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Recent
Judgments Available on the Internet
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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/
Zuma eyeing NPA deal - 9 January
Jacob Zuma is ready to negotiate with his prosecutors if the
Supreme Court of Appeal finds the corruption case against him must
stand. Backed by the ruling party, the ANC president's lawyers
have already spent months in talks with the National Prosecuting
Authority in anticipation of his possible defeat in the appeal
court on Monday. - IOL website
'Zuma-NPA
deal would be logical' - 9 January
It would be "logical" for ANC leader Jacob Zuma to seek a deal
with prosecutors if he faced graft charges again, the ruling party
said today. African National Congress spokesman Carl Niehaus said
a "legal solution" needed to be found, if possible, before general
elections later this year. -
The Times website
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Equality Courts
Durban
Language freedom in schools on cards - 1 January
The statutory body responsible for protecting language rights
wants teachers and school governing bodies to stop compromising
the freedom of pupils to choose their language of tuition. Pan
South African Languages Board (Pansalb) chief executive officer
Ntombenhle Nkosi said almost 14 years into the new dispensation,
teachers and SGB members at the majority of former Model C schools
were imposing English as a first language. "The
language and education policies allow for a child to choose a
home, first additional and second additional languages of their
choice". -
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
Riebeek valley battle goes to High Court - 9 January
The battle about alleged pesticide poisoning in the picturesque
valley of Riebeek Kasteel is reaching new heights as a local
resident takes the most powerful farmer in the valley to court
about an alleged assault and death threat. Interior designer
Jurgen Schirmacher alleges in a High Court affidavit that farmer
Johan Vlok sprayed pesticides so that they blew on to his property
and threw a rock "the size of a grapefruit" at him last October,
giving him severe abdominal injuries and causing him to black out.
- IOL website
Travelgate liquidator fights for job - 29 December
Travelgate liquidator and former Harksen trustee Eileen Fey is
locked in a dispute with PriceWaterhouseCoopers about alleged
attempts to force her to withdraw as a partner. The firm has
discontinued its liquidations department, which she heads, and has
stopped her taking on new assignments. She has been given the job
of winding down the liquidations service line - a move she alleges
has led to a substantial reduction in her income. Now Fey has
taken her dispute to the Cape High Court and intends to institute
arbitration proceedings against the firm's leadership. -
IOL website
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Eastern
Cape Division
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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
18 December
2008
153/2008 [2008] ZAECHC 207
Minister of Safety and Security and Another v Hendricks
South African immigration acted illegally in denying work permit
- 6 January
The Department of Home Affairs sent a Zimbabwean teacher from
'pillar to post',
used delay tactics coupled with arrogance and created
'exceptional circumstances'
justifying interference of the courts and the immediate granting
of a South African work permit – these are the findings of the
High Court in Grahamstown. Zweleni Ncube moved to South Africa in
2007 when he successfully applied for an English teacher position
in an Eastern Cape School but his employment was cut short when
South Africa immigration delayed approving his work permit. -
Global Visas website
PE
woman sues lawyer over house sale money - 5 January
A Port Elizabeth woman is suing an Mthatha lawyer who she alleges
stole the proceeds from the sale of her home.
Nokutula Tetyana-Mngqundaniso has filed court papers
with the Mthatha High Court against Vuyani Gwebindlala.
She alleges that Gwebindlala, of Vuyani Gwebindlala &
Associates, failed to pay her about R500 000, which was
transferred to his firm's trust account
following the sale of her house in Mthatha for R780 000.
- Dispatch Online website
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Natal
Provincial Division
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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
17 December
2008
6639/2002 [2008] ZAKZHC 97
Lattimore Construction CC v Nile Property Enterprises CC
12 December 2008
12670/07 [2008] ZAKZHC 96
Nofemela v Minister of Defence and Another
12 December 2008
AR312/08 [2008] ZAKZHC 95
Naidoo and Another v Moodley NO and Others
12 December 2008
5587/08 [2008] ZAKZHC 94
Smith v Smith and Others
21 November 2008
1701/04 [2008] ZAKZHC 93
Kepko v Road Accident Fund
21 November 2008
15902/05 [2008] ZAKZHC 92
Hilder v Jafta and Another
14 November 2008
3305/2003 [2008] ZAKZHC 88
Ameer v Road Accident Fund
10 November 2008
1435/08 [2008] ZAKZHC 90
Shorie's Investments CC v TGR
Construction CC
6 November 2008
6715/08 [2008] ZAKZHC 86
Govender v Ragavayah NO and Others
Surprise move in bus row - 8 January
On the eve of the much-awaited legal showdown between bus company
SA Roadlink and the KwaZulu-Natal transport department, the case
has been withdrawn with the company's legal representatives saying
that a settlement has been reached. Stephanie Steyn, Roadlink's
legal representative, told The Mercury that the company had
received a letter from the department on December 23, asking that
the matter be withdrawn. The department had offered to pay the
legal costs. - IOL website
MEC slams
Roadlink - 8 January
Cele decided to withdraw the moratorium imposed on the bus
operator, which led to the withdrawal of the case by Roadlink.
"Although I feel that the decision which I had taken (was)
justified by the circumstances which existed . . . I have
nonetheless heeded the honorable judge's view and decided to err
on the side of caution and withdraw the moratorium", said Cele. -
iAfrica website
KZN High Court turns down bail appeal - 1 January
Five Mount Ayliff taxi operators charged with murdering a Kokstad
taxi operator on Wednesday failed in their appeal against the
refusal of bail to them by a Kokstad magistrate. Pietermaritzburg
High Court Judge Kevin Swain said he doubted that any bail
conditions he might impose would be observed, because the shootout
had taken place in the presence of police. State counsel Ian Cooke
said internecine violence over taxi routes invariably caused harm
to innocent people caught in cross-fire. -
IOL website
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Magistrates Courts
Pietermaritzburg
Mayor's bodyguard turns himself in - 6
January
A bodyguard of the Umsunduzi Municipality’s mayor, who allegedly
shot one of his friends accidentally, handed himself over to
Pietermaritzburg police today, police said. Superintendent Henry
Budhram said Nkosi Ngubane is one of three suspects believed to be
involved in the killing of their friend, Sibusiso Mashaba.
Mashaba had stopped his car on Dambuza Road on Sunday
afternoon and was talking to the occupants of another car when the
incident took place.
Budhram earlier said one of the occupants in the other
car "playfully produced a firearm and whilst pointing it in the
direction of Mashaba, a shot went off". -
The Times website
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Competition
Commission, Tribunal and
Appeal Court
-
http://www.compcom.co.za/
;
http://www.comptrib.co.za/
Hackers blow whistle on banks - 7 January
Hackers have blown the whistle on banking fees - in a report banks
hoped to keep buried. The Competition Commission, the authors of
the 590-page report, had originally blacked out certain sections,
which banks claimed were confidential. The commission has now
opened a criminal case against Wikileaks, a website dedicated to
exposing "unethical behaviour in governments or institutions". The
Technical Report of the Banking Enquiry, concluded in June last
year, was the result of a 22-month inquiry into South African
banking, particularly the big four :
Absa, Standard Bank, Nedbank and FNB. -
IOL website
Leak won't sink banks - 6 January
As the row over Wikileaks' publication of a full, uncensored
version of the Competition Commission's inquiry into bank fees
continues, observers are wondering whether or not the
previously censored information is really so sensitive that its
revelation poses a threat to the banks. -
moneyweb website
South African Competition Commission :
unredacted final Report on Banking, 12 Dec 2008 - 17 December
WikiLeaks website
https://secure.wikileaks.org/leak/uncensored-competition-commission-report-on-banking.pdf
South African Competition Commission to Wikileaks
: remove Report on Banking, 18 Dec 2008 - 18 December
WikiLeaks website
Tribunal gives green light to MTN deal - 8 January
The Competition Tribunal on Thursday unconditionally approved
cellphone operator MTN's acquisition of a 69,4% stake in Verizon
SA in a deal that is set to make MTN one the largest internet
service providers to corporate clients in South Africa. The speedy
conclusion of the deal was due to local IT firm Altech withdrawing
its hard-won opposing intervention in the hearings that were
scheduled to run from today until January 14, after MTN gave it
written assurances that it won't hinder competition. -
Mail & Guardian website
Bread
cartel member Foodcorp fined R45.4mil - 6 January
In the latest incident of price collusion among South African
companies, Foodcorp (Pty) Ltd have reached an agreement with the
Competition Commission to pay a penalty of R45.4 million. The
Competition Commission found that Foodcorp had engaged in
anti-competitive behaviour including participation in a bread
cartel. - BuaNews Online
website
'Make price-fixing reports public' - 6 January
Consumer activist Imraahn Mukaddam has called for an end to the
confidentiality around Competition Commission settlements, saying
the body was a public entity representing the public interest and
that it had to keep its investigation findings transparent. -
IOL website
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Government
and Legislation
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South
Africa Government Information
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http://www.gov.za
;
http://www.polity.org.za
; http://www.buanews.gov.za/
Statements and
Speeches
31 December
2008
New Year message to the nation by the President of South Africa,
Kgalema Motlanthe
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Useful
Links and Items of Interest
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Legal Profession
Ireland
Law Society aims to adapt to changing times - 4 January
It’s a sign of the times that the Law Society’s annual conference
- traditionally held in exotic, far-flung, tax deductible
destinations - is being moved next year from Bilbao in Spain to
Ireland. The theme of the conference - appropriately - will be
'Practice management in a recession'.
- The Post website
Kenya
Lawyers want judge Choudry sacked - 27 December
The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has petitioned the Judicial Service
Commission (JSC) to rescind the appointment of Justice Anup Singh
Choudry, saying he has a tainted record. The petition came after
they acquired information that Choudry had been struck off the
list of solicitors in the UK in 2000 over fraudulent dealings. The
ULS letter to the JSC read, "The Uganda
Law Society has since received information that in 2000, Mr Anup
Sing Choudry, who was a solicitor in East London, had his
solicitors licence suspended and firm closed owing to making bogus
claims as part of a one million pound bill for costs when he acted
for a Sikh leader in a libel case against The Sunday Times".
- Sunday Vision
website
Scotland
Accountant lands role of chief executive for Law Society - 7
January
A chartered accountant who was born in Fraserburgh is the new chief
executive of the Law Society of Scotland. Lorna Jack is to return to
Scotland after spending six years in the United States of America
working for Scottish Development International, part of Scottish
Enterprise. Ms Jack, 46, started her new position on Monday and will
spend the first few weeks in her new job meeting Scottish legal and
civic leaders. - stv.tv website
United Kingdom
EAT rules law firms can force partners to retire - 5 January
Law firms will be able to enforce a mandatory retirement age for
partners following a landmark ruling that clarifies how age
discrimination laws apply to partnerships. The Employment Appeal
Tribunal (EAT) ruled that there are circumstances in which it is
lawful to force partners to leave solely because they have reached
a certain age. Lawyers said the decision, in the case of Leslie
Seldon v Clarkson Wrights and Jakes, is important because it
clears up uncertainty over the issue that has existed since the
age discrimination laws were introduced in October 2006. -
Times Online
website
See :
Employment Appeal Tribunal, London
19 December 2008
UKEAT/0063/08/CEA
Seldon v Clarkson Wright & Jakes
Age discrimination
Nigel Boardman : law firms right to target underperforming
partners - 7 January
Law firms are right to cut underperforming partners as they look
to slash costs ahead of a downturn, the UK's
leading corporate lawyer said. As reported yesterday in The
Times, up to 2 000 partners at the
City's top law firms could be at risk of losing their jobs this
year as those firms force senior lawyers to accept a reduced share
of profits or leave. -
Times Online
website
Paul Anthony McDermott : Note who the unscrupulous lawyers are
- 4 January
There are reports of Dublin legal practices telling all their
apprentices "you're
fired" in a single day. Some newly
qualified solicitors have found work as secretaries in the law
firms where they'd hoped to make a
career as a lawyer. Thus the legal qualification that they fought
so hard to attain now only qualifies them to type the letters and
answer the phones of real lawyers. I recently heard of a
partnership in a non-legal area where the manager unilaterally
decreed partners would take an immediate, substantial pay cut so
the firm would not have to let any young staff go. The firms who
are choosing to fire young employees rather than risk a cut in the
profits of partners should be named and shamed. When the economy
booms again and when law firms are begging the best graduates to
work for them, we should remember who put self-interest first when
times were hard. - Times
Online website
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South Africa
Correctional Services
Caring plans for Bay‘s babies behind bars - 3 January
Babies behind bars at a Port Elizabeth prison where their mothers
are inmates may soon have a creche to accommodate them outside the
prison walls during the day, thanks to the efforts of former Mrs
Port Elizabeth Susan de Kock. Permission has already been granted by
correctional services and the idea is to recruit volunteers to run
the creche during the day while the babies would be returned to
North End Prison at night to be with their mothers. -
Weekend Post website
Environment
Russian warship denied entry to SA - 6 January
The Russian navy's nuclear-powered heavy
missile cruiser, Pyotr Velikiy, has been denied entry to Cape Town
harbour because the application for it to do so lacked certain
"specific criteria", South Africa's
National Nuclear Regulator said. A spokesman for the regulatory
body, Gino Moonsamy, said the specific criteria for the refusal
related to a safety certificate from the Russian regulatory
authority ; a liability letter that
provided only for international nuclear damage
; and an emergency plan that was "not comprehensive enough".
Asked if the NNR would consider a revised application,
Moonsamy said if such documentation was submitted, it would be
reviewed by the regulator.
Five years ago, a Russian navy chief said the Pyotr
Velikiy, launched in 1996, was unfit for service. -
The Times website
See also :
Sunday battleship blogging : RFS Pyotr Velikiy
- 16 July 2006
Excerpt : Perhaps most disturbing, in 2004 the chief of the Russian
Navy said that Pyotr Velikiy could "explode at any moment", a
troubling statement at any time, but particularly when made in
reference to a nuclear powered battlecruiser. -
Lawyers, guns and money
blog
Dune mining for St Lucia? - 2 January
If eco-tourism cannot provide a viable solution to poverty in and
around the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, the government’s 1996 decision
to ban dune mining could be overturned. This is just one of the
disclosures in the iSimangaliso Park's
integrated management plan (IMP), which is available for public
comment until February 18. - The
Witness website
See also :
Availability of Draft Integrated Management Plan for public comment
http://acerafrica.co.za/isimangaliso/IMP_Advert_Dec_%202008.pdf
Family Law
Divorce becomes a luxury item - 4 January
Rich South African wives have launched a blitz of divorce actions
since the start of the credit crunch, saying they will no longer
tolerate their husbands' affairs now that
their money is gone.
But many more middle-class couples, in South Africa as
well as in the US and UK, can no longer afford to divorce - and some
have been forced to remain living together even after the marriage
has been dissolved. Billy Gundelfinger, divorce lawyer to South
Africa's rich and famous, said the
economic downturn had also sparked a trend towards maintenance,
rather than unaffordable lump-sum payouts, and fierce fighting over
what represented a fair monthly maintenance payment. -
The Times website
Government
Fire the
Ministers? Well, if you are the President yes - 8 January
Yesterday Secretary General of the ANC, Gwede Mantashe, announced
that a review committee of the ANC will review the work done by
Ministers annually and will fire Ministers if they do not perform
adequately. The question is whether the ANC can actually fire
Miisters and whether the Party (spelt with a capital letter with a
reason!) is not usurping the power of the government with statements
like this. The easy answer is that the ANC can NOT fire MInisters in
the cabinet. Only the President can appoint and fire members of the
national cabinet. - Pierre de Vos on the
Constitutionally
Speaking blog
Human Rights
Abused women 'must speak out'
- 5 January
Women in abusive relationships should speak out because it is
"the biggest thing women can do for
themselves", a domestic violence survivor
Lolita Bennett says. She was the keynote speaker at a recent seminar
on how to avert the scourge. The seminar, which included
presentations by Gun Free South Africa and the Ceasefire Campaign,
was attended by representatives of the criminal justice system,
advocates, public prosecutors and members of victim support groups.
- Herald Online website
Judiciary
31 December 2008
President Kgalema Motlanthe appoints Justice Edwin Cameron as Judge
of the Constitutional Court
SA Government Information
website
Judge Cameron a surprisingly courageous choice - 4 January
President Kgalema Motlanthe is developing a real knack for
surprising us. First there was the firing of Vusi Pikoli, based
essentially on comments in a political report.
This time, the surprise is a fabulous one - the richly
symbolic appointment of Judge Edwin Cameron to the Constitutional
Court.
Nobody doubts the obvious. He is a brilliant legal
scholar who was head and shoulders above the other candidates. But
constitutional interpretation is an inherently value-laden process.
Hence the social and political head space of an appointee is
important.
In Judge Cameron's case, we
have a legal scholar who is also an activist judge. -
The Times website
Cameron 'overjoyed'
- 4 January
On Friday, Judge Cameron, 55, said he was "humbled"
that President Kgalema Motlanthe had chosen him to take over from
Constitutional Court Justice Tholakele Madala, who retired at the
end of 2008. Motlanthe announced the appointment on Wednesday, a day
before Judge Cameron officially took up the position as one of the
court's 11 judges.
In addition to Judge Cameron, the Judicial Service
Commission recommended three other nominees to Motlanthe, who made
the final decision after consulting Chief Justice Pius Langa and
opposition party leaders. - The
Times website
Meet three of KZN's new judges - 28 December
Pietermaritzburg advocate Trevor Gorven and local attorney Jerome
Mnguni are among five judges who have recently been appointed to the
KwaZulu-Natal bench. The other three new judges for the province are
Fikile Mokgohloa, formerly of Pretoria, Durban-based advocate
Malcolm Wallis SC, and Esther Steyn of the Western Cape - a former
law lecturer and commissioner in the Jali Commission. Steyn has been
an acting judge in the Cape for the past nine months. -
The Witness website
Land Affairs and
Property
Property Law
Cooling off threshold likely to be increased - 19 December
Many more purchasers of immovable properties are likely to be able
to enjoy the considerable benefits of the "cooling off" right when
purchasing immovable property, if recently announced legislative
proposals are eventually adopted by Parliament. According to David
Warmback, partner of Durban law firm Shepstone & Wylie, the
Department of Trade and Industry, which administers the Alienation
of Land Act 68 of 1981 governing certain immovable property
transactions, is contemplating increasing the 10-year-old
prescribed monetary threshold from R250 000 to R500 000, in
respect of a purchaser's right to revoke an offer or terminate a
deed of alienation in property transactions. -
Rodney Hayter website
Can a municipal decision be reviewed? - 29 December
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) recently dismissed an appeal
brought by the municipality of the City of Cape Town which had the
effect of setting aside the municipality's approval of a set of
building plans. The building plans in question belonged to Julia
Ikin, the owner of a single storey residence in Sea Point, Cape
Town. Ikin's neighbours objected the municipality's approval of
the building plans to convert her house into a double storey
residence. The neighbours alleged that the building, which had
been completed, obliterated their view of the sea, compromised the
privacy of their homes and reduced the value of their properties.
- realestateweb
website
See :
Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa
14 November
2008
719/2007 [2008] ZASCA 130
City of Cape Town v Reader
Minerals and Energy
Miranda Minerals wins SA coal mining rights - 7 January
A subsidiary of JSE-listed mineral resources company Miranda
Minerals, Sesikhona Kliprand Colliery, has been granted mining
rights for four contiguous farms in Dannhauser, in KwaZulu-Natal.
Miranda Minerals owns 88% of the colliery, with the Kliprand local
community holding the balance. Miranda Minerals had also submitted
mining rights applications to the Department of Minerals and
Energy for its Amajuba project, in Dannhauser, and for its Uithoek
project, in Glencoe, in KwaZulu-Natal. -
Creamer Media's Mining
Weekly website
Municipal Management
and Procedure
Msunduzi
Year of highs and lows for the capital - 29 December
Pietermaritzburg had its fair share of highs and lows in 2008 with
the best news being the city's classification as a metropolis. The
status has great significance with the possible emergence of an
eThekwini/Msunduzi twin-cities region, which could become the
country's second biggest economic player. -
IOL website
National Prosecuting
Authority
Justice in dark over tricky Simelane probe - 6 January
Axed prosecuting head Vusi Pikoli's main accuser, Menzi Simelane,
is highly unlikely to suffer a public grilling over his alleged
dishonesty to the Ginwala Inquiry. While Pikoli was subjected to
days of cross-examination during Dr Frene Ginwala's
inquiry into his fitness to hold office, Justice Director-General
Simelane - who Ginwala branded as conniving and arrogant - is
expected be interviewed behind closed doors. -
IOL website
Politics
Helen
Suzman
Who's
Who
http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=3458
Suzman lauded at funeral - 5
January
Draped with a black cloth adorned with a gold Star of David,
Suzman's coffin was followed to a gravesite in the Jewish section
of Joburg's West Park cemetery by hundreds of mourners on Sunday.
Judges, business tycoons, human rights activists and politicians -
including Cope head Mosiuoa Lekota, Democratic Alliance leader
Helen Zille and former presidents Thabo Mbeki and FW de Klerk -
stood alongside Suzman's friends and relatives as the coffin was
lowered into a grave alongside her husband Mosie's resting place.
- IOL
website
'I
need to go' - 2 January
Although greatly saddened by the news of Suzman's death, close
friends echoed her daughter Frances Jowell's comments that her
mother was ready to die. -
IOL website
A lone voice has been silenced
In parliament she was famous for asking both awkward and
informative questions - by the hundreds, each year she was there.
In her 13 years alone she asked 2 262 questions, largely informing
the database on South Africa. When an angry MP suggested she asked
questions to besmirch the country's name abroad, she was quick to
retort : "I don't think it's the
questions, it's the answers that besmirch . . .
". -
IOL website
Suzman : a lone lioness in the den of
apartheid
Raenette Taljaar, Director of the Helen Suzman Foundation, pays
tribute to Helen Suzman. -
The Times website
Helen Suzman Foundation
http://www.hsf.org.za/
Parliament pays tribute to Helen Suzman
BuaNews
Online website
Condolences on the passing of Helen Suzman
Democratic
Alliance website
ANC pays tribute to anti-apartheid
campaigner Helen Suzman
African
National Congress website
ID's Patricia De Lille : Statement on Helen
Suzman's passing
Independent
Democrats website
Tribute to the Late Mrs Helen Suzman by
Pri[n]ce Mangosutho Buthelezi MP
Inkatha
Freedom Party website
Obituary : Helen Suzman
moneyweb website
Farewell to Helen from Des and Dawn
When we were fighting for multi racial theatre in the Supreme
Court with our production of Godspell in the early 70s,
Helen was in the audience and in court, giving us the inspiration
and courage to fight. She was described by the Catholic Archbishop
of Pretoria at the time as "The only
Christian in Parliament!". -
artslink
website
I helped smear Helen Suzman
The death of South African anti-apartheid activist Helen Suzman
reminds NAM contributor Brian Shott of how his encounter with
Suzman in his college days taught him a few lessons about humility
and self-righteous zeal. -
New America Media website
'Race not answer in unequal society' - 8 January
The SA Institute of Race Relations has backed COPE's proposal that
race should not determine economic empowerment and affirmative
action policies. The think-tank said on Wednesday that continued
implementation of affirmative action in the workplace would not
attain the desired results, but would create an unequal society
which would benefit a handful of the historical white elite and
the new black elite. - IOL
website
Keep the faith, my broer - 8 January
Dear Breyten, You are dead wrong, my old friend. Very few South
Africans who have left their country live their lives "to the full
and with some satisfaction and usefulness". Response by Max du
Preez to article in Harpers' Magazine. -
Cape
Argus website
See :
Mandela's
smile : notes of South Africa's failed revolution - December
2008
Article by Breyten Breytenbach on
Harper's Magazine website
Zuma's fifth wife set to stake claim for first lady - 6
January
It is customary for eminent Zulus to take several wives and Jacob
Zuma has never hidden his polygamous status. He is believed to
have at least 18 children. Ms Mabhija is reported to have already
had two children with the politician. The costs of maintaining
such a large first family have raised some eyebrows in South
Africa. - The Independent
[UK] website
Safety and Security
Bay rent-a-cop project on hold - 8 January
A controversial "rent-a-cop" pilot project in Nelson Mandela Bay
has been put on hold within days of being implemented after
controversy over the legalities of the project. Eastern Cape
police have launched an investigation into the Business Against
Crime (BAC) initiative, which involves companies paying unemployed
police reservists to patrol the streets in their area. While some
experts have hailed the project as an effective way to boost
policing, others claim that paying a police officer to patrol a
certain area amounts to bribery. -
Herald Online website
Taxation Law
Property tax tips - 9 January
Be cautious against using credit card and cheque account records
as proof for calculating the base cost for CGT once renovating
your property, you could get into trouble with Sars. -
Moneyweb website
New wisdom from an old tax case - 5 January
Way back in the early 1990s when I was doing articles and was
first beginning to get to grips with the so-called "general
deduction formula" contained in Section 11(a) of the
Income Tax Act, the
partner in charge of me at the time decided to unleash his "pet
case" on us to see if we could get to grips with the issues. -
Article by Steven Jones on the
moneyweb website
Keyphrase :
Port Elizabeth Electric Tramway Co v Commissioner for Inland
Revenue 1936 CPD 241, 8 SATC 13
Transport and Roads
Smile
: you’re on a not-so-candid camera - 5 January
Jail, Durban - No, you've not misread
the dateline. I'm waiting in a rather
interesting queue here at Ye Olde Central Gaol preparing to hand
myself in. Why? In protest at all the flashing cameras that got
pictures of my middle finger on the drive down here, that's
why. I took exceptional care to stay at least 5km under the
respective speed limits along the entire route from my house in
Pretoria to my holiday house in Southbroom. For most of the way I
was 10km under the limit. And yet, this didn’t stop the spate of
flashes as cameras the length of the N3 fired like a bank of
slavering paparazzi waiting to see if Britney Spear's
got her knickers on or not. Indeed, in one particular 100km per
hour zone I dropped to 88km and still got a zap in the face for my
trouble. That's 12km below the legal
limit. - travelwires
website
Transport Sector Charter gazetted - 24 December
The Department of Trade and Industry on Wednesday gazetted the
Integrated Transport Sector Charter, to address key transformation
issues relating to the national transport industry. The Charter,
will now be up for public comment, was launched in October 2008
and is the culmination of years of ongoing stakeholder
consultation in relation to transport development, innovation and
participation in the country. The Charter comprised at least eight
Sub-Sector Charters, which collectively seek to address key
transformation issues that cut across the spectrum of the national
transport industry. - BuaNews
Online website
Miscellaneous
Poisoned banana : man dies - 7
January
Legal experts have warned that a Hilton resident who was trying to
bait monkeys with poisoned bananas could be in hot water, after an
unwitting garden service supervisor ate one and later died.
Secoomar Brijmohan was at work at a Hilton residential complex
just before Christmas when he ate a banana he found on a table in
the garden. Little did the Howick man realise that the banana had
allegedly been laced with poison to kill nuisance monkeys that
roam the area. - Witness
website
'Metrorail is to blame for accident' - 6 January
14-year-old Elisha Pillay of Chatsworth and her cousin, Ramona
Pillay, who is recovering in hospital,
were hit by a train after a picnic at Rocky Bay on the south coast
on Sunday. Elisha's uncle, Nico Maharaj, who saw the accident,
blames Metrorail because he feels the driver did not signal in
time. Metrorail spokesperson, Thandi Mkhize, said the train had
followed the correct warning procedure and unfortunately the train
could not stop. "The train did hoot as usual to warn cars that are
on the level-crossing of its approach, which is the proper
protocol. The problem is that people misjudge the speed of the
train, thinking they will make it across and it ends tragically,
as in this case," said Mkhize. -
IOL website
World Cup whistleblower shot dead in S Africa : official - 6
January
A South African official who blew the whistle on alleged
corruption in the building of a stadium for the 2010 World Cup has
been shot dead by unknown gunmen, an official statement said
Monday. Jimmy Mohlala, a member of the local organising committee
for the World Cup, was shot dead late Sunday at his home in the
northeastern city of Nelspruit, the Mbombela Local Council
Municipality said in the statement. -
AFP on Google
website
Keyphrase :
2010 FIFA World Cup
VIP unit in scuffle with SABC crew - 5 January
The Presidency's VIP protection unit confiscated the SABC crew's
material during a scuffle on the N12 east of Johannesburg.
Negotiations were still under way for the release of the footage
seized by the protection unit after an accident involving
President Kgalema Motlanthe's motorcade before the Benoni-Atlas
offramp. National police spokesperson
Director Sally de Beer said the vehicle had driven too close to
the president's vehicle. "The lead car from the motorcade
intercepted the vehicle and a shot was fired. The suspect
attempted to flee but was stopped and arrested". -
IOL website
7 January 2009
Incident involving Presidential Protection Unit
SA Government Information
website
Part of SABC footage 'appears deleted' - 8 January
The SABC footage that was confiscated during a scuffle with the
president's VIP protection unit has been returned, reported the
broadcaster on Wednesday. However, certain parts of it appear to
have been deleted, said SABC head of news and current affairs
Snuki Zikalala. - IOL website
Video evidence cover-up : we must have answers - 9 January
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will today write to the Directorate
of Special Operations (DSO / Scorpions), requesting an
investigation into a claim that portions of an SABC video tape
seized by officers of the president's VIP Protection Unit were
deleted. If true, this action suggests that officers in the VIP
Protection Unit deliberately tampered with evidence which might
have been used against them in a court of law - possibly under the
instruction or supervision of senior officers. -
moneyweb website
Presidential Protection Unit incident investigated - 8 January
The Independent Complaints Directorate and the South Africa Police
Services (SAPS) are to launch an investigation into an incident on
the N12 highway involving the Presidential Protection Unit's
motorcade on 3 January. The entire matter is being investigated,
both with a view to instituting criminal charges against the
driver of the red Golf and to verify whether the police officials
involved acted within their mandate as custodians of the safety of
the President of this country and within the ambits of the law,
said SAPS spokesperson Director Sally de Beer on Wednesday.
Initially it was reported that an allegedly drunk and defiant
motorist drove close to the convoy and collided with one of the
vehicles on the N12 highway. A member of the unit fired a warning
shot at the man after he allegedly failed to stop his vehicle
after the incident. However, Director de Beer said that some of
the facts about the initial report given to the media when the
story first broke were inaccurate. -
BuaNews Online website
The VIP unit from hell - 8 January
During the past four years, 111 members of the police's elite VIP
Protection Unit - responsible for protecting the president, among
others - have been charged with crimes such as murder, attempted
murder, rape, armed robbery and the abuse of power. This is
according to the Safety and Security Department in a reply to a
recent parliamentary question from the Democratic Alliance. -
IOL website
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Africa
What lies
ahead for Africa in 2009? - 6 January
BBC News website
Advancing sea swallows sandy coastline - 7 January
Recognizing that coastal degradation was a global problem, Tanzania
has since teamed up with eleven other African countries - Cote d'Ivoire,
Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal,
Seychelles and South Africa - to do something about it. At Heads of
State level, these 11 countries have since adopted a Programme of
Interventions, including a portfolio of 19 projects developed by
five working groups, each working on five key themes defined by the
national teams as priority areas for intervention. These are coastal
erosion, management of key ecosystems and habitats, pollution,
sustainable use of living resources and tourism. The project has
since been taken under the umbrella of the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (NEPAD), initiated
and put together by African leaders and subsequently endorsed by the
G8. - Daily News
[Tanzania] website
Gambia
UK missionaries sentenced to hard labor in Gambia - 5 January
Two Christian missionaries in The Republic of Gambia in South Africa
have been sentenced to one year's hard labor after pleading guilty
to distributing a letter criticizing Gambia's government. The UK
couple, who have an adopted 2-year-old daughter, have 20 days to
appeal against their sentence in one of Africa's smallest countries.
Mr David Fulton from Troon in Ayrshire, Scotland, and his wife,
Fiona, from Torquay in Devon, England, apologized and admitted the
sedition in the hope of a favorable verdict from the magistrate. At
the time of their arrest Mr Fulton, a previous British army major,
had been working as a chaplain to Gambia's military. His wife looked
after terminally ill people and visited women in their homes and in
hospitals. - The Epoch Times
website
Nigeria
Nigeria
bikers' vegetable helmets - 6 January
Motorcyclists in Nigeria have been wearing dried pumpkin shells on
their heads to dodge new laws forcing them to wear helmets,
authorities have said. Officials in the northern city of Kano said
they had stopped several people with "improvised helmets", following
this month's introduction of the law. Road safety officials said
calabash-wearers would be prosecuted. -
BBC News website
Zimbabwe
Top Zimbabwean rights activist poisoned in custody
: media - 4 January
Zimbabwean rights campaigner Jestina Mukoko, who is to appear in
court Monday on charges of plotting to overthrow President Robert
Mugabe, is being poisoned and tortured in custody, the Sunday
Independet reported. According to the paper, Mukoko, who is in
solitary confinement at the notorious Chikurubi Maximum Security
prison, is being force fed drugs by prison personnel. It said her
lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa has called for a toxicology report to
support the allegations. - AFP
website on Google
Toddler, 2, beaten in prison - 4
January
Horror stories are emerging from Chikurubi Maximum Security
prison in Zimbabwe where at least 16 human rights activists are
being held. In a shocking revelation, activists report the
youngest prisoner, Nigel Mupfuranhehwe, a two-year-old - who was
abducted with his parents Violet Mupfuranhehwe and Collen
Mutamagau - was beaten by security agents and needed medical
attention. - IOL website
Mugabe regime in contempt, activist's lawyers tell court - 30
December
Lawyers for a high-profile human rights activist charged with
plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe urged a high court
judge yesterday to charge the government with contempt for
ignoring an order to release the activist from prison. Jestina
Mukoko, director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, arrived at the
Harare high court along with 17 others to press for a final
decision on their detention and to face charges of recruiting
people to undergo military training to "remove
the present government". -
Irish Times website
Zim court postpones ruling on activists' freedom - 30
December
A Zimbabwean magistrate on Monday postponed ruling on whether a
leading human rights activist Jestina Mukoko and some opposition
members should be freed from jail pending trail on charges of
plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe's
government. Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe deferred ruling on the
matter until Wednesday but directed that the accused - who claim
to have been severely tortured by police - be allowed to see
doctors of their choice while in prison hospital. -
ZimOnline website
Activists appear in court - 29 December
A prominent Zimbabwean activist and 31 others, some with
bloodied and swollen faces, appeared in court on Monday in
connection with a supposed plot to oust President Robert Mugabe
by force. The activist, Jestina Mukoko, and the other defendants
arrived at the Harare magistrates court in leg irons and
handcuffs. The reported plot has been
widely dismissed by opponents of the government as fabricated
amid an increasing clampdown on dissent. -
New York Times website
SA vehicles were used in disappeared persons saga - 28
December
Lawyers representing opposition activists and human rights
defenders being held incommunicado by state security agents are
investigating the use of a South Africa registered vehicle in
the transportation of the detainees. The lawyers'
pressure group charged that it was against international law. -
Radio VOP website
White farmers confront Mugabe - 2 January
On Nov 28, the farmers gathered in Windhoek, Namibia, to hear the
final ruling of five judges of the SADC tribunal. As Justice Luis
Antonio Mondlane of Mozambique read the full 60-page decision
aloud, it dawned on the farmers that they had won. The tribunal
found that the government had breached its obligations under the
trade bloc's treaty, which committed it to respecting human
rights, democracy and the rule of law, by denying the farmers
compensation for their farms and court review of the government's
confiscation of them. The reaction of the government was defiant.
Didymus Mutasa, the minister who oversees the distribution of
seized land, told the state media that the judges were
"daydreaming" if they thought Zimbabwe would heed the ruling. The
government would take over the rest of the white-owned farms, he
vowed. And the state has since moved to prosecute four Chegutu
farmers, though not yet the Etheredges or the Campbells, for
illegally occupying land they owned before the government claimed
it, the farmers' lawyer, Dave Drury, said. -
New Nation website
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Asia
Taiwan
'So who's your auntie now, uncle?' - 31 December
A 35-year-old Taiwanese woman is suing a neighbour for insulting
her after he called her "Auntie". "I had a good education, have a
good job, earn a good salary, dress elegantly and have good
manners. I only wear brand-name products," she said. "'Auntie' is
the term used in China to refer to old women who yell with a harsh
voice in the street, especially country bumpkins. -
Cape Times website
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Australasia
Australia
Australia streamlines foreign purchasing of property - 2
January
The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) has welcomed that
country's announcement of changes to the administration of real
estate purchases by foreign investors. The changes, which will be
introduced early this year will streamline the process and reduce
the costs for foreign residents and businesses purchasing real
estate in Australia. -
Rodney Hayter website
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Europe
EU's new online library reopens - 24 December
The European Union's huge digital library Europeana, which crashed
last month just hours after its launch, is back online. The
website's server capacity has been quadrupled to cope with demand,
European Commission spokesman Martin Selmayr told reporters. But the
homepage - at www.europeana.eu
- warns that "the user experience may not be optimal in this
test phase". The site gives multilingual access to cultural
collections across the EU. - BBC
News website
France
France to
announce justice reform - 7 January
President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to announce major changes to
the French judiciary, bringing it closer to the system in the
English-speaking world. According to the French newspaper Le
Monde, Mr Sarkozy wants to abolish investigating magistrates,
who currently act as independent judges. The changes would allow
state prosecutors and the police to take the lead in
investigations instead. - BBC
News website
Vatican
Vatican
divorces from Italian law - 2 January
The Vatican City State, the world's smallest sovereign state, has
decided to divorce itself from Italian law. Vatican legal experts
say there are too many laws in Italian civil and criminal codes,
and that they frequently conflict with Church principles. With
effect from New Year's Day, the Pope has decided that the Vatican
will no longer automatically adopt laws passed by the Italian
parliament. All Italian laws will be examined one by one before
they are adopted. - BBC News
website
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United Kingdom
Ireland
Supreme Court ruling inflicts some more damage on Injuries Board
- 5 January
The ongoing war of attrition between the legal profession and
the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) took another turn
before the Christmas break. The PIAB - or the Injuries Board as
it is now known - lost its appeal against the ruling by the High
Court in 2005 that it was not entitled to pursue its policy of
dealing directly with clients and not through their solicitors.
The Supreme Court upheld the original High Court ruling that the
PIAB's policy breached clients' rights to legal representation.
- Irish Times website
Labour Law
Firms urge
freeze on minimum wage - 28 December
Business leaders have called for the national minimum wage to be
left at the current levels in 2009 amid the economic downturn. The
British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said it believed the minimum wage
should not be increased until economic situations had significantly
improved. - BBC News website
Privacy
Police set to step up hacking of home PCs - 5 January
The Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police
across Britain routinely to hack into people's
personal computers without a warrant. The move, which follows a
decision by the European Union's council
of ministers in Brussels, has angered civil liberties groups and
opposition MPs. - Times
Online website
UK e-mail
law 'attack on rights' - 9 January
Rules forcing internet companies to keep details of every e-mail
sent in the UK are a waste of money and an attack on civil
liberties, critics say. From March all Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) will by law have to keep information about every e-mail
sent or received in the UK for a year. -
BBC News website
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United States
Animal Rights
Animal cruelty law tests free speech - 5 January
A decade ago, Congress decided it was time to address what a House
report called "a very specific sexual
fetish". There are people, it turns out,
who take pleasure from watching videos of small animals being
crushed. In 1999 Congress made it a crime to sell
"crush videos"
and almost all other depictions of unlawful cruelty to animals.
But the law does not criminalize the cruelty, which was already
illegal in all 50 states, only its depiction. By making such
expressions illegal - adding a new category of speech to the very
few that are entirely unprotected under the
First Amendment -
the law raised profound constitutional questions about whether and
when the government
can decide that some sorts of information
have no social value at all. The Supreme Court is likely to
address those questions soon in the case of Robert J Stevens, a
Virginia man sentenced to 37 months in prison under the law for
selling videos of dogfights. -
New York Times website
Correctional
Services
One measure of a society is the state of its prisons - 7
January
While there is no question that society must be protected from
dangerous criminals, the majority of our prisoners have been
convicted for nonviolent crimes. They serve their sentences - at
great taxpayer expense - in a negative and often corrosive
environment that sometimes does more harm than good. There are
less costly and more effective ways to deter nonviolent offenses,
and the time to carry them out is now. -
New York Times website
Family Law
Divorce
man 'wants kidney back' - 8 January
A US man divorcing his wife is demanding that she return the
kidney he donated to her or pay him $1.5m (£1m) in compensation.
Dr Richard Batista told reporters that he decided to go public
because he was frustrated at the slow pace of divorce negotiations
with his estranged wife. But divorce lawyers say a donated organ
is not a marital asset to be divided. Dr Batista married Dawnell
in 1990 and donated the kidney to her in 2001. She filed for
divorce in 2005 and a settlement has still not been reached. -
BBC News website
Human Rights
Canada
expels US woman deserter - 8 January
Canada has ordered the deportation of the first woman US soldier
to have sought asylum in the country to avoid being deployed to
Iraq. Kimberly Rivera, a mother of three, had requested permission
to remain in Canada on humanitarian grounds but her appeal was
rejected. She could face up to five years in prison when she
returns to the US. Some 200 deserters from the US military are
believed to have fled to Canada, some living incognito. Mrs Rivera
served in Iraq in 2006 but deserted a year later after refusing to
be redeployed.
Last year, the
Canadian parliament passed a non-binding motion granting asylum to
deserters from the Iraq war.
But correspondents
say the governing Conservatives opposed the motion, not willing to
risk upsetting Washington over the issue.
- BBC News website
Deserter's bid to stay in Canada rejected - 8 January
Rivera, the first female American war resister to come to Canada,
told reporters at a news conference Wednesday that she was haunted
by the violence on the part of the U.S. army that she saw during
her 2006 tour. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney accused US
military deserters of being bogus refugee claimants. -
Windsor Star website
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International
Reparation
Why Black people deserve reparation - 7 January
During the 2008 US presidential campaigns, Barack Obama was asked
for his thoughts on the issue of reparations. To him, the best
that America can do to compensate its African-American citizens is
provide better inner city schools. That was a soothing political
response targeted exclusively at the American audience; we still
do not know Obama's stand on the
question of payment of reparations to Global Africans. -
Daily Monitor website
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