others wait at a line of bus
stops, spurning every bus that passes. These "retrievers," as they
are known, are local officials, plainclothes police officers or
simply heavies hired by local governments to do their dirty work.
They have a common goal : round up and return petitioners who have
traveled to Beijing to file complaints of injustice and corruption
against government officials in their home provinces. -
Washington Times
website
India
Can truth serum work? - 10 December
Police in India are reportedly to use the so-called "truth serum"
sodium pentothal on a man they suspect to be involved in the
attacks that claimed 170 lives in Mumbai. So how reliable is it?
It has the effect of diminishing activity in part of the brain, in
practice removing inhibitions and making people chatty. Those who
advocate its effectiveness as a "truth drug" believe that by
relaxing an individual in this way, the person will find it harder
to lie than to to tell the truth. -
BBC News website
"Take steps to recover rental arrears from civil servants" -
10 December
The Supreme Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to take
immediate steps to recover rental arrears of over Rs 1 crore from
27 civil servants who are the unauthorised occupants of government
accommodation in the State. The Bench, taking on record the
affidavit filed by the State, asked the Chief Secretary to file a
status report in four weeks on the steps taken for the recovery of
the rental/penal rental arrears. -
The Hindu website
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Australasia
Australia
Law society objects to murder definition bill - 11 December
Attorney-General Simon Corbell has introduced a bill into the
Legislative Assembly to amend the Crimes Act and broaden the
circumstances under which a person can be convicted. Mr Corbell
says the move is in response to community concerns over a lack of
convictions in the Territory. Under existing legislation, an
accused person can only be convicted of murder if they are found
to have intentionally caused death or were recklessly indifferent.
ACT Law Society President Rod Barnett says the changes go too far.
- ABC News website
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Europe
Monaco
Monaco
drops bid to expand land - 9 December
Monaco has shelved a multi-billion-dollar plan to extend the tiny
Mediterranean principality into the sea, its ruler Prince Albert
II said. The prince said the project was being abandoned due to
the global economic crisis and environmental concerns. The huge
artificial peninsula would have been the size of 20 football
pitches, packed with housing, shops and tourist facilities. It had
drawn comparisons with the artificial islands off Dubai. -
BBC News website
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Middle East
Iraq
Iraq
presents a lesson from history - 10 December
As Britain prepares to pull its troops out of Iraq, former BBC
Baghdad correspondent Andrew North looks back to a previous
military campaign and considers whether history is destined to
repeat itself. As the insurgency spread,
the letters from the British diplomat in Baghdad grew bleaker. The
diplomat was Gertrude Bell, an energetic and passionate Arab
expert who literally drew Iraq's borders. But read her letters and
diaries and you can easily imagine she's describing events since
2003, as American and British forces lost control of the country
they had invaded. - BBC News
website
See also :
The
Letters on The Gertrude Bell Archive website
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United Kingdom
Education
Themes replace subjects in review - 8 December
Six themed "areas of learning" should replace individual subjects
in England's primary schools, a government commissioned review
argues. The report by government adviser Sir Jim Rose says
children should be better prepared for life outside school. His
interim review suggests that there could be six broader "areas of
learning", rather than up to 14 individual subjects, such as
history, geography and science. These six areas would be :
understanding English, communication and languages ; mathematical
understanding ; scientific and technological understanding ;
human, social and environmental understanding ; understanding
physical health and well-being ; understanding the arts and
design. - BBC News website
Human Rights
A new year overhaul for the
Human Rights Act
- 9 December
Jack Straw has made clear he plans to go ahead with an overhaul of
the Human Rights Act to wrest back its reputation as a
"charter for criminals".
The Justice Secretary plans a Green Paper for the new year that
will reflect concerns that the Act protects rights while saying
nothing about responsibilities. He is frustrated, he told
the Daily Mail this week, about the way the legislation has
sometimes been interpreted by "nervous"
judges, stopping terrorists being deported - and that the Act has
been used by prisoners challenging their punishments or detention.
- Times Online
website
More than 180 000 asylum seekers set to stay because of human
rights - 19 December
At least 180,000 asylum seekers are set to be allowed to stay in
Britain because of their human rights thanks to the Government's
backlog fiasco. - Telegraph
website
Bar chair : vulnerable children 'at risk' after legal cuts - 9
December
Vulnerable children are at increased risk of harm because of cuts
in legal aid fees for family cases, the incoming head of the Bar
profession said last night. Desmond Browne, QC, 61, the new
chairman of the Bar Council, said the cuts came at a time when
there was already widespread concern to protect children from harm
in the wake of the cases of Baby P and Shannon Matthews. -
Times Online
website
Right to die : could this encourage others? - 10 December
The decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions not to
prosecute Daniel James's parents boosts
the case for reform of the law, lawyers and campaigners said
yesterday. - Times
Online website
Keyphrase :
Assisted suicide
Why Daniel James's death in a Swiss clinic was not a case for the
prosecution - 10 December
Daniel James was a fiercely independent young man who made his own
decision to commit suicide despite his parents’ relentless
attempts to change his mind, the Director of Public Prosecutions
said yesterday. -
Times Online website
Social Welfare
Benefit claimants 'must do more' - 10 December
Benefit claimants, including single mothers, will have to "play
their part" in the economy or face losing some state payments, the
government says. Under plans to be unveiled later, people will be
asked to do some form of work or prepare themselves for finding a
job in future. - BBC News
website
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United States and South
America
911
9/11
families condemn tribunals - 11 December
Thirty-three relatives of people killed in the 9/11 attacks on the
US have denounced the Guantanamo war crimes trials as illegitimate
and unfair. "These prosecutions have been politically motivated from
the start, are designed to ensure quick convictions at the expense
of due process and transparency, and are structured to prevent the
revelation of abusive interrogations and torture engaged in by the
US government". - BBC News
website
See :
9/11 family members challenge legitimacy of Guantanamo military
commissions - 10 December
American Civil Liberties Union
website
Brazil
Brazil to
rule on indigenous land - 10 December
The Supreme Court of Brazil is expected to make a landmark judgement
later on the rights of indigenous people. It will rule on whether a
reservation in the Amazonian state of Roraima can remain a single
unbroken territory. Indian leaders in Brazil say the case could set
a crucial precedent for the protection of their ancestral lands. -
BBC News website
Human Rights
US court
reviews enemy combatant - 5 December
The US Supreme Court has agreed to rule on whether a man suspected
of terrorism can be held in prison indefinitely by the government
without being charged. Ali al-Marri, from Qatar, has been in
solitary confinement in South Carolina since 2003. -
BBC News website
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International
Sport and Recreation
Fifa sets minimum standards for contracts - 10 December
Fifa has set new minimum standards for football contracts so that
the rights of players and clubs are better respected. The
governing body of world football said on Wednesday it has informed
its 208 member associations of the guidelines covering topics
including legal basics of contracts such the names of the parties,
dates of the agreement and all other disclosure of any agents
involved in the negotiations. -
IOL website
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United Nations
World
marks UN Human Rights Day - 9 December
On this International Human Rights Day, which marks the 60th
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, two women
are on my mind. One is a leader of the past who still inspires
because of what she helped achieve so many years ago. The other is a
leader in her community today, who struggles against the odds for a
more just society in the midst of ongoing crisis. - Article by Mary
Robinson, Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the
BBC News website
Keyphrases :
Eleanor Roosevelt
Jestina Mukoko (Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project)
World needs to do the Rights thing - 10 December
On this day 60 years ago, the United Nations General Assembly
adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first
document of its kind and one that has served as a common standard of
achievement for the future of human rights. Adopted by all states
represented in the UN General Assembly at the time, the declaration
established a framework of international principles that members of
the UN agree to guarantee as minimum standards for ensuring the
dignity and wellbeing of their citizens. -
IOL website
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Miscellaneous
Christmas law books : stocking thrillers, fillers and always a
courtroom drama - 11 December
The latest Dick Francis, a year with the Baltimore homicide unit, a
history of piracy and a 1960s bestseller. Four prominent lawyers
choose the books they’d put top of their Christmas wish lists . . .
- Times Online
website
Keyphrases :
Clare Canning
John Cooper
Kirsty Brimelow
Richard Susskind
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