GN 25/GG 31792/09-01-2009 **
http://www.polity.org.za/attachment.php?aa_id=18942 ***

Constitution Fourteenth Amendment Act of 2008

GN 24/GG 31791/09-01-2009 **

General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Amendment Act 50 of 2008

GN 18/GG 31785/09-01-2009 **

General Laws (Loss of Membership of National Assembly, Provincial Legislature or Municipal Council) Amendment Act 55 of2 008

GN 20/GG 31787/09-01-2009 **

National Environmental Management Act  62 of 2008

GN 22/GG 31789/09-01-2009 **
http://www.polity.org.za/attachment.php?aa_id=18939 ***

National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute Act 53 of 2008

GN 19/GG 31786/09-01-2009 **

National Youth Development Agency Act 54 of 2008

GN 13/GG 31780/08-01-2009 **
http://www.polity.org.za/attachment.php?aa_id=18941 ***

Provision of Land and Assistance Amendment Act 58 of 2008

GN 21/GG 31788/09-01-2009 **

Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act 48 of 2008

GN 17/GG 31784/09-01-2009 **

Revenue Laws Amendment Act 60 of 2008

GN 14/GG 31781/08-01-2009 **

Revenue Laws Second Amendment Act 61 of 2008

GN 15/GG 31782/08-01-2009 **
http://www.polity.org.za/attachment.php?aa_id=18940 ***

South African Judicial Education Institute Act 14 of 2008

Commencement : 23 January 2009
PR 3/GG 31811/22-01-2009 **

Special Pensions Amendment Act 13 of 2008

Commencement date
GN 11/GG 31772/09-01-2009 **

Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act 63 of 2008

GN 23/GG 31790/09-01-2009 **

GenN 1532/GG 31692/09-12-2008
http://www.polity.org.za/attachment.php?aa_id=19063 ***

Draft Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill

Publication of explanatory summaries
http://www.polity.org.za/attachment.php?aa_id=18803  ***

Cross-boundary Municipalities Laws Repeal and Related Matters Amendment Bill, 2009

GenN 70/GG 31798/23-01-2009 **
http://www.pmg.org.za/files/bills/090128b3-09.pdf *

Division of Revenue Bill, 2009

Publication of explanatory summary
GenN 84/GG 31810/23-01-2009 **

Referral of matters to existing special investigating unit and special tribunal
PR 2/GG 31808/21-01-2009 **

For public comment. Written comments must be received no later than 16 February 2009
GN 24/GG 31774/16-01-2009 **

Electricity Regulations Act 4 of 2006

Electricity regulations on deviation from set or approved tariff
GN 26/GG 31793/16-01-2009 **

Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005

Regulations
GenN 110/GG 31841/29-01-2009 **

Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005

Regulations setting out the minimum standards for end-user and subscriber service Charters 2008
Invitation for written comments
GenN 73/GG 31807/19-01-2009 **

Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act 54 of 1972

Regulation : preservatives and antioxidants : amendment
GN 60/GG 31819/30-01-2009 **

Regulations : maximum levels for melamine in foodstuffs
GN 61/GG 31819/30-01-2009 **

Genetically Modified Organisms Act 15 of 1997

Regulations : amendments
GN 46/GG 31814/30-01-2009 **

Judges' Remuneration and Condition of Employment Act 47 of 2001

Amendment of Regulations
GN 43/GG 31809/22-01-2009 **
http://www.polity.org.za/attachment.php?aa_id=19124 ***

Local Government : Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003

Draft Municipal Budget and Reporting Regulations
Call for comments
GenN 71/GG 31804/23-01-2009 **
http://www.polity.org.za/attachment.php?aa_id=19024 ***

National Environmental Management : Protected Areas Act 57 of 2003

Draft Regulations for the proper administration of the Knysna Protected Environment
GenN 27/GG 31775/16-01-2009 **
http://newsletter.creamermedia.co.za/lt/t_go.php?i=901&e=MTg0OTYz&l=-http--www.polity.org.za/article/national-environmental-management-protected-areas-act-572003-draft-regulations-for-the-proper-administration-of-the-knysna-protected-environment-gazette-no-31775-notice-27-deadline-february-16-2009-2009-01-30 ***

Social Assistance Act 13 of 2004

Amendment : regulations relating to the application for and payment of social assistance and the requirements of conditions in respect of eligibility for social assistance
GN 67/GG 31824/28-01-2009 **

Exposure drafts on issues relating to the adoption and application of the standards of GRAP
BN 9/GG 31813/30-01-2009 **

Architectural Professions Act 44 of 2000

South African Council for the Architectural Professions

Annual update of the Recommended Tariff of Professional Fees
BN 3/GG 31774/16-01-2009 **

Professional Fees Guideline. Fourth Draft
BN 4/GG 31744/16-01-2009 **

CBE Act 43 of 2000

Invitation to nominate persons for appointment to the Council for the Built Environment
BN 8/GG 31798/23-01-2009 **

Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005

Amendment
GenN 108/GG 31841/29-01-2009 **

Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF)

Nominations for the election of a trustee and substitute trustee to serve on the Board of Trustees of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) by member employees of the South African National Defence Force and the Intelligence Services
BN 7/GG 31783/16-01-2009 **

Nominations for the election of pensioner member trustees
BN 6/GG 31783/16-01-2009 **

Health Professions Act 56 of 1974

Health Profession Council of South Africa. Rules relating to fees payable to Council
BN 5/GG 31774/16-01-2009 **

Income Tax Act 58 of 1962

Convention between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of tax evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital
GN 33/GG 31796/23-01-2009 **

Convention between the Republic of South Africa and the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital
GN 34/GG 31797/23-01-2009 **

Protocol amending the Convention between the Republic of South Africa and the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of a fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital, with Protocol
GN 32/GG 31795/23-01-2009 **

Independent Communications Authority of South Africa

Fees and charges for postal services
GenN 109/GG 31842/30-01-2009 **

Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995

Bargaining Council for the Fishing Industry. Extension to Non-parties of Main Collective Amending Agreement
GN 37/GG 31799/23-01-2009 **

Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council. Extension to Non-parties of Lift Engineering Collective Amending Agreement
GN 36/GG 31799/23-01-2009 **

National Textile Bargaining Council. Extension to Non-parties of the Main Collective Amending Agreement
GN 38/GG 31799/23-01-2009 **

Legal Deposit Act 54 of 1997

Designation of the North West Provincial Library and Information Services as an Official Publications Depository (OPD) from 1 January 2009
GenN 56/GG 31798/23-01-2009 **

Legal Succession of the South African Transport Services Act, 1989

Proposed expropriation of servitudes for the construction and operation of the new multi petroleum products pipeline : invitation to make representations
["the pipeline will consist of a 545km trunk line from Durban to Jameson Park with branch lines from Jameson Park to Alrode, Alrode to Langlaagte and Kendal to Waltloo"]
GN 23/GG 31774/16-01-2009 **

National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998

Second Edition Environmental Implementation and Management Plan
GN 40/GG 31806/23-01-2009 **
http://newsletter.creamermedia.co.za/lt/t_go.php?i=901&e=MTg0OTYz&l=-http--www.polity.org.za/article/national-environmental-management-act-1071998-second-edition-environmental-implementation-and-management-plan-gazette-no-31806-notice-40-2009-02-05 ***

National Health Act 61 of 2003

Proposal 2009
Invitation for submissions for Reference Price List 2010
GenN 72/GG 31805/22-01-2009 **

National Nuclear Regulator Act 47 of 1999

Notice to invite nominations to the Board of the National Nuclear Regulator
GN 44/GG 31812/26-01-2009 **

Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1996

Road Accident Fund : adjustment of statutory limit in respect of claims for loss of income and loss of support
BN 10/GG 31813/30-01-2009 **

South African Qualifications Authority

National Standards Bodies Regulations

Standards Generating Body (SGB) for Art Craft and Design
GN 27/GG 31794/23-01-2009 **
GN 28/GG 31794/23-01-2009 **

Standards Generating Body (SGB) for Mining and Minerals
GN 31/GG 31794/23-01-2009 **

Standards Generating Body (SGB) for Music
GN 29/GG 31794/23-01-2009 **

Task Team for Maintenance
GN 30/GG 31794/23-01-2009 **

All items (Base 2000 = 100)
GenN 15/GG 31774/16-01-2009 **

*	Source : Parliamentary Monitoring Group
**	Source : Sabinet
***	Source : Polity

21 January 2009
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

ConCourt quashes extradition appeals - 21 January
The Constitutional Court today ruled against a number of people trying to prevent their extradition either to or from the US. They had argued that the extradition agreement between the two countries is not valid, questioning the validity of mandates that eventually brought it into force in parliament. The court found there was no evidence to support the allegation that there had not been a proper mandate to make the treaty law. Lawyer for the State, Piet de Jager, said "the effect of the application is that the [extradition] treaty is now formally declared as valid and binding between America and South Africa". - The Times website

Law closing in on Kebble suspect - 22 January
A landmark ruling by the Constitutional Court could open the way for the extradition to South Africa of Australian businessman John Stratton, who has been implicated in the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble. - The Times website

Extraditions back on course - 22 January
For five years, South African justice bosses were legally thwarted from sending alleged criminals wanted in America back to the US to stand trial. But all that changed on Wednesday, when the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled that South Africa's 1999 extradition agreement with the US was valid. - IOL website

ConCourt to rule on extradition treaty - 20 January
The Constitutional Court will hand down judgment related to South Africa's extradition agreement with the United States when it sits on Wednesday. - The Times website

Interpol goes into action - 23 January
Within hours of a unanimous Constitutional Court finding that the extradition agreement between SA and the US was valid, local Interpol authorities were arranging for the arrest of alleged stem cell fraudsters Stephen van Rooyen and Laura Brown, whose alleged duping of several terminally ill Americans won them a place on the FBI's most wanted list. - IOL website

NPA aim for Goodwin extradition - 23 January
The National Prosecuting Authority has processed all the legal documents necessary for the extradition of former Fidentia boss Steven Goodwin. - The Times website
Keyphrase :
Fidentia Case

See also :
SA-US extradition treaty in spotlight - 21 May 2008
IOL website

Secret report could come out in court - 7 February
The government's legal bid to prove the Presidency did not abandon South African farmers to Zimbabwe's land grab has hit some serious snags. Weeks before the Presidency is scheduled to return to the Constitutional Court to argue it did not fail to protect farmer Crawford von Abo from the land grab, it has dumped the advocate representing its case because of alleged "differences of opinion". To make matters worse state lawyers, after failing to obey a Concourt order, are scrambling to persuade South Africa's highest court not to release a secret 60-page report - containing correspondence between the SA and Zimbabwean governments - to the public. - IOL website

Nadeco loses battle for seats - 1 February
Nadeco has lost its lengthy legal battle to retain the seats of 18 former councillors who resigned during the floor-crossing period. The Constitutional Court turned down a request by the party to appeal against a ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein. The Appeal Court had ruled against the decision by the Pietermaritzburg High Court, which had decided that the 18 Nadeco councillors had illegally crossed to other parties. Many of the councillors who resigned were to join the South African Democratic Congress (Sadeco), a breakaway party formed by one of Nadeco’s former leaders, Dr Ziba Jiyane. - The Witness website

Zuma Case

Zuma Concourt papers to be filed - 2 February
ANC president Jacob Zuma's lawyers expect to file papers in the Constitutional Court later on Monday asking for permission to challenge a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling, his lawyer said. The ruling allowed the state to reinstate the corruption charges against him. "It should be done this afternoon," said Michael Hulley. - IOL website

NPA back to square one – 4 February
NPA's spokesperson said that if Jacob Zuma won a Constitutional Court application on the validity of the prosecution against him, the NPA would be "back to square one". "If Zuma's concourt bid succeeds, we are back to square one," said NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court, where the authority, Zuma and arms company Thint's lawyers agreed to a timeline for the corruption case they face. – iAfrica website

Zuma Case

NPA vs Zuma : are they going to deal? - 19 January
ANC President Jacob Zuma's lawyers and National Prosecuting Authority representatives have met to discuss the case against him, Zuma's attorney said on Monday. "The NPA meeting has already taken place," Michael Hulley said. Hulley said he would prefer it if the NPA divulged details of the meeting. An NPA spokesperson was not immediately available to comment. - IOL website

Zuma's lawyer maps out his next moves - 18 January
The supreme court decision put Hulley's legal strategy back a few steps, a disappointing turn of events at this stage of the game. "Yes, very much so," he says. "Because it was an application we brought with conviction and it was an application in our view where the rights of an individual under our Constitution, if they were to be given effect, would have been in keeping with the purport of the Constitution and likewise by implementation would not have brought the administration of justice into disrepute nor would it have brought about an onerous consequence which the NPA would have to deal with". - IOL website

All-out bid to save Zuma - 18 January
The ANC's national working committee (NWC) will meet on Monday to thrash out strategies to prevent Jacob Zuma, the ANC president, from facing trial. And his office has been beefed up by the deployment of top party officials to manage him. - IOL website

Motlanthe asked to order Zuma, Shaik probe - 19 January
President Kgalema Motlanthe has been asked to set up a commission of inquiry into the legal battles of ANC President Jacob Zuma and his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik. The Society for the Protection of our Constitution made the request in a letter from the offices of Zehir Omar attorneys, in Springs, dated Friday. According to the letter the commission's primary terms of reference should be twofold, to : investigate and identify people involved in improper conduct associated with the investigations, prosecution, conviction and sentencing of Shaik ; any ulterior motives of trial Judge Hilary Squires, the judges who heard Shaik's appeals ; and, investigate any improper conduct in the setting of the date of the National Directorate of Public Prosecution's appeal against the ruling setting aside charges against Zuma, and whether any ulterior motive prompted the "premature" delivery of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment handed down on November 28, which prevented Zuma from considering a cross appeal. - IOL website

Zuma's lawyers still have time - 27 January
Lawyers for ANC president Jacob Zuma can still approach the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to make representations on his case, even though they missed the January 26 deadline to do so, the NPA said. NPA spokesman Tlali Tlali said they had indicated that they would make the representations on the ANC president's case on Monday, but this passed without the representations taking place. - IOL website

S Africa's Zuma may seek immunity from prosecution - 29 January
South Africa's ruling party leader Jacob Zuma may seek immunity from prosecution if his legal team fail to convince prosecutors to drop graft charges, his lawyer said on Thursday. - Reuters website

See also Judiciary and Natal Provincial Division below

Bellville

Waiters charged for alleged credit card fraud - 19 January
Three Kauai Juice waiters are to go on trial next month in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court on fraud and conspiracy charges. The charges relate to the alleged use of credit card readers and encoding devices, for the manufacture of fake credit cards. Andili Mafanya, Mototo Mtwa and Zukile Matinse appeared in the dock before magistrate Amrith Chabilall on Monday. Their three-day trial on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, seven counts of fraud, seven of forgery and one of contravening the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, was scheduled to start on March 26. - IOL website

Durban

UKZN graft case heard - 3 February
There was no evidence to prove that there was anything untoward about money passed between a former UKZN lecturer and her student, or that it was payment in exchange for the awarding of a degree. The only thing the evidence seemed to suggest, was that former dean of management studies, Prof Pumela Msweli-Mbanga, was paid R16 150 for services her company provided to Nobubele Potwana. This is according to the legal representatives for both women, who grilled forensic auditor and state witness Trevor White when he testified at the corruption trial in Durban's Commercial Crime Court yesterday. - IOL website

'Professor abused her authority' - 4 February
A former faculty dean was accused of a blatant conflict of interest and a disregard for examination processes in authorising a doctoral degree for a student. This was the testimony of a University of KwaZulu-Natal academic at the corruption trial of Professor Pumela Msweli-Mbanga, the former UKZN management studies dean, and student Nobulele Potswana in the Durban Commercial Crimes Court. Testifying for the state, Prof Johan Jacobs, an authority on examination procedures in postgraduate studies, said it was unthinkable that Potswana had paid her supervisor to do her work. - IOL website

Port Elizabeth

Equity court magistrate refuses to recuse himself - 20 January
A recusal application brought by a Port Elizabeth magistrate who likened a worker to a "baboon" after he accidentally scratched the door of his office has been turned down. Magistrate Johan Herselman was convicted on September 16 last year of using hate speech by referring to Khayalethu Geleba as a baboon. Bloemfontein chief magistrate Mziwonke Hinxa, who was called to preside over the case, convicted Herselman in the equality court. The matter was postponed to November 11 for parties to address the court and the awarding of damages. Herselman's defence counsel then brought an application for Hinxa's recusal, saying he had erred in the analysis of evidence. He was also accused of racism, bias and discrimination, and it was claimed that he was embroiled in a dispute with white magistrates in Bloemfontein. Yesterday, Hinxa dismissed the application. - Herald Online website

Braamfontein

5 January 2009
J 2622/08 [2009] ZALC 1
Mogotlhe v Premier of the North-West Province and Another

13 January 2009
17259/2008 [2009] ZAWCHC 1
Glenister v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others

NP leadership case postponed - 2 February
An application in the Cape High Court to clarify a leadership dispute in the resurrected National Party of South Africa was postponed, the SABC reported on Monday. The application was brought by a faction led by former Cape Town city councillors, Achmat Williams and Abdullar Omar, against the party's communications director, Juan Duval Uys. Williams and Omar want the court to interdict Uys from claiming to be the party's president. - IOL website

Cash crisis hits Golden Arrow - 26 January
The bus service that ferries over 250 000 people across Cape Town every day is on the verge of bankruptcy and has approached the courts for a lifeline to force the government to immediately pay millions of rands in subsidies owed to it. - all Africa website

Golden Arrow subsidy paid - at last - 4 February
After a weeks-long struggle, Golden Arrow has finally been paid more than R94 million in outstanding subsidies. The bus company was on the verge of bankruptcy because of the government's non-payment of subsidies for December and January. Golden Arrow executive director Barry Gie confirmed that the amount had been transferred into the company's account by 2pm yesterday, eliminating the possibility of it going under. - IOL website

Ferrari's local dealers in court - 26 January
It sounds like a bad Martin Scorsese script, but Ferrari's two South African dealerships are seeing each other in the Cape high court today. Gauteng based Rosso Sport Auto alleges its clientele are being siphoned off by Cape Town based Viglietti Motors. Vigliette, as any local Italian car nut knows, is also the sole official importer of Ferrari and Maserati to South Africa. - Wheels24 website

Ex-Bafana star's maintenance saga in court - 20 January
The maintenance dispute between former Bafana Bafana football star Quinton Fortune and his wife Kim, in which he claims that he's unable to pay his debts, is set to be heard in the Cape High Court next month. His wife is claiming maintenance of R50 000 a month pending the outcome of the divorce, as well as a car to the value of R500 000, furniture worth R550 000 for her flat in the CBD and R75 000 towards her legal costs. She wants an Audi S3, claiming this was what she was accustomed to when she lived in the UK with her husband. In court papers, she said her monthly expenses amounted to R110 000. She instituted the divorce after claims that Fortune had been having extramarital affairs. - IOL website

Taliep Petersen Case

Date set for Najwa's sentence - 5 February
Convicted murderess Najwa Petersen and her three co-accused will hear their fate next Wednesday, but it appears that she will escape a life sentence. The State has asked for the minimum prescribed sentences for all the accused. This would mean life for Najwa and two hitmen also convicted of murdering her entertainer husband Taliep, and 15 years for the fourth accused, Jeff Snyders, found guilty of robbery with aggravating circumstances. However, Cape High Court judge Siraj Desai is able to impose lesser sentences if he can find "substantial and compelling" reasons to do so. - IOL website

29 January
15584/2007 [2009] ZAKZHC 2
Smith v Parsons NO and Others

27 January 2009
1874/08
Abahlali Basemjondolo Movement SA v Premier of KwaZulu-Natal and Others
Application for an order declaring the KwaZulu-Natal Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act 6 of 2007 ("the Slums Act") unconstitutional

Slum clearance case lost in High Court - 28 January
Shack dwellers have vowed to continue their battle to scrap "slum eradication" legislation after they lost their case in the Durban High Court on Tuesday. "We will take it all the way to the Constitutional Court," said members of the Abahlali baseMjondolo (shack dwellers') movement, after hearing that Judge President Vuka Tshabalala had rejected their attempt to have the Slums Act declared unconstitutional. - IOL website

Durban High Court rules in favour of housing policy - 29 January
The Minister of Housing, Lindiwe Sisulu has described the Durban High Court ruling against Abahlali Basenjondolo Movement SA as a breakthrough in the implementation of the Breaking New Ground housing policy. - allAfrica website

29 January 2009
Durban High Court delivers a land mark ruling on eradication of informal settlements in South Africa
SA Government Information website

Uncertainty over divorces cleared up - 19 January
Thousands of people who were granted divorces by Durban's North Eastern Divorce Court over an eight-year period can breathe sighs of relief following a Durban High Court ruling which effectively legitimises them. The legality of the divorces, granted between August 1997 and March 2005, was brought into question in a labour dispute against the minister of justice and the Magistrate's Commission by one of the presiding officers of the court, Jan Madern. - IOL website

22 January 2009
3182/05 [2009] ZAECHC 2
Visagie v Minister of Safety and Security

7 January 2009
317/05 [2009] ZAECHC 1
Twalo v Minister of Safety and Security and Another

Clifford tells how she ran down Cape Road barefoot - 20 January
Disgraced investment queen Maureen Clifford had the Port Elizabeth High Court in stitches yesterday when she testified in mitigation of her sentence. Evidence of Clifford's deceased relatives, an old car named "Samoosa", monies that were paid to drug lords and fortune tellers, a "chocolate factory" and even that Clifford had run down Cape Road barefoot professing that there is no God, formed part of her testimony. Loud laughter erupted from the public gallery, but Clifford continued her testimony nonetheless. She was determined to convince Judge Frank Kroon that she was not solely responsible for the collapse of the Usapho Trust. Investors lost R155-million when it collapsed in 2000. Clifford said that even though it had been widely speculated in the media, she wanted the world to know that she had not hidden even "two cents" of the money investors claim they had lost. "People started stealing from my business in 2000 because they knew I was mad", she said. - Herald Online website

I did not cheat people : Clifford - 21 January
Senior state advocate Marius Stander cross-examined fallen investment queen Maureen Clifford in the Port Elizabeth High Court yesterday. Clifford was in the witness stand for the second day, testifying in mitigation of her sentence. During cross-examination, Clifford accused her former legal representative, Kobus Brisley, of not following her instructions. At one point she accused Brisley and other advocates of playing card games on their laptops while witnesses testified against her during the trial. - Herald Online website

Pothole victim sues province - 26 January
A 53-year-old woman, Hluphile Elda Zuma, is suing KZN for R1,1 million over injuries she sustained in an accident allegedly caused by a massive pothole on the R33 between Keats Drift and Tugela Ferry on December 6, 2004. According to documents before Judge Jan Combrink in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, the pothole in question was allegedly nine metres long and 2,5 metres wide at its widest point. KZN Premier S’bu Ndebele and Transport MEC Bheki Cele are defending the part-heard case, which is proceeding in the high court here this week. The driver of the taxi, Zamani Langa, who has been accused of negligent driving, and taxi operator D K Sithole have been joined in the matter as third parties. - The Witness website

Gang 'joked after murder' - 19 January
The Pietermaritzburg High Court heard evidence yesterday that a member of a gang that shot dead 19-year-old Johnny Canos at Pelham Liquors on June 22, 2006, was "cracking jokes" while briefing fellow gang members about the murder as they divided the loot at a tavern in Imbali. Acting Judge Nompumelelo Radebe and her assessors heard that each gang member got R150 from the proceeds of the robbery. - Witness website

Seven arrested for bottle store heist - 5 July 2006
Seven men suspected of holding up a bottle store in Pietermaritzburg and shooting dead a 19-year old man have been arrested, police said on Wednesday. Superintendent Joshua Gwala said the men were arrested in Durban's KwaMashu township on Monday and Tuesday by the serious and violent crimes unit. - The Independent on Saturday website

Zuma Case

Next Zuma judge is a woman - 28 January
The judge in the hot seat for ANC President Jacob Zuma's next court appearance is an inspired and vocal activist for women's rights. But it remains to be seen whether Judge Leona Theron - appointed as KwaZulu-Natal's first black female judge at age 33 and one of the youngest judges to act in the Supreme Court of Appeal - will be on the bench for Zuma's corruption trial after she initially presides over his February 4 appearance in the Pietermaritzburg High Court. - IOL website

Zuma back in court in August - 4 February
ANC president Jacob Zuma's application for a permanent stay of prosecution will be heard on 25 August 2009. - The Times website

9 February 2009
4044/09 [2009] ZAGPHC 21
Richter v Minister of Home Affairs and Others

South Africans abroad can vote - 9 February
South Africans abroad have been granted the right to vote in the country's upcoming elections. The Pretoria High Court ruled in an urgent application that a portion of the Electoral Act be declared unconstitutional, the SABC reported. This relates to the portion which prevented South African citizens who are living and working abroad from voting. - News24 website

4 February 2009
A994/2004 [2009] ZAGPHC 17
S v Mosesi

4 February 2009
22665/2005 [2009] ZAGPHC 16
Duet and Magnum Financial Services CC (in liquidation) v Koster

4 February 2009
40986/07 [2009] ZAGPHC 15
Greengrass Productions Inc v You Can Win Club CC and Others

3 February 2009
24084/05 [2009] ZAGPHC 14
Pretorius v Road Accident Fund

30 January 2009
20368/2008 [2009] ZAGPHC 13
General Industrial Workers Union of South Africa v Chemical Industries National Provident Fund and Others

30 January 2009
28562/07 [2009] ZAGPHC 12
L G Electronics SA (Pty Ltd v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service

30 January 2009
23619/2007 [2009] ZAGPHC 11
Golden Fried Chicken (Pty) Ltd v Soulsa CC

30 January 2009
18379/2008 [2009] ZAGPHC 10
Treatment Action Campaign v Minister of Correctional Services and Another

28 January 2009
2160/08 [2009] ZAGPHC 7
Plumbtastic Plumbing CC and Another v Centurion Home Centre (Pty) Ltd trading as Home Centre Timber City In re: Centurion Home Centre (Pty) Ltd trading as Home Centre Timber City v Plumbtastic Plumbing CC and Another

27 January 2009
35393/2003 [2009] ZAGPHC 9
MMA Security Services CC trading as Broubart Security and Another v Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority and Others

27 January 2009
4175/07 [2009] ZAGPHC 8
Edgars Consolidated Stores Limited v Williams In re: Opposition to Trademark Application Number2001/4336: Music in Class 35

23 January 2009
17289/04 [2009] ZAGPHC 5
Law Society of the Northern Provinces [Incorporated as the Law Society of the Transvaal] v Goosen and Others

19 January 2009
4549/2004 [2009] ZAGPHC 3
Van Coller v Cemforce BK

16 January 2009
CC169/07 [2009] ZAGPHC 2
S v Thobejane

NPA appeals ruling on state prosecutors  - 5 February
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has lodged an appeal against a Pretoria High Court judgment regarding state prosecutors which could affect at least 45 high-profile, white collar cases worth billions of rands. - Business Day website

Taxpayers to foot claim for cops' victim - 3 February
The taxpayer will once again have to dig deep to foot the bill for "a trigger-happy" police officer who shot a law-abiding citizen for no "justifiable reason". The police officer "mistook" the man for one of the perpetrators of a kidnapping the police were hunting. The Pretoria high court on Monday ordered that the minister of safety and security pay more than R622 000 in damages to Witbank fireman Johannes Magashula. - IOL website

State must pay bus debt by noon today - 29 January
Government will have to come up with R300 million before noon today to cover one month's outstanding subsidies to Gauteng bus operators in terms of a provisional settlement reached in the Pretoria High Court yesterday. In terms of an interim agreement with the Bus Owners Association (Sabowa), government was given until Wednesday next week to come up with a solution to the bus subsidy crisis, or face further legal action. - Citizen website

Court ruling seen as meagre relief for bus operators - 29 January
A court order forcing government to pay about R300-million towards its outstanding bus subsidy payments was only an interim solution, the South African Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) said on Thursday. "We're happy as an interim measure but to be honest we need a permanent solution," said Satawu's policy research officer Jane Barrett. - Mail & Guardian website

Govt to pay bus subsidies in full - 6 February
The first portion of a total of R1,2-billion in bus subsidies is to be paid next week, the Pretoria High Court heard on Friday. Legal counsel for the South African Bus Operators Association (Saboa), Paul Pretorius SC, said the first payment in bus subsidies would be paid next Friday. This was the subsidy for the month of December. - Mail & Guardian website

Klagte kom oor 'shut up!'-bevel - 28 January
Die baie reguit bevel van waarnemende regter P Ebersohn in die hooggeregshof in Pretoria aan 'n omstrede Gautengse prokureur, mnr Zahir Omar, kan nou lei tot 'n amptelike klagte teen Ebersohn by die Regterlike Dienskommissie (RDK). Omar het Ebersohn eergister in kennis gestel dat hy (Omar) van voorneme is om die klagte by die RDK in te dien en dat Ebersohn daarop moet reageer as hy wil. Omar voer aan dat hy so geskok en ontsteld was na die "shut up"-bevel van Ebersohn voor verskeie mense in die hof, dat hy 'n verdaging van die hof moes vra "om tot verhaal te kom". - Beeld website

Zehir takes another tongue-lashing - 16 January
Gauteng attorney Zehir Omar has taken another tongue lashing in court - this time in a Pretoria High Court civil matter involving a motor car scam. A Beeld report says two CCs sold luxury cars to members of the public and then proceeded in various Magistrates' Courts to 'recover' the cars. Judge Piet Ebersohn said Omar, acting on behalf of RS Traders CC and HYH Motor City CC, 'either withheld information from a magistrate or was seriously negligent in preparing his court papers'. 'Any attorney with reasonable intelligence' would have noticed the fraud, Ebersohn said in his judgment. The report recalls that the SCA made the heaviest possible cost order against Omar in his personal capacity last month for disregarding the rules of the court. - Legalbrief website

See also :
Supreme Court of Appeal
27 November 2008
139/08 [2008] ZASCA 160
Jeebhai v Minister of Home Affairs
Matter struck off the roll – no proper record – attorney ordered to pay costs de bonis propriis
Keyphrase ;
Khalid Mahmood Rashid
Zehir Omar

Should Nofemela get parole? - 20 January
Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour has ducked making a court-ordered decision on parole for an apartheid hit-squad killer - and used his own department's inefficiency as an excuse. The prisoner's lawyer has questioned the failure to make a decision and called it political interference in the parole process. By the time the matter gets back to the minister's office, there will probably be a new minister. On December 4, the Pretoria High Court ordered Balfour to make a decision within 10 court days on whether Butana Almond Nofemela should be granted parole. Nofemela has now served more than 21 years in jail for the 1986 murder of farmer Johannes Hendrik Lourens near Brits. Nofemela's original death sentence for the farmer's murder resulted in his eve-of-gallows confession in 1989 to the state-ordered killing of anti-apartheid lawyer Griffiths Mxenge in 1981, and resulted in the exposure of the Vlakplaas police hit squad. - IOL website

Pensioner claims firm caused illness - 20 January
The Pretoria High Court has ordered the Compensation Commissioner (CC) and the department of labour to collect all necessary information from the Uranium Enrichment Corporation of South Africa (Ucor) to enable them to investigate claims by a pensioner that he contracted cancer while working at their plant at Valindaba. The 62-year-old former operator, Tilman Roux, who worked at the plant for 30 years, suspects he was exposed to radiation. In court papers he said he was suffering from multiple myeloma (cancer of the blood plasma), but could not afford treatment. - Pretoria News website

'Vexatious' couple could yet get jail time - 20 January
A Swiss couple from Midrand in Gauteng, embroiled in legal battles over the past 14 years arising from a property deal gone sour, has been given until February 20 to show why they should not be imprisoned for six months for contempt of court. This order was made in the Pretoria High Court after they persisted in issuing summons against various parties in spite of having been declared vexatious litigants seven years ago. Different judges in the past declared them vexatious litigants and ordered that they may not, without the court's prior permission, engage in further court actions. But even a notice in a Government Gazette did not deter Rudolf and Therezia Schellauf. The couple had fought orders issued against them as high as in the Constitutional Court.  On all occasions they lost their battles and were eventually declared vexatious litigants. The Law Society approached the Pretoria High Court, stating that they were in contempt of court. - Sunday Independent website

See also :
Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa
27 November 2001
215/00 [2001] ZASCA 131
Shapiro and De Meyer Inc v Schellauf

Pretoria judge orders release of secret nuclear files - 18 January
Confidential information related to South Africa's apartheid-era nuclear weapons programme is due to be released following a landmark ruling by the High Court in Pretoria. The information consists of medical and occupational safety records related to a former employee of Ucor, a private company that conducted top-secret research at the Valindaba nuclear facility outside Pretoria in the '70s and '80s. The company records are currently held by the state-owned SA Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa). - The Times website

Porritt, Bennett case is pending six years later - 8 February
If the sauce is good for the goose, it is good for the gander. That seems to be the case with Gary Porritt and Sue Bennett, who have managed to drag out their fraud trial for six years without its merits being heard, just as ANC president Jacob Zuma has done. Now it seems almost certain they will ask for another appeal on Wednesday, which will drag the case out even further. - Business Report website

Co-accused in R160 mln fraud case granted legal aid - 30 January
Tigon chief executive Gary Porritt and his co-director Sue Bennett - co-accused in what could turn out to be South Africa's biggest ever fraud case - will get legal aid. This is despite the fact that they posted nearly R1 million in bail after they were arrested in December 2002 and April 2004 respectively and stand accused of having "unlawfully expropriated" more than R160 million in investors' money, which was never recovered. Porritt lives on farms in the midlands that his detractors claim are worth millions. They allege Bennett has farmed out her assets to family members, with her children listed as the legal owners of properties. - The Witness website

Battle for little girl, 3, rages on - 27 January
Justice bosses have been left embarrassed about their costly bungling of an American man's child abduction claims against his South African wife. But the justice department is unrepentant about its failure to take the American's three-year-old daughter away from her mother, whom the little girl has lived with in South Africa for more than two years, and send her to an uncertain future in America. In an extraordinary statement given by Justice Ministry spokesperson Zolile Nqayi, the Family Advocate has slammed Judge Fritz van Oosten for refusing to urgently order that "Jenny" should be taken from her mother and be sent to America. - IOL website

Victory for leading SA publicist as court rules in favour of company's claim - 27 January
The January 6th judgement by the Witwatersrand Local Division High Court sees Johannesburg-based JT Communications awarded outstanding fees owed to it by organisers of the annual Newtown Diwali Festival as well as costs of the legal suit. - Artzone website

13 trapped in High Court elevator - 21 January
The Johannesburg High Court is still in recess, but the nightmare of unbearably hot courtrooms, broken elevators and water cuts has already begun. On Monday, 13 people were trapped in one of the court's lifts for about an hour, a source at the court told The Star on Tuesday. When the group were rescued, three people had passed out - two from the heat and one after suffering an asthma attack. - IOL website

Lucky Dube Case

Dube trial : divorce revelation adds intrigue - 5February
Why did Thabo Maruping decide to tell his wife about the hijacking of Lucky Dube, and why did she in turn become a state witness? These were the questions Judge Seun Moshidi put to Mpho Maruping on Wednesday during her second day of testimony at the Johannesburg High Court. Thabo Maruping was initially charged along with S'fiso Mhlanga, Ludwe Gxowa and Mbuti Mabe for the murder of Dube on October 18 2007, but charges against him were subsequently dropped. He is also expected to be a state witness. - IOL website

Pietermaritzburg

Molester wants high court sentence - 22 January
A convicted child molester demanded to be sentenced in a High Court as he strode from the dock yesterday, ignoring a Pietermaritzburg Regional Court magistrate’s orders to return to the box. Bonginkosi Zungu, 44, waved newspaper cuttings of his case in court and claimed that the victims had "done it" to one another. After refusing to return to the dock, he was escorted to a holding cell and in his absence sentenced to an effective 13 years in jail. - Daily Dispatch website

Durban

Durban Magistrate Court bails out xenophobia - 5 February
Early in January, a Zimbabwean, Victor Zowa, and Omar Said from Tanzania, were murdered in the Durban City centre. The two immigrants were fleeing an armed mob who forced them to jump out a high-rise building. Another Zimbabwean, Eugene Madondo, survived the fall. Six people were arrested on the two counts of murder, for attempted murder and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. These are all schedule 1 offences for which a magistrate should only grant bail in exceptional circumstances. Yet, SAPA reports that the Durban Magistrate's Court on Monday released five of the accused on R2,000 bail each. The sixth, Vusumuzi Khoza, an ANC eThekwini ward councillor, was released on the 28th of January for the same bail amount. - anarkismo website

Flat killing : pensioner appears in court - 26 January
Looking frail and immaculately dressed, 86-year-old John Hyde was supported by a handful of people when he appeared in the Durban Magistrate's Court on a charge of murder. Dressed in a light-brown suit, white shirt and matching tie, Hyde gingerly made his way into the dock. He has been charged with the murder of 60-year-old Satha Moodley, who lived in the same beachfront block of flats as Hyde. At the time it was believed that Moodley, who was a member of the flat's body corporate, was killed after a dispute about the washing of cars in the block's parking lot a day after a body corporate meeting. - IOL website

No legal presentation for Prince Zulu - 20 January
The trial of Durban businessman Prince Sifiso Zulu - on culpable homicide charges relating to an accident involving his BMW last year - is facing delays. The trial was set down to begin on February 2. However, The Mercury has learnt that Zulu's attorney has withdrawn from the case and, at present, he has no legal representative. Late last year, attorney Mvuseni Ngubane went to court to explain that he had lost all contact with Zulu and had not been able to consult him. Even if Zulu arrives at court with a lawyer on that day, it is unlikely the trial will proceed because the state has not been able to hand over any documents and statements for the preparation of his defence. - IOL website

East London

Man dies after alleged assault by bouncer - 19 January
Chad Fara, a 35-year-old East London man died on Monday after being in a coma following an assault by a night club bouncer, Eastern Cape police said. His charge of assault has now been changed to murder and he will appear in the East London Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. - IOL website

Murder accused out on R1 000 bail - 20 January
An East London bouncer accused of killing a 35-year-old man at a nightclub was on Monday released on R1 000 bail, Eastern Cape police said. Superintendent Mtati Tana could however not indicate when 23-year-old Morris Claassen was expected back in the East London Magistrate's Court. - IOL website

Ladysmith

Labour welcomes sentencing of two men - 29 January
The sentencing of two men who last year attacked a labour inspector while he was conducting an inspection on a printing business owned by their father has been welcomed by the Department of Labour. The sons of a Ladysmith printing business owner, have been fined R2 000 each or face three months imprisonment suspended for five years by the Ladysmith Magistrate's Court. - allAfrica website

Mthatha

Advocate fatally stabbed in home robbery - 21 January
A well-respected 65-year-old Eastern Cape advocate was stabbed to death in his Mthatha home at the weekend. Mzekeliso Elliot Sivuku, former deputy director-general of the old Transkei government, died on Sunday when five men, one believed to be his neighbour, repeatedly stabbed him in his chest in a suspected armed robbery. - Herald Online website

Pietermaritzburg

R20m fraud suspect sought - 29 January
Police are searching for a man who faces 83 charges of fraud amounting to R20-million after he escaped from custody, apparently in December en route to New Prison, Pietermaritzburg, from court. Sipho Msomi is alleged to have brought into the country spy software - a computer programme which monitors and records everything being done on a computer. Msomi faces 83 counts of fraud amounting to R20 million and six relating to the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act. His disappearance was discovered only on Monday. She said he should have appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate's Court on Monday, but there was no sign of him. - IOL website

Businessman escapes fraud charges - 26 January
Charges of fraud against Kempton Park businessman Sipho Msomi have been provisionally withdrawn at the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court following his escape, SABC news reported on Monday. - IOL website

Randburg

Joburg's suspected billboard bandit - 20 January
A polite accountant by day and a blade-wielding billboard bandit by night? This is the question most are asking themselves. Welcome to the suspected double life of Phillip Haslam, the man on trial for taking on Johannesburg's most notorious strip-joint kings, Lolly Jackson and Andrew Phillips. To sympathetic residents in the Sandton area  the vigilante may have become something of an anti-hero, destroying the billboards that have been the subject of bitter battles at the Advertising Standards Authority for being degrading to women. Haslam's his lawyer, James Ndebele, pointed out that Haslam, who has not formally pleaded to the charges, was maintaining his innocence. - IOL website

Selebi Case

Defiant Selebi ready for battle - 19 January
Troubled police chief Jackie Selebi is adamant that he wants to return to office, despite facing corruption charges and the ANC's apparent eagerness to get rid of him. - The Times website

Scottburgh

Drunken Porsche speedster jailed - 14 January
A Porsche driver is serving time in jail after he was trapped doing more than 200km/h twice in one day, apparently while under the influence of alcohol. Magistrate Giel van Aarde on Tuesday sentenced Alistair Peterson of Boksburg to a fine of R60 000 or 18 months in jail for speeding and to R12 000 or 16 months for driving under the influence. He also took away his licence for two years. - IOL website

Wynberg

Tax practitioners not the only ones liable for giving wrong advice - 23 January
The Wynberg magistrates' court in Cape Town is an unlikely venue for a momentous tax case. Yet, over the past months, in those austere surroundings, has been played out a drama of high stakes for Sars and the taxpayers concerned. The case has serious implications for many taxpayers around the country and raises a multitude of questions, not just about the intricacies of tax law, but also about the enforcement policies of Sars. - Moneyweb website

Internet Solutions withdraws Telkom antitrust application - 20 January
Converged communications provider Internet Solutions (IS) has withdrawn its application for interim relief in an anti-competitive complaint brought against Telkom. IS reportedly withdrew its application from the Competition Commission, because network operator Telkom said it would only meet with IS to discuss the resolution of its competition concerns if the company withdrew its interim relief application. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Competition Commission probes petroleum companies - 19 January
South Africa's competition authority said on Monday it had launched an investigation into gas and petroleum companies for their possible role in market allocation and price-fixing agreements. Petrochemicals group Sasol said in a separate statement it would fully comply with the investigation, adding it expected the review to be concluded during the first half of 2009. - moneyweb website

Sasol responds - 19 January
The Competition Commission today announced that it has initiated investigations into the South African piped gas and petroleum industries as a result of Sasol's leniency applications. Sasol is co-operating fully with the commission in these investigations. - moneyweb website

Sasol's competition law compliance review: Pat Davies : CEO, Sasol - 19 January
Interview with Alec Hogg on the moneyweb website

Competition Commission settles with milk cartel participant - 16 January
Dairy products producer Lancewood has agreed to pay a R100 000 settlement with the Competition Commission, with regard to its participation in a milk cartel. The commission on Friday reported that the producer has admitted its involvement in price information exchange and had directly or indirectly fixed the procurement prices of raw milk, in contravention of the Competition Act. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

New life for mooted 'super ombud' - 8 February
A proposal for a single adjudicator for the financial services industry, combining the existing statutory and voluntary dispute-resolution structures, is back on the table. This was confirmed this week by Dube Tshidi, the chief executive of the Financial Services Board (FSB). A single complaint-resolution body would combine the statutory (established by law) offices of the Ombud for Financial Services Providers, who deals mainly with complaints about inappropriate advice, and the Pension Funds Adjudicator (PFA) with the voluntary dispute-resolution structures (established by the financial services sector) : the ombudsmen for long-term insurance, short-term insurance and for banking services. - Personal Finance website

23 January 2009
Launch of the South African Human Rights Commission's (SAHRC's) Human Rights Journal
SA Government Information website

14 January 2009
South African Human Rights Commission announces the appointment of Pregs Govender as a commissioner
SA Government Information website

12 January 2008
Commission to announce it's "in principle decision" to lead an investigation into last year's xenophobic violence
SA Government Information website

S African Jews to take on deputy FM over slurs - 29 January
South Africa's Jewish Board of Deputies has lodged a complaint of hate speech with the country's Human Rights Commission against Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Fatima Hajaig of the ruling African National Congress. In remarks tape-recorded during a pro-Palestinian rally outside Johannesburg at the height of the recent fighting in Gaza, Hajaig can be heard saying that "Jewish money" controls the US and other nations. - The Jerusalem Post website

Holiday home gets under the skin - 20 January
The SA Human Rights Commission's legal department is assessing a complaint by a group of local and foreign academics and journalists who claim they were subjected to petty racism by the owner of a holiday home in Witsand – between Mossel Bay and Cape Town – over the holidays. The group included Dr Herman Wasserman, a lecturer at Sheffield University and his journalist wife Helena ; US political science assistant professors Dr Sean Jacobs and his wife Jessica Blatt ; Josh Ogada, assistant editor of Pambazuka News, which forms part of an international NGO promoting human rights, and his wife Dr Tanja Bosch, a journalism lecturer at the University of Cape Town. On their arrival, the agent took Dr Wasserman and his wife aside and said one of the homeowners "did not allow non-whites". - Herald Online website

see also :
Financial Services Board above

Statements and Speeches

6 February 2009
State of the Nation Address of the President of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe to the joint sitting of Parliament, Cape Town

Motlanthe outlines SA's four-point growth stimulus plan - 6 February
South Africa's President Kgalema Motlanthe outlined a four-point economic stimulus plan on Friday, which he said was aimed at minimising the impact of the prevailing economic crisis on the country’s growth and employment prospects. Speaking in his inaugural, and probably his last, 'State of the Nation' address to Parliament, Motlanthe said that the interventions would be informed by the principles of a "counter-cyclical fiscal policy". - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Nation is in a good state : Motlanthe - 6 February
President Kgalema Motlanthe says despite the current economic climate and political uncertainties that the country faces, the nation is still in a good state. He however warned that the challenges the country faced should not be underestimated. - BuaNews Online website

Motlanthe : global crisis threatens SA jobs - 6 February
South African acting President Kgalema Motlanthe says the global economic meltdown poses dangers in terms of job losses and quality of life for South Africans. - The Times website

Motlanthe expresses hope for SA's economic resilience - 6 February
Despite the global economic meltdown that has ruined developed economies and led many of the world's economies into recession, South Africa can mitigate the effects, President Kgalema Motlanthe said, Friday. - BuaNews Online website

29 January 2009
Parliament wraps up hearings on Criminal Justice System

20 January 2009
Matatiele next on Shiceka's priority list
Keyphrase :
Local Government : Municipal Demarcation Act 27 of 1998

Minister meets community leaders on demarcation issues - 21 January
Minister for Provincial and Local Government, Sicelo Shiceka, is meeting community leaders on Wednesday to conduct a consultative process with a view to resolving the demarcation of Matatiele, bordering KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. - allAfrica website

Interesting Documents and New Bills

28 January 2009
Cross-Boundary Municipalities Laws Repeal and Related Matters Amendment Bill [B3-2009]

Committee Minutes

Arts and Culture Committee

27 January 2009
Bible Society of South Africa Repeal Bill : adoption of NCOP proposed amendments

Requests for Submissions and Hearings

Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000

Public hearings on the Rules of Procedure for Judicial Review of Administrative Action in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development will hold public hearings on the Rules of Procedure for Judicial Review of Administrative Action in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000.

Section 33(1) of the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to administrative action that is lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair. The Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 3 of 2000 gives effect to that right and section 7 of the Act requires the Rules Board for Courts of Law to make rules of procedure for judicial review subject to the approval of the Minister and Parliament. These rules provide an appropriate procedure to facilitate proceedings for judicial review.

Members of the public, non-governmental organisations, community-based organizations and other stakeholders are invited to attend and make submissions.

The hearings will be held at Parliament on Friday 13 February 2009 from 10:00.

Any person or organization wanting to make written submissions to the Portfolio Committee should do so by no later than Wednesday, 11 February 2009. Any person or organization interested in giving further oral evidence before the Committee should notify the Committee of such intention by no later than 11 February 2009.

Copies of the Rules and Forms can be obtained from either Ms P Sibisi or Mr V Ramaano.

Enquiries :  Ms P Sibisi - Telephone : 021-403 3660, Cell : 083-709 8449, Email : psibisi@parliament.gov.za and/or Mr V Ramaano - Telephone : 021-403 3820, Cell : 083-709 8427, Fax : 086-5659 219, Email : vramaano@parliament.gov.za

Issued by Mr Y Carrim, MP, Chairperson : Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development.

Forms relevant to the Rules :

Form A: Request for Reasons

Form B: Response to Request for Reasons

Form C: Request for Disclosure of Documents

Form D Affidavit - List of Documents Disclosed

Form E: Notification of Refusal to Disclose Documents

Form F: Notice of Motion: Application for Judicial Review

The documents are also available here :
www.pmg.org.za/policy_docs

 

Public hearings on the Constitution Sixteenth Amendment Bill [B1-2009]

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development will hold public hearings on the Constitution Sixteenth Amendment Bill [B1-2009].

The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, in order to re-determine the geographical areas of the provinces of Gauteng and North West and to provide for matters connected therewith.

Members of the public, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs) and other stakeholders are invited to attend and make submissions.

The hearings will be held at Parliament on Tuesday 10 February 2009 from 10:00.

Any person or organization wanting to make written submissions to the Portfolio Committee can email Committee Secretaries: Ms P Sibisi at psibisi@parliament.gov.za  or Mr V Ramaano at vramaano@parliament.gov.za by no later than Friday, 06 February 2009.

Any person or organization who would like to give further oral evidence before the Committee should notify the Committee of such intention by no later than 06 February 2009.

Enquiries : Ms P Sibisi - telephone : 021-403 3660 ; Cell : 083-709 8449 and/or Mr V Ramaano - telephone : 021-403 3820 ; Cell : 083-709 8427

Issued by Mr Y I Carrim, MP : Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development.

The Bill is also here: www.pmg.org.za/bill

 

The Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill has been tabled in Parliament and referred to the Ad Hoc Committee on the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill for consideration and report.

The purpose of the Bill is to : Amend the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977, so as to further regulate powers in respect of the ascertainment of bodily features of persons. Provide for the compulsory taking of fingerprints of certain categories of persons ; to provide for the taking of specified bodily substances from certain categories of persons for the purposes of DNA analysis. Provide that prints and samples taken under the Act are retained. Regulate proof of certain facts by affidavit or certificate. Regulate evidence of the prints or bodily features of accused persons. Amend the South African Police Service Act, 1995, so as to regulate the storing and use of fingerprints, palmprints, footprints and photographs of certain categories of persons ; and to establish and regulate the administration and maintenance of the National DNA Database of South Africa ; to amend the Firearms Control Act, 2000,so as to further regulate the powers in respect of bodyprints and bodily samples ; and to amend the Explosives Act, 2003, so as to further regulate the powers in respect of prints and samples for investigation purposes.

Any person or organisation that would like to make written submissions to the Committee may do so by no later than 30 January 2009.

Written submissions should be emailed to Mr Jeremy Michaels at jmichaels@parliament.gov.za

Enquiries : Mr Jeremy Michaels, telephone : 021-403 3806 ; Fax : 021-403 2808 or e-mail : jmichaels@parliament.gov.za

Issued by : Honorable Maggie Sotyu, Chairperson : Ad Hoc Committee on the Criminal (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill (National Assembly)

The Bills are available here: www.pmg.org.za/bill

22 December 2008
Code of Conduct for Broadcasters

The Independent Communications Authority requests comment on its Code of Conduct for Broadcasters. Comments can be emailed to Ms Leomile Pholosi at lpholosi@icasa.org.za  by no later than 16h00 on 20 February 2009. Enquiries can be directed to : Ms Leomile Pholosi at 011-566 3247/3259. Persons making written representations are requested to indicate if they wish to make oral submissions in the event that ICASA decides to conduct oral hearings. The oral hearings may be held during the second week of March 2009

12 December 2008
Exhumation Policy on Cases of Missing Persons Reported to the TRC

12 December 2008
Proposed Regulations on Exhumations, Reburials and Symbolic Burials of Deceased Victims

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has published the proposed Regulations on Exhumations, Reburials and Symbolic Burials of Deceased Victims in terms of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, 1995 for public comment. Comments can be emailed to the Chief Director : TRC Unit : Dr M J Seekoe at mseekoe@justice.gov.za or inbotha@justice.gov.za by no later than Friday 20 February 2009

Motlanthe refuses to sign two bills - 29 January
Motlanthe has referred the Films and Publications Amendment Bill and the Competition Amendment Bill back to the National Assembly for reconsideration in terms of Section 79(1) of the Constitution, the presidency said today. "The President has expressed reservation on the unconstitutionality of certain sections of the Bills after careful consideration," it said. - The Times website

Why Motlanthe won't sign bills - 3 February
President Kgalema Motlanthe has explained to Parliament exactly what it is he finds objectionable in the Competition Amendment Bill that he has sent back for further consideration. He told Speaker Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde in a letter published on Monday that he has a legal opinion which reckons that the "reverse onus" of proof implied in the clause that imposes criminal liability on directors and individuals holding management authority violates the right to a fair trial provision in the Constitution's Bill of Rights. Other questions that have arisen over the constitutionality of the bill, the President says, include the introduction of complex monopolies. - News24 website

Broadcasting Amendment Bill

All eyes on Motlanthe - 19 January
President Kgalema Motlanthe is to write to parliament this week detailing his concerns about the Broadcasting Amendment Bill amid tensions between the president and hardliners within the ANC over the delay in signing the bill into law. - IOL website

Competition Amendment Bill

Motlanthe tells Parliament to reconsider Competition Bill - 29 January
The somewhat controversial Competition Amendment Bill, was drafted in a bid to strengthen the hand of South Africa's competition authorities, but slightly softened contentious clauses relating to the criminalisation of anticompetitive behaviour by directors and company officers. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

MPs defy Motlanthe over bill - 5 February
In an unprecedented move, Parliament's trade and industry committee has refused to accept President Kgalema Motlanthe's rejection of the Competition Amendment Bill, and reaffirmed its support for the clauses the president found objectionable. By refusing to amend the bill and sending it back unchanged the committee has almost guaranteed that it will go to the Constitutional Court for adjudication. The constitution provides that Motlanthe has two options if a bill is returned to him unchanged : he can either sign it or refer it to the court. - Business Day website

DNA Bill

Bill for national DNA database - 16 January
In the first sitting of parliament next month, a bill could be passed making it mandatory for all convicted criminals to provide DNA for a national database. The new DNA Bill was adopted by cabinet in December 2008, after years of lobbying by the DNA Project, a Section 21 non-profit company. If passed, the new legislation would allow for DNA profiles to be taken from all convicted criminals retrospectively. - IOL website

Financial Management of Parliament Bill

Bill will obscure responsibility for parliament's finances : secretary - 28 January
The management of parliament has put a hurdle in the way of passing key legislation that would insulate parliament from the treasury's accounting rules. The bill, which is before the national council of provinces, has come under fire from, the secretary to parliament, Zingile Dingani, who is the accounting officer of both houses of parliament. - Business Report website

National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill

Dear all

Yesterday, 29 January 2009, it was with great sadness that Hugh Glenister's attorney, Kevin Louis received a letter from the Office of the President informing him that the President has assented to the SAPS Amendment Bill, 2008 and the NPA Amendment Bill, 2008, the 2 pieces of legislation which will disestablish the Scorpions. According to the letter from Adv. Sibongile Sigodi, Head of Legal and Executive Services in the Presidency, the President found there "was no basis for constitutional reservation (of the Bills) as contemplated in s79 of the Constitution". So the Scorpions are gone.

Issued by Dani Cohen of FD

Motlanthe signs Bill to scrap Scorpions - 30 January
President Kgalema Motlanthe has approved two pieces of legislation disbanding the Scorpions, the Presidency confirmed today. - The Times website

Glenister fights to save the Scorpions - 31 January
Businessman Hugh Glenister will probably approach the Constitutional Court in a last-gasp bid to save the Scorpions, his lawyer told the E-News channel. - The Times website

President approves NPA Amendment Bill - 30 January
President Kgalema Motlanthe has approved the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill, 2008 and the South African Police Service Amendment Bill, 2008. The two bills passed by the National Assembly in October last year, is expected to strengthen the investigative capacity of the police in relation to organised and serious crime. Under the new legislation the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), or Scorpions as it is known, will be dissolved and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) will be established under the South African Police Services. This new directorate will handle the outstanding cases under investigation by the Scorpions. - BuaNews Online website

Excerpt :
"The Venice Commission will organise, in co-operation with the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the first World Conference on Constitutional Justice to be held from 23 to 24 January 2009. The topic of the Conference will be "Influential Constitutional Justice - its influence on society and on developing a global jurisprudence on human rights". This Conference will bring together for the first time in a single event constitutional courts and equivalent bodies from throughout the world"

World's Concourt judges to meet in SA - 20 January
South Africa is to host constitutional court judges from around the world, including those from Commonwealth courts and members of various regional groups, in Cape Town, later this month. The World Conference on Constitutional Justice Conference, to be held on 23 and 24 January, will see over 260 senior judges and representatives from constitutional courts, equivalent institutions and their representatives from over 93 countries coming together for the first time. - BuaNews Online website

International judges to lock heads - 19 January
Over 260 judges from 93 countries will converge on Cape Town on Friday for a conference on constitutional justice, South Africa's Chief Justice Pius Langa said on Monday. "The gathering will provide both the world's new as well as established democracies with a platform to exchange ideas on constitutional matters and jurisprudence," said Langa at a media briefing in Johannesburg. The conference will be hosted jointly with the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, an advisory body to the Council of Europe on Constitutional issues. - IOL website

Angola attends world summit on constitutional justice - 21 January
An Angolan delegation of the Constitutional Court, headed by counselling Judge Miguel Correia, participates on 23-27 January, the World Summit on Constitutional Justice, to be held in Cape Town, South Africa. Speaking to Angop Wednesday at Luanda's "4 de Fevereiro" International Airport, Miguel Correia stressed that the world is concerned about the materialisation of the fundamental rights of citizens and the constitutional courts constitute themselves the instruments to address these issues. - Angop website

23 January 2009
Speech by President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe, at the opening of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice
SA Government Information website

Judiciary not undermined : Motlanthe - 23 January
President Kgalema Motlanthe today denied the independence of South Africa’s judiciary was being undermined. "Recent assertions in the local and international media that the judiciary is being undermined are untrue, and without basis," he told the World Conference on Constitutional Justice in Cape Town. - The Times website

Judiciary must do more to serve the poor - 23 January
More work needs to be done to ensure the judiciary serves the less privileged members of society, says President Kgalema Motlanthe. Speaking at the World Conference on Constitutional Justice in Cape Town on Friday, the President said despite the gains that have been made, South Africa's judicial system had some way to go in creating a better society for all South Africans. He said if the judicial system was to contribute to the reconstruction and development of society, it must address the inequalities and imbalances which remain as part of its defining characteristics. - BuaNews Online website

Courts' independence not imperilled - 26 January
Former Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson says he does not believe that the independence of South Africa's judiciary is in any way imperilled, but cautions that any tensions between it and the government should be managed. - Cape Argus website

28 January 2009
Address by Ms Baleka Mbete, Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, at the opening of the eighth World Conference of the International Association of Refugee Law Judges (Iarlj), at the Table Bay Hotel, Cape Town
SA Government Information website

South Africa

Legal world still a white man's club - 18 January
A year after promising to open its doors to black and female lawyers, South Africa's legal profession is still a white man's world. The shocking findings of a survey commissioned by the Law Society of South Africa reveal that 80% of law firms are fully owned by whites. And women, like black advocates, still don’t get their fair share of work. - The Times website

Report online at http://www.lssa.org.za/LinkClick.aspx?link=Law+Society+survey+Final+18+
September+2008.pdf&tabid=53&mid=427

Put your faith in black lawyers - 18 January
One of the fundamental problems that black lawyers are facing in the bid to transform the make-up of legal firms and employment of advocates is the unfortunate legacy we are still carrying from the days of apartheid. Clients - both black and white - are nervous about using black attorneys in the mistaken belief that they are sub-standard. If you accept them and value them as attorneys without allowing preconceived ideas to filter them out then transformation will happen far sooner - in this case because the public has helped to facilitate it by simply giving people a chance. - Michael Trapido on the Thought Leader blog

Black lawyers victims of own inferiority complex - 25 January
Your article "Legal world still a white man's club" (January 18), can't go unchallenged. The leader of the General Council of the Bar of South Africa is a senior black advocate. The national leader of Advocates for Transformation is a senior black advocate. The leader of the Johannesburg chapter of Advocates for Transformation is a senior black advocate. The leader of the largest association of advocates, the Johannesburg Bar, is a senior black advocate. The co-leader of the Law Society of South Africa is a senior black attorney. The legal world is, in fact, a black man's club. We, as black professionals, must face the facts. Things have changed, but we simply haven't changed with them. We hold leadership positions, yet we still cling steadfastly to the rickety scaffolding that is victim-hood. - Letter by Vuyani Ngalwana, member of the Johannesburg Bar on The Times website

Law Society probe : conflicting views - 30 January
Law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CLH) is the subject of a complaint to the SA Law Society over its alleged failure to reveal it was acting for both sides in a dispute. This forms part of a broader five-year tussle between UK-based businessman Allan Le Roux and the JSE-listed industrial firm Dorbyl. Le Roux's 32-page complaint to the Law Society claims that at one stage, Hofmeyr Herbstein & Gihwala (which merged with Cliffe Dekker in September) acted as attorneys for him and Dorbyl. - Financial Mail website

No fidelity fund certificate, so 21 lawyers barred - 5 February
Twenty-one Port Elizabeth lawyers have been barred from appearing in court because they do not have a valid fidelity fund certificate – which is issued yearly by the Cape Law Society. - Herald Online website

Pretoria lawyers fight Nedbank over R26m - January
On balance it is not clear that Nedbank is entitled to any money at all. Findlay & Niemeyer is bracing itself for a battle against Nedbank that will mean liquidation if it loses. And a secret forensic report could turn out to be a smoking gun. Now Nedbank has filed a provisional claim to recover the R26m from the Attorneys' Fidelity Fund. - Noseweek Online website

Botswana

Inquorate lawyers' meeting fails again - 21 January
The Law Society of Botswana (LSB) has failed to hold its annual general meeting again. BLS had organised an AGM for January 17 for the election of a new council and the briefing of members about the suspension of the organisation's Executive Secretary, Patricia Makhoana, among other things. - Mmegi Online website

Hong Kong

Speech of President Mr Lester G Huang delivered at the Opening of the Legal Year 2009 - 12 January
Law Society of Hong Kong website

Russia

Prominent Russian lawyer killed - 19 January
A top human rights lawyer who acted for the family of a Chechen woman murdered by a Russian army officer has been shot dead along with a journalist in Moscow. Stanislav Markelov, who acted for the family of Kheda Kungayeva, 18, was shot by a gunman after a news conference in the centre of the Russian capital. He had voiced outrage after officer Yuri Budanov was released early. - BBC News website

Scotland

Fears for legal profession as 200 staff fall victim to recession - [7 February]
Scots law firms are facing unprecedented levels of redundancy as the current economic crisis hits the profession, senior industry figures have warned. The sharp downturn in the housing market has hit conveyancing firms hardest with paralegals, trainees and qualified solicitors all facing the threat of redundancy. - Sunday Herald website

United Kingdom

A compelling case for a great career - 5 February
The job of a solicitor is a rewarding and enjoyable one; it is varied and there are many areas to specialise in once you are qualified. There is more than one route to qualification, but all paths lead to the same destination. - The Independent (Career Planning) website

Slaughter and May sidesteps the financial carnage - 19 January
Slaughter and May has always been different. The last of the big traditional partnerships, with nothing as vulgar as a public relations department, it prides itself on never having hired a partner from outside the firm. But its restrained approach, once derided as old-fashioned, is now looking more appropriate in the credit crunch era. - Times Online website

Credit crunch drives top SA lawyer to death - 17 January
This week, as friends and colleagues attended Catherine Bailey's funeral, she was remembered as an "exceptional lawyer". Henry Shields, a well-known Cape Town attorney who lectured Bailey when she was a student, wrote : "I had the honour of training Catherine Bailey as an attorney in Cape Town. "Her ethics, intelligence, warmth and wit placed her in a class of her own. I hope that this tragedy will not fuel wild speculation, but rather thoughtful and respectful responses to a human tragedy that will leave many people feeling devastated - as I do". - IOL website

Arts and Culture

KZN's battlefields plundered - 20 January
Wealthy local and overseas people are enticing poor South Africans to plunder battlefields and rob graves of artefacts, conference delegates were told by Arthur Konigkramer, chairperson of Amafa KwaZulu-Natal, in Dundee on Monday at a conference held to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the Anglo-Zulu War. "Without wanting to reveal too much I can say that Amafa has gone to great lengths to have the guilty party charged. But a magistrate has refused to grant the police a search warrant to retrieve the stolen artefacts, and so we are unable to proceed at this stage because we do not have the physical evidence," Konigkramer added. One Australian paid  "a paltry R100 for medals removed from the battlefield". Amafa plans to liaise with the Australian authorities regarding the theft. Konigkramer said he and the director of Amafa, Barry Marshall, travelled to Britain to track down a "certain Bruce Crompton", said to have a collection of valuable artefacts looted from Isandlwana. But even though Scotland Yard was called in, there was no prosecution. "It appears that Britain is reluctant to prosecute its citizens for misdemeanours committed outside that country". He added that Crompton had undertaken to donate the items to the Royal Regiment of Wales upon his death. They will then be returned to Amafa. - IOL website

Banking

FNB, Absa ordered to pay 'fraud victim' - 30 January
The Ombudsman for Banking Services has ruled in favour of a bank customer who fell prey to fraudsters in a cheque deposit scam, ordering two major banks to compensate the victim for their negligence. - IOL website
Keyphrase :
Andre Nel

Chapter 9 Institutions

5 February 2009
Unit on Chapter 9 institutions and other statutory bodies
SA Government Information website

Communications

Telecoms charter back in committee - 30 January
The telecoms and technology empowerment charter steering committee is scheduled to meet next week to finalise the amendments to its draft charter. The department of trade and industry (dti) sent the charter back to the committee for more clarity on the proposed exemption of some firms from the more than 25 percent ownership required by the department's codes of good practice. - Business Report website

ICT charter wait continues - 19 January
The draft ICT Sector Codes of Good Practice on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment will not be gazetted yet and has been referred back to the industry to resolve several issues. Convenor of the ICT empowerment charter steering committee Norman Munzhelele explains what the delay is this time around: "A draft was submitted last year for the DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] to analyse and assess. The DTI had questions in some areas on that draft and the proposed codes were sent back to the steering committee. We have since reconvened and concluded the sector codes in alignment with policy. We are hoping that it will be ready at the end of the month for resubmission". - moneyweb website

See also :
ICT charter on final stretch - 13 April 2008
ITWeb website

Company Law

Are a CEO's health problems a private matter? - 19 January
Or does he or she have an obligation to disclose them to investors and other stakeholders? Dana Radcliffe is a Day Family senior lecturer of business ethics at the Johnson School at Cornell University. The views expressed are his own. - moneyweb website
Keyphrase :
Steve Job

Courts

Magistrates Court rule changes - 20 January
There are amendments to the Magistrate Court rules in South Africa on their way in due course.  I certainly hope they come faster rather than later, and the draft proposals run to a 178 pages. - Michael di Broglio's Legal Blog

Bid to unclog courts - 22 January
KwaZulu-Natal's top lawmakers and judicial officials have again hinted at more lenient bail and sentencing conditions to ease the major backlogs of cases within the court systems. The judiciary was grappling with how to ensure that justice was served timeously, said KwaZulu-Natal judge-president Vuka Tshabalala on Wednesday. He was speaking at a seminar in Durban to discuss case flow management, attended by members of the South African judiciary and American guest speaker, Judge Andre Davis, US District Court Judge for Maryland. - IOL website

See :
United Kingdom. Four in 10 serious criminals let off with a caution below

Criminal Justice System

Questions after suspects die in shootouts - 8 February
In the past two weeks in and around Durban, more than 16 criminal suspects, and an innocent bystander, it seems, have been killed in shootouts with police, bringing to the fore the use of deadly force in apprehending suspects. Do these incidents reflect a new, tougher, if not gung-ho approach to combating crime? Have some policemen interpreted too literally the recent shoot-to-kill utterances of some leading politicians? And how do we know that vital witnesses are not being deliberately taken out by cops on the take? - IOL website

See also :
Taxpayers to foot claim for cops' victim above

Education

Students defy order to relocate - 28 January
Students reading for postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at the Pietermaritzburg campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal have defied an order to relocate to the Edgewood campus in Pinetown after a standoff between them and UKZN management. The Dean of Education, Prof Michael Samuel, announced yesterday that the 37 students who registered for PGCE studies on the Pietermaritzburg campus would have to move to Edgewood campus or deregister. The students rejected the proposal and demanded that management consider alternatives. David Look, one of the students, said the notice comes too late for students to deregister because applications have closed at other institutions and some students stand to lose their bursaries. Samuel said that due to economic challenges it was not financially viable to provide PGCE studies in Pietermaritzburg. - The Witness website

PGCE students win battle to stay at PMB campus  - 29 January
The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has reversed its last minute decision to relocate the Post Graduate Certificate in Education studies (PGCE) at the Pietermaritzburg Campus to Edgewood in Pinetown. The students presented a petition, stating reasons why they were opposing the move. Professor Samuel accepted the petition and promised to discuss the matter with senior management. In a press statement yesterday, UKZN Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Head of College, Humanities, Professor Fikile Mazibuko said management ruled in favour of the students. - The Witness website

Family Law

New ways to resolve child custody disputes - 26 January
Despite significant changes being made to the Children's Act, some offices of the Family Advocate have yet to fully implement new procedures that will cut back on the sometimes harmful High Court litigation over child custody. And while South Africa may have the Rolls Royce of constitutions, and some of the most progressive laws in the world, the law did not always reflect the social reality, Human Rights Commission chairman Jodi Kollapen has said. - IOL website

Finance

Manuel calls for equity, change in global economies - 16 January
The first ever meeting of the African Committee of 10 (C10) began in Cape Town on Friday, with South Africa's Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel, calling for "equity and change", in an environment where wealthy countries have found ways to "dig themselves out" of economic recession, while African nations "remain trapped in a cycle of poverty". The list of concerns was lengthy, as the effects of the global downturn could be measured in almost all of the economies represented at the meeting, attended by African Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Foreign Affairs

Government minister’s slurs anger South African Jews - 26 January
Shortly after a senior government official angered the South African Jewish community with anti-Semitic slurs, President Kgalema Motlanthe met with community leaders and assured them that everything would be done to ensure the community's safety. - JTA website

Motlanthe reprimands Hajaig - 4 February
Deputy Foreign Minister Fatima Hajaig's allegedly anti-Semitic remarks, made at a rally last month, have earned her a dressing down from President Kgalema Motlanthe. - The Times website

Health

Multi-million medical scam exposed - 28 January
Several senior "fat cat" doctors employed by the KwaZulu-Natal health department have been fingered in a multi-million rand scheme thriving at the expense of taxpayers. It is alleged that the culprits who own private practices have been exploiting the loopholes in the system to con and cripple health service delivery to the poor in the province. It has cost the province's department of health billions over the past few years. A high level investigation is under way and those responsible could face time in jail. The worst transgressors are in the greater Durban and Pietermaritzburg areas – two of the biggest state hospital service areas in the region. - Sowetan website

Pharmacists agree to resolve fee issue - 27 February
Health Minister Barbara Hogan and the Pharmacy Stakeholders Forum (PSF) have agreed to settle their dispensing fees issue amicably, the organisation announced on Tuesday. According to a statement issued by PSF, Hogan met PSF representatives on Monday. It was decided it was in the interests all concerned to solve the matter amicably. "All parties agreed that medicines must be affordable and accessible to consumers," the PSF said. - IOL website

International Transactions

International transactions : legal risks and mitigation strategies - 19 January
South Africa's trade and investment with the rest of the world, and in particular the rest of Africa, has grown rapidly since South Africa emerged from international isolation in 1994. The country has positioned itself as a gateway into Africa and many international financial and other institutions have established regional offices, often as a platform for operations into the rest of the continent. Many South African businesses are now represented internationally and/or transact across national frontiers. The comparatively strong performance of several African stock exchanges, the increased world-wide demand for resources and commodities and the general scramble by developed countries to find non-matured markets for their products has also contributed to an internationalising trend. But cross-border transactions create complexities, including additional legal risks, when compared to domestic transactions. - Article by Julian Jackson of Deneys Reitz Attorneys on the Mondaq website
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Judiciary

Chief justice welcomes judges' differing views - 20 January
Chief Justice Pius Langa said yesterday that he was "not astounded that judges had different views", and that it was for that reason that there was a review and appeal system. Langa was responding to a question on the difference between Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Chris Nicholson's judgment, which set aside the National Prosecuting Authority's decision to prosecute African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma, and Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Louis Harms's judgment on appeal. Harms's judgment was scathingly critical of Nicholson's findings. - Business Day website

Hands off judiciary! - 20 January
Chief Justice Pius Langa and his Constitutional Court colleague, Justice Albie Sachs, have warned that personal attacks on judges threatened to weaken the country’s judiciary and democracy. - The Times website

Langa : Criticism of judges should be fair, reasonable - 19 January
Constitutional Court Chief Justice Pius Langa on Monday urged the public to refrain from personal attacks on judges as this practice would weaken democracy. "I think judges should have a thick skin and, having said that, I'm not encouraging people to call us names," Langa said at a media briefing in Johannesburg, held at the Constitutional Court. - Mail & Guardian website

Chief Justice speaks out against the dogs of populism - 19 January
We must take stock as a nation. Our Chief Justice, Pius Langa, has found it necessary to call on influential South Africans to stop undermining the judiciary. Langa, a lifetime servant of the courts whose integrity is beyond reproach made the remarks in the wake of several highly publicised remarks about the judiciary. Langa was responding to remarks describing the judges as "drunks" and as "counter revolutionary". "We don't expect this from the general public. This tells us that they have not read the judgments". - Ray Hartley's blog on The Times website

A good case for calm in discussing the judiciary - 28 January
A growing number of pundits have been raising alarm bells about what they perceive to be the erosion of, and threats to, the independence of the judiciary. Recent crass and ill-informed attacks on the judiciary have not helped. Some of our sitting judges share this vision. - Business Day website

Making a case for judicial activism in courts - 20 January
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) delivered a ruthless judgment last week in which it rejected judicial activism by Durban High Court Judge Chris Nicholson in a case involving Jacob Zuma, president of the African National Congress. Nicholson's original judgment and the judgment of the SCA are manifestations of the politics of approach to adjudication in the second decade of democratic SA. While Nicholson appears to favour judicial activism, the SCA supports judicial restraint or minimalism. The question is : which of the two approaches is more consonant with the ethos and values espoused in our constitution? - Article by Sibonile Khoza, director for constitutional responsibilities in the premier's department in Western Cape, and Sibonelo Ndlovu, a partner at Smith, Ndlovu and Summers Attorneys on the allAfrica website

The gentleman who pioneered transformation - 2 February
Presiding in the divorce of Nelson Mandela and his former wife Winnie Mandela, sentencing the Hani-killers to death and being instrumental in appointing to the Bench Advocate Ismael Mahomed, who later became the Chief Justice, was all part of the career of former Transvaal Judge President Frikkie Eloff. Although the 84-year-old judge retired 10 years ago, he is nearly just as busy as he was while running the Pretoria High Court.  - IOL website

Judge Hlophe

Hlophe back at work - 28 January
Cape Judge President John Hlophe is back at work, and there is no indication that the cloud of "improper interference" hanging over his head will be disappearing anytime soon. After the judges of the Constitutional Court laid a complaint against him with the Judicial Service Commission last year, in mid-June Judge Hlophe requested special leave of absence until the matter was resolved. - IOL website

Counting the reasons why Hlophe should stay home - 30 January
President Kgalema Motlanthe will have to take advice from the Judicial Service Commission as to whether it is appropriate to suspend a judge who has voluntarily taken "special leave" for no other reason than that there is a serious complaint of gross misconduct pending against him. The question that obviously arises is : "What has changed to allow Hlophe to cut short his 'special leave'?" The answer that suggests itself is : "Nothing". If Hlophe is not prepared to resume his "special leave", he may well find himself suspended in terms of section 177(3) of the constitution. - Article by Paul Hoffman, senior advocate of the high court, on the Business Day website

Hlophe in new controversy with sudden return to work - 30 January
Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe has triggered another row, summarily returning to work before the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has resolved the Constitutional Court complaint against him. - Business Day website

Give me back my job : Judge Hlophe - 1 February
Controversial Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe has launched an extraordinary attack on justice minister Enver Surty, accusing him of "unlawful" behaviour and threatening the independence of the judiciary. In a strongly worded letter dispatched to Surty on Thursday, Judge Hlophe accuses the minister of abusing his powers and warns that he risks plunging South Africa into a "constitutional crisis". - The Times website

'This is a constitutional crisis' - 2 February
Cape Judge President John Hlophe is not allowed to return to work because the conditions under which he was granted special leave last year have not been met, Justice Minister Enver Surty said on Sunday. - IOL website

Dangerous precedent looms : experts - 3 February
The tug-of-war between Cape Judge President John Hlophe and minister of justice Enver Surty has reached a stalemate. Despite a second letter from the minister, again warning that he could not unilaterally suspend his leave which was granted on condition that he not return to work until the complaint against him was resolved, the judge was back in his office on Monday. - IOL website

Hlophe defies minister's order - 3 February
Cape Judge President John Hlophe is back at his desk at the Cape High Court, "exercising my right to work" and in effect cocking a snook at Justice Minister Enver Surty, who asked him last week to remain at home while the allegations of misconduct against him are investigated. - IOL website

Hlophe gets reminder of leave terms - 3 February
Justice Minister Enver Surty sent Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe a letter yesterday, asking him to make representation as to why he should return to work, says justice spokesman Zolile Nqayi. Nqayi said yesterday Hlophe's representation would then be sent to Supreme Court of Appeal president Lex Mpati, in his capacity as deputy chairman of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), for it to make a decision. The JSC could then make a recommendation to President Kgalema Motlanthe, who could decide whether or not to suspend Hlophe. - Business Day website

GCB backs Minister against Hlophe - 6 February
The General Council of the Bar of South Africa has taken note that Judge President Hlophe has returned from the special leave granted to him at his request by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, despite the Minister's request that he remains on special leave until the determination of the complaint against him by the Judicial Service Commission. It appears that Judge Hlophe was granted leave in terms of Regulation 5 of the Regulations under the Judges Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Act, 47 of 2001 (published under GN R894 in GG 23564 of 5 July 2002). - Politicsweb website

Members of JSC push for Hlophe's suspension - 8 February
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) will meet in the next fortnight to discuss the furore surrounding Cape Judge President John Hlophe, and some members will push for his immediate suspension, the Mail & Guardian has learned. - Mail & Guardian website

Hlophe's stance is all so unnecessary - 8 February
The strength and fabric of our democracy depends largely on the constitutional imperative of co-operative governance. To this extent I shall fulfil my executive and administrative responsibilities unwaveringly, but be mindful of my commitment to dignified resolutions of conflict, all in the interest of a sound administration of justice and for the independence and integrity of our judiciary. Should I be faced with a difference of opinion regarding the interpretation of the regulations pertaining to special leave, I may, as the constitution provides, seek the wisdom and advice of the Judicial Service Commission. - 'Another view' by Justice Minister E Surty on The Times website

Judicial Service Commission

JSC to meet on Hlophe matter in few weeks - 29 January
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is expecting to meet within the next few weeks to decide on a way forward regarding the matter of Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe. JSC spokesman Marumo Moerane said on Thursday the commission was proceeding with the Hlophe matter. "The next step is to call a meeting of the JSC in the next about three weeks to plan and plot the way forward", he said. - Citizen website

Holomisa : 'Judge peddled conspiracy theory' - 23 January
United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa lodged a complaint with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Friday last week against Judge Chris Nicholson in relation to his judgement in the case involving ANC president Jacob Zuma. Explaining his decision to do so, he hit out at Nicholson's comments concerning political meddling. "It is highly dangerous in a volatile political climate for a judge to make inferences that give credence to an unproven conspiracy theory of political interference", he told the Mail & Guardian. - Mail & Guardian website

See also :
World Conference on Constitutional Justice above

KwaZulu-Natal

Agriculture MEC unveils turnaround strategy - 22 January
Ongoing problems in KwaZulu-Natal's Department of Agriculture have prompted MEC Mtholephi Mthimkhulu to pay a private consortium R20-million to help it out of its management doldrums. - IOL website

Land Affairs and Property

Who owns what land in South Africa? - 23 January
Despite a state land audit last year, it is still unclear who owns what land in South Africa. Officially South Africa's land reform programme seems to be progressing at a snail's pace with about 18% of all land in black hands. This excludes state-owned land and includes land in the former homelands. But the official figure of 18% does not account for any private land sales after 1994, the Department of Land Affairs told the Mail & Guardian. - Mail & Guardian website

Home loan bombshell : Standard Bank shuts out originators - 16 January
A battle has erupted between JSE-listed Standard Bank and the country's top mortgage originators over commissions. Standard Bank was not accepting home loan business from ooba, formerly MortgageSA, this week or Bond Choice. Lawyers have been enlisted on either side as the fight between banks and their once-courted intermediaries starts to hot up. - moneyweb website

When your house is not your home - 22 January
Illegal occupation is a growing problem in townships Gauteng, according to a senior public prosecutor at a Johannesburg court. The prosecutor, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he had dealt with many cases where a homeowner defaulted on the bond, the bank auctioned off the house and the person who bought it could not move in because the previous owner, with the support of the community, refused to vacate the property. The problem was that the people occupying houses illegally were charged only with trespassing and contempt of court - minor charges. Teresa Steynn, a sheriff of the court, said after an order has been issued, they would go to the property and evict the illegal occupant. After executing the order, she said, her work was done; if that person broke in again and moved back, it became a criminal matter, the police's responsibility. - IOL website

Land Claims and Expropriation

Posh to get poor neighbours - 8 February
Government plans to build low-cost housing in Cape Town's Constantia to redress forced removals. A government plan to redress forced removals under apartheid is about to hit one of the country's most expensive suburbs. Residents of Constantia in Cape Town may finally have to welcome some not so well-heeled neighbours as plans to build about 750 houses and triple-storey flats for low-and middle-income families start to take shape. Officially known as the Comprehensive Plan for the Development of Integrated Human Settlement, the project is also known as Breaking New Ground, said national housing spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya. - The Times website

Land claim irregularities killing agriculture : Agri SA - 6 February
Delays of more than a decade in finalising land claims have had a disastrous impact on agricultural production and investments, especially in the Northern provinces. There have been no profitable farming operations on any of the thousands of farms transferred to date in terms of the restitution process, while investor confidence is inhibited by the limitations which land claims inevitably place on the development, financing, sub-division, selling or expansion of farming units, resulting in a decline of production. Agri SA is sceptical about the announcement made by Chief Land Claims Commissioner Andrew Mpehla to the effect that a further R50 billion was needed to finalise outstanding land claims. - politicsweb website

Land claims could cost SA R50bn+ - 3 February
Land claims and restitution are set to cost South Africa upwards of R50-billion by the time the process is completed, acting chief land claims commissioner Andrew Mphela said on Tuesday. Briefing journalists in Gordon's Bay near Cape Town following a meeting of regional land commissioners, he said the state had to date approved restitution awards of R17,6-billion. - Cape Argus website

Kruger claimants will be paid - 28 January
Outstanding land claims in the Kruger National Park will be settled by offering claimants either money or alternative land or both, but not land in the flagship reserve, government's communications department (GCIS) said on Wednesday. "Cabinet has approved the use of equitable redress as the only option for the settlement of outstanding land claims in the Kruger National Park," it said in a statement. - News24 website

Property Law

6 February 2009
Western Cape Cabinet gives nod to reinstate lapsed land use rights
SA Government Information website

Muffling noisy neighbours - 22 January
Jennifer Paddock is a lawyer and consultant at Paddocks, a specialist sectional title firm, operating through-out South Africa. - moneyweb website

Help! My landlord wants to double my rent - 19 January
Arno Watson, a property lawyer with Mansons Inc replies. - moneyweb website

Minerals and Energy

Regulator gives jewellers more leeway on BEE qualification for licences - 1 February
The SA Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator has allayed the jewellery industry's fears that operators might be denied new licences for not complying with the mining charter's black empowerment requirements. The regulator said each application would be adjudicated on its own merits. The news comes amid claims that the jewellery industry is in crisis, with a reported 30 percent drop in Christmas sales. The regulator said it "will exercise flexibility in considering broad-based socioeconomic empowerment requirements". Holders of licences must apply for new permits by June 30. - Business Report website

SA wants Reserve Bank governor to help in De Beers probe - 4 February
South Africa wants its central bank governor to help verify the quantity and value of gems the world's biggest diamond producer, De Beers, exported in the period leading up to the start of black majority rule in 1994. The request to South African Reserve Bank (SARB) governor Tito Mboweni was mentioned in a progress report tabled in parliament on Wednesday, and comes from a task team headed by the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME), which is making a fresh probe into the disputed exports. - Creamer Media's Mining Weekly website

Municipal Management and Procedure

S African Government in partnership with Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut (AHI) to improve service - 19 January
A ground-breaking strategic partnership between the Department of Provincial and Local Government and the AHI has led to critical interventions in a number of municipalities with serious capacity and infrastructure challenges that in some instances posed health risks to communities. Through the partnership, a high-powered team with government, business and civil society has been put together to deal holistically with problems in relation to ensuring safe drinking water and sanitation for communities so that as a country, South Africa can avoid crisis related to sanitation and drinking water for communities. - eGov Monitor website

Msunduzi

Msunduzi in spending mess - 5 February
The Msunduzi Municipality has blown its entire overtime budget of R33 million seven months into the financial year - overspending it by a whopping R5 million. Heads must roll, say executive committee (Exco) members, in particular that of municipal manager Rob Haswell. Haswell is also in hot water for missing the deadline for submitting the municipality’s annual report to the provincial treasury. Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo said she is aware of other issues of non-compliance, such as outstanding signatures on performance agreements for senior staff. - The Witness website

Western Cape

Comment on the draft liquor trading hours by-law - 22 January
The City of Cape Town invites members of the public, the hospitality industry and other stakeholders to comment and provide input on its proposed liquor trading hours by-law. - City of Cape Town website

National Prosecuting Authority

20 January 2009
Submission by Advocate Vusi Pikoli
Parliamentary Monitoring Group website

21 January 2009
Pikoli matter raises legislative issues for Parliament to consider
SA Government Information website

Excerpt :
"Speaking as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mr Surty said that, in his view, the President had made the correct decision in removing Advocate Pikoli from office. There was no question about Advocate Pikoli's integrity, competence and diligence but there were problems with the level of importance he placed on issues of national security in the manner in which he executed his role. Reverend Chikane echoed this view, saying the issue was not about what Advocate Pikoli ought to do but how he did it"

Committee to deliberate on Pikoli's fate - 22 January
A Joint Ad-hoc Committee will next week decide whether to ask Members of Parliament to endorse or overrule Advocate Vusi Pikoli's dismissal as National Director of Public Prosecutions by President Kgalema Motlanthe. The Committee will recommend to Parliament's National Assembly and National Council of Provinces whether the President's decision should be upheld or not. - BuaNews Online website

Questions for Chikane, Mbandla, Gumbi, Simelane, Mpshe and Mbeki - 22 January
Should we believe Vusi Pikoli, the man who even Frene Ginwala - old friend of Thabo Mbeki and disciplined member of the ANC - found to be a man of the highest integrity? Or should we believe Brigitte Mbandla, the often tired and emotional ex-Minister of Justice, her Director General, Mr Simelane, who was caught lying before the Ginwala Commission, or Thabo Mbeki, a man who has a rather bizarre relationship to facts and the truth, or his Director General, Frank Chikane, who first made ringing statements about the deal struck with Adriaan Vlok before he went to the Ginwala Commission to denounce that very same deal when his boss decided a case had to be built against Pikoli? - Pierre de Vos on the Constitutionally Speaking blog

Mbeki never meddled in Selebi case : Chikane - 21 November
The government on Wednesday vehemently denied claims by Vusi Pikoli that former president Thabo Mbeki suspended him to prevent the arrest of Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi. - IOL website

Pikoli : Kebble case sank me - 21 January
Axed prosecutions boss Vusi Pikoli yesterday described as "strange" accusations that he was not sensitive to national security matters as head of the National Prosecuting Authority. - The Times website

Pikoli speaks out in defence of integrity, fitness to hold office - 21 January
Vusi Pikoli, his career hanging by a trembling thread, gave a confident account of himself yesterday to the committee set up by parliament to decide whether or not to endorse President Kgalema Motlanthe‘s decision to sack him as prosecutions chief. Pikoli, the national director of public prosecutions, insisted the report of former speaker Frene Ginwala into his fitness to hold office vindicated his integrity. - Herald Online website

Tempers flare at hearing into Pikoli sacking - 21 January
Dead man walking. This is how one journalist described the probable fate of suspended National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Vusi Pikoli after he was aggressively grilled for more than three hours by ANC MPs in Parliament on Tuesday. The session became heated at times and Pikoli turned in his seat to respond to stinging accusations from ANC MPs seated behind him. - IOL website

Vusi Pikoli defends himself - 20 January
Vusi Pikoli, with his career hanging by a trembling thread, gave a confident account of himself to the committee set up by Parliament to decide whether or not to endorse President Kgalema Motlanthe’s decision to sack him. - The Times website

Pikoli decision to be questioned by MPs - 18 January
President Kgalema Motlanthe will not make a fresh submission to parliament over his decision to fire prosecutions chief Vusi Pikoli, but his representatives are likely to entertain questions from parliamentarians. The presidency is billed to appear on Wednesday before a parliamentary ad-hoc committee to deliver a presentation on Motlanthe's decision. - The Times website

Pikoli warns Motlanthe of legal action - 28 January
Suspended National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Vusi Pikoli has written to President Kgalema Motlanthe informing him of imminent legal action and cautioning the president against appointing his successor. - Business Day website

I'm in the dark, says Mkhize - 29 January
Durban advocate Muzi Mkhize is "shocked" by media reports touting him as South Africa's next national director of public prosecutions (NDPP). Mkhize, a senior counsel at the Durban bar, is being tipped in some circles for the NDPP post. He claims he has not been notified, either personally or by letter. - Sowetan website

I am fit for post, says Mkhize - 29 January
Durban advocate Muzi Mkhize, who is tipped to be South Africa's new prosecutions boss, says he is a fit and proper person for the job and reports to the contrary are simply "malicious". Mkhize - who declined to confirm that he had been appointed to the post of national director of public prosecutions - was responding to concerns regarding his links to presidential aspirant Jacob Zuma and an "unprofessional conduct" blot on his legal copybook. While his appointment has not been officially announced, sources said Mkhize was already "putting together his team". However, his imminent appointment has been criticised by both legal experts and opposition parties. - IOL website

Mkhize blasé about NPA job - 29 January
The  man tipped to head the National Prosecuting Authority thinks the position is a step down from his current job. But advocate Muzi Wilfred Mkhize will take the hot seat if asked. Mkhize said he could not get excited about a job that was "much lower" than his current one as a senior counsel at the Durban Bar. "I have done far bigger things and more serious cases. I am a senior advocate and was an acting judge for five years, so there is really nothing to get excited about", he said. That he was part of the defence team when ANC president Jacob Zuma was first charged with corruption in 2005 would not influence his future as possible NPA boss, he said. - The Times website

Will Motlanthe face theft charges? - 19 January
President Kgalema Motlanthe will know soon whether he has a criminal case to answer for regarding the alleged trashing of a R6-million Johannesburg property he briefly rented last year. The National Directorate of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) yesterday said it would investigate the content of the charges laid against Motlanthe by businessman Mark Burnett. Burnett laid charges of theft and malicious damage to property against Motlanthe and accused prosecutors and the police of refusing to act against Motlanthe. - The Times website

Parliament

Yengeni ineligible for parliament - 21 January
ANC National Executive Committee member Tony Yengeni cannot serve as an MP due to his fraud conviction and sentence, according to both ANC and parliamentary criteria. Yengeni's name has appeared on the Northern Cape and Gauteng provincial lists. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, also on the ANC NEC, gained a nomination from her home province. She resigned from her first stint in Parliament after a fraud and theft conviction which was changed on appeal to just fraud. Her six-year sentence was reduced to a suspended three-and-a-half years. According to Unterhalter the fraud sentence would make her ineligible to serve in Parliament. The national list committee is tasked with screening nominated candidates to ensure that they meet the criteria. - IOL website

Pension Funds

Why new RA laws should grab your attention - 21 January
Just as those of us who work in financial services don’t know about the latest developments in other professional spheres, those of you in other professions can't always expect to be aware of all the regulatory and legislative changes that could affect your savings and retirement plans. However it is crucial that you are aware of all these developments that will affect your longest term savings – those assets that you have been diligently setting aside for your retirement years. - moneyweb website

Politics

New party to fight for expats - 18 January
A new political party, the AParty, is seeking donations for an attempt to ask the Constitutional Court to give South Africans living abroad the right to vote. "I need support to win the battle for expat voting rights," said party founder Anthony Penderis, who goes by the moniker "Mr A", on Friday. - IOL website

The decline of Africanism - 19 January
In politics some of the most important developments can often slip by unnoticed. It is easy enough to recognise the significance of the big events. But these are often merely the ultimate expression of a far more gradual, and much less noticed, change of mood in society. It is only when one looks back - and remembers how things once were - that it is possible to recognise the magnitude of the shift that has occurred. - moneyweb website

Lekota : BLA against non-racialism - 19 January
Congress of the People leader Terror Lekota has suggested that the Black Lawyers Association (BLA), which recently attacked his party over "reckless" statements on affirmative action, is racist. Briefing the media in Cape Town, Lekota said the BLA had never subscribed to the idea of non-racialism. - The Times website

Privacy

President Motlanthe's right to privacy versus freedom of expression - 29 January
Therein lies the nub of the question facing South Africans concerned with whether any intrusion should be allowed into the private life of President Motlanthe. For those of you who are easily bored, let me say right now that this article does not propose looking at the sordid details of politicians' private lives, but rather at the principles giving rise to the decision of what should be allowed and what is over the top. Where does your right to know end and an individual's right to shut you out begin? Those interested in this topic will find the full article from EU Court Judge Loukis Loucaides particularly fascinating. - Michael Trapido on the Thought Leader blog

Race Relations

Manager to go on 'cultural course' - 16 January
The manager of a Pick n Pay store in Vryheid in northern KwaZulu-Natal will be enrolled for a special "educational course" on different cultures after a recent incident in which an employee came under fire for wearing an isiphandla - a traditional armband made from animal skin. According to Philisiwe Thabede, the manager had forcibly removed the armband but Pick n Pay maintains she did so herself after being asked to do so. - IOL website

Wristband removal 'racist' - 9 January
A traditional Zulu wristband has caused a race row. A manager at the Vryheid Pick n Pay store, in KwaZulu-Natal, allegedly cut the animal-skin band off an employee’s wrist, claiming it was "unhygienic". - IOL website

Sport and Recreation

SA cans controversial sport regulations - 28 January
The South African Sport and Recreation Ministry has confirmed that controversial regulations that would have allowed Minister Makhenkesi Stofile to interfere with national team selections have been withdrawn. - Mail & Guardian website

Statistics SA

27 January 2009
P0043 - Statistics of Liquidations and insolvencies, December 2008

Number of liquidations increases - 27 January
The total number of liquidations recorded for 2008 increased by 4,7 percent compared with 2007, Statistics SA said on Tuesday. The total number of liquidations recorded for December 2008 increased by 68,4 percent compared with December 2007. The 4,7 percent increase in the total number of liquidations for 2008 was largely due to a seven percent increase in voluntary liquidations, the Pretoria-based agency said in a statement. - Business Report website

Taxation Law

Sars, banks tighten co-operation on tax  - 31 January
An accord signed between the SA Revenue Service and the Banking Association of SA would improve levels of tax compliance, both parties said at the signing ceremony on Thursday. By signing the accord, the parties said they had concluded an eight-year process of engagement since the minister of finance expressed serious concern about the effective tax rates of the country's banking industry. - Business Report website

New agreement to improve levels of tax compliance - 30 January
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the Banking Association of South Africa have signed an accord to improve the levels of tax compliance countrywide. Briefing reporters at the signing of the accord on Thursday, outgoing chairman of the Board of Directors of the Banking Association, Dr Steven Booysen said the agreement establishes a platform for constructive interaction between the industry and SARS. He further said the accord will lead to an interaction that will contribute to the ongoing-socio-economic development of the country. - BuaNews Online website

Changes to provisional taxpayers - 26 January
There's been a huge outcry from    both individuals and companies about the new tax law, which requires provisional taxpayers to accurately assess 80% of their tax bill by the second payment. We have a member of the SAICA national tax committee, Colin Wolfsohn of Wolfsohn & Associates, on the line. - Moneyweb website

Traditional Leaders

Draft Bill to advance traditional leaders role in Gauteng - 5 February
A draft Bill on Traditional Leadership and Governance for Gauteng has been developed to advance the role of traditional leaders in developing rural communities. Speaking at the Traditional Leaders Indaba in Boksburg on Thursday, Gauteng MEC for Local Government Qedani Mahlangu said the draft Bill will seek innovative ways in respect of defining the relationship between local government structures, traditional leaders and traditional communities. - BuaNews Online website

6 February 2009
Gauteng pledges to provide support to traditional authorities
SA Government Information website

Transport and Roads

New low-cost carrier 'illegal' without licence, council warns - 28 January
South Africa's Air Service Licensing Council (ASLC) has warned the public against the "illegally" planned air operations of the emerging airline Airtime Airlines, which was reportedly due to take to the skies on Friday. The ASLC reported on Wednesday that the airline was marketing the sale of tickets between Durban and Johannesburg, but that it did not hold a domestic license to carry out such operations. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Air Service Licensing Council - 21 January
At a meeting of the Air Services Licencing Council on 21 January 2009, the council objected to the use of the trade name Airtime Airlines by Airquarius, citing the Companies Act as the reason. Airtime Airlines is a registered trademark of Blackbird Aerospace Corporation, the company which gave permission for its  use by Airquarius. - iFly Airtime website

Airtime Airlines press release - 21 January
At a meeting of the Air Services Council of the Department of Transport (South Africa) on 21 Jan 2009, the notification by Airquarius to operate a scheduled air service in South Africa was received and accepted by the council. This service will commence on 30 January 2009. - South Africa To website

Tollroads

Sanral to raise R25bn for roads - 2 February
The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) is to raise a further R25-billion in debt finance for upgrades and freeway construction projects over the next two years. - Mathaba website

Toll road fees to go up - 17 January
Toll fees on national roads will increase from March 1, said the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral). The agency said, however, that percentage increases on toll gates that it operated and on plazas run by private companies will be presented to the Minister of Transport for his approval. Once approved, the different prices will be gazetted and released in the middle of next month. - IOL website

Airport toll plaza plan in doubt - 28 January
Transport minister Jeff Radebe is under pressure to squash plans to build a toll gate on the doorstep of Durban's new King Shaka international airport. Municipal manager Michael Sutcliffe confirmed on Tuesday that the city had lodged strong objections to the plan and he was confident the SA National Roads Agency Limited could be persuaded to reconsider its plan to build a plaza at the point where airport traffic joined the N2. - IOL website

'Highway robbery' - 19 January
Big businesses south of Durban, which will be "seriously affected" by the proposal to toll the N2, have joined forces to fight the controversial plan and have warned that the costs will be passed back to consumers. Toyota SA Manufacturing, Illovo Sugar, the Umbogintwini Industrial Association and the Southgate Business Park - the latter two representing hundreds of smaller companies - and collectively employ 25 000 staff, are concerned about the social and economic impacts on businesses, employees and residents should the plan go ahead. - The Mercury website

Wild Coast 'doesn't need toll road' - 5 February
Rather than a profit- driven toll road mega-development, the Wild Coast needs its existing road system and local government capacity improved. That's the view of Sustaining the Wild Coast (SWC), the public participation and conservation NGO spearheading opposition against the Wild Coast N2 toll road project, which has been proposed by the SA National Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral). The controversial project is aimed at building a high-speed link between Durban and East London, with an 80km section between Port St Johns and Port Edward to be routed through a world-acclaimed botanical mecca. - Herald Online website

Miscellaneous

The presidency, polygamy and the protocol dilemma - 18 January
Jacob Zuma's extended family will be a protocol nightmare for his government minders should he become president. Widely tipped to become the first polygamist to occupy the Union Buildings after elections this year, Zuma plans to wed his fifth wife, and has fathered more than a dozen children. Regardless of who the ANC president picks as first lady, taxpayers may have to cough up for some of the perks his wives or their children could be entitled to. - The Times website

Shaik gets R5m from the state : report - 22 January
ANC leader Jacob Zuma’s ex-financial adviser Schabir Shaik will receive R5 million from the state in a "secret" deal on interest earned from seized assets, The Star reports. The payment settled a dispute over who was entitled to the interest earned on R34m the state seized from Shaik, said the newspaper, quoting from papers filed with the Durban High Court. There was R14m interest at stake and the state settled the dispute by agreeing to pay him half the money - R5m in cash while the remaining money was used to settle legal fees. - The Times website

NPA to respond to Shaik deal reports - 22 January
The National Prosecution Authority will respond this afternoon to media reports that it has made a "secret deal" with convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik. The Democratic Alliance has called on the NPA to explain why it would make a deal with Shaik, the former financial adviser of African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma. - The Times website

Shaik settlement 'normal' : NPA - 22 January
The National Prosecuting Authority's R5-million agreement with fraudster Schabir Shaik was "normal", it said on Thursday. ". . . The settlement between the NPA and Shaik is a normal one in civil litigation where disputes are often settled between the parties rather than litigated," NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said in a statement. "The (Asset Forfeiture Unit) settles disputes regularly after weighing up its prospects of success in court, the costs involved in the litigation and the extent to which it can devote its limited resources to litigating other matters," he said. - IOL website

Shaik has spent 312 days in hospital - 21 January
Wednesday marks the 312th day that convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik has spent at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital since he was admitted in March last year. The Department of Correctional Services confirmed that Shaik was still in hospital, but would return to prison when doctors from the department as well as the Department of Health gave the go-ahead. - IOL website

Cabin crew held over drug haul - 20 January
Fifteen cabin and flight crew staff have been arrested after 50kg (110lbs) of cannabis was found on a flight from Johannesburg to Heathrow Airport. The haul, worth about Ł150 000, was seized from a South African Airways plane, customs officials said. - BBC News website

SAA crew quizzed over dagga, cocaine - 21 January
The Times website

SA musician booted out of Beijing - 19 January
A Cape Town musician has been kicked out of China after a routine work permit-related medical examination found she was HIV-positive. The woman, who has asked not to be named, did not know her HIV status before a doctor in China told her she was HIV-positive and would have to leave the country within 48 hours. - IOL website

Bophuthatswana

Judge rules against Bafokeng king - 19 June
"Mokwalase, you are fired. I don't want to see you again on my premises. You can excuse yourself". Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi, the king of the Royal Bafokeng nation, could end up paying dearly for these 18 words, which he uttered to his former security head two years ago and which Bophuthatswana's judge president has found to be defamatory and thoroughly discourteous. The king is facing a R3-million defamation claim from his long-serving bodyguard Mosoko Mokwalase. - IOL website

Nigeria

'Black magic goat' in custody - 30 January
A goat in Nigeria is being held on suspicion of attempted armed robbery. A group of concerned citizens turned the creature over to police, claiming it was a robber who had used black magic to transform himself into a goat. Police spokesman Tunde Mohammed said: "The group of vigilante men came to report that while they were on patrol they saw some hoodlums attempting to rob a car. They pursued them. However one of them escaped while the other turned into a goat. We cannot confirm the story but the goat is in custody". - IOL website

Swaziland

Chinese extradited from SA to face murder charges - 8 February
The Chinese suspect wanted for the brutal killing of another Asian businessman in 2007 has been extradited from South Africa to face a murder charge in the country. He was driven into the country on Wednesday through Mahamba border, by officers from Interpol - South Africa branch. Locally, members of the Serious Crimes Unit, who were investigating the murder case, accepted him and proceeded to formally charge him. His extradition came after a protracted court process, following an application filed in South Africa by Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Mumcy Dlamini, with the assistance of the Serious Crimes Unit. Lin Yianbong allegedly escaped to South Africa early last year. - The Times [Swaziland] website

Spur undergoes name change - 3 February
Spur Steak Ranches has changed its franchise name to Phoenix Steak House. This follows a disagreement with the franchise owners in South Africa. This was revealed yesterday by Mona Hassan, the owner. She said only the name had been changed otherwise the menu and staff would remain the same. - Swazi Observer website

Uganda

Supreme Court rules on death penalty today - 21 January
The Supreme Court, in a landmark death penalty decision today, could spare the lives of over 570 condemned prisoners, if the ruling turns in their favour. The verdict, at the  country's highest court, comes close to fours years after government appealed against an earlier Constitutional Court ruling that upheld that mandatory death sentences were unconstitutional. - Daily Monitor website

Uganda court keeps death penalty - 21 January
Uganda's Supreme Court has refused an appeal by more than 400 death row inmates to abolish the death penalty. But the judges ruled it was unreasonable to keep convicts on death row for more than three years. It means most of the prisoners who brought the case, arguing that hanging was cruel and inhumane, will have their sentences commuted to life in prison. - BBC News website

Zimbabwe

Graca berates SADC for Zim crisis - 22 January
Graca Machel has levelled unprecedented criticism of southern Africa's leaders for tolerating Robert Mugabe's government in the face of untold suffering by millions of Zimbabweans. - The Times website

Alleged Zim bid to adopt rand - 19 January
A dubious document purporting to be the handiwork of the Zimbabwean Reserve Bank governor strongly recommends the adoption of the rand to help recover their failed economy - though Gideon Gono denies all knowledge of the hefty report. Experts are of the opinion, however, that if the document is authentic, and if its recommendations were to be implemented, it could be disastrous for the South African economy. - IOL website

Debunking land reform myths - 29 January
After years of political impasse and economic instability, there is optential for a new start. But an informed debate on the future is needed and a focus on land and the agricultural sector must be central to these discussions. - Article by Ian Scoones, an agricultural ecologist who has worked in rural Zimbabwe since 1985, on The Herald website

Mrs Mugabe assaults our photographer outside her luxury Hong Kong hotel - 18 January
A Sunday Times [UK] photographer has been beaten up and punched repeatedly in the face by the wife of President Robert Mugabe. Richard Jones suffered nine cuts, abrasions and bruises to the face and head caused by the heavy, diamond-encrusted rings Mugabe was wearing, according to a medical report by Dr Raymond Ng, a general practitioner in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong police, who were called to the scene, detained the bodyguard. He was allowed to go after questioning. The police took a statement from Jones last night. Officers at the Tsim Sha Tsui police station will study CCTV footage of the incident, which they are treating as "serious" and "political". A decision on whether to press charges is pending but Mugabe could claim immunity from prosecution. - Times Online website

China

Two face death over Chinese milk - 22 January
Two men have been given the death penalty for their involvement in China's contaminated milk scandal. The former boss of the Sanlu dairy at the centre of the scandal was given life imprisonment. The scandal, in which melamine was added to raw milk to make it appear higher in protein, led to the deaths of six babies and made some 300 000 ill. - BBC News website

Hong Kong

Assertions are 'untenable' - 20 January
Singapore lacks detailed statistics on crime and punishment? How about the recidivism, or crime relapse, rate of 24.2 percent - "one of the lowest in the world" - Law Minister K Shanmugam offered yesterday in Parliament. It is a measure of how, while the government takes a tough stand on crime, it believes in compassion and rehabilitation, said Mr Shanmugam in a rebuttal to "assertions" made by Law Society president Michael Hwang. - Today Online website
Keyphrase :
Law Society of Hong Kong

Japan

Four killers sent to the gallows - 30 January
Four convicted murderers were hanged Thursday, the first executions this year and maintaining the fast pace that saw 15 people put to death in 2008, an unusually high number for one year. Executions have been on the rise in recent years. - The Japan Times website

Malaysia

Malaysian twins spared death row - 7 February
Malaysian identical twin brothers have escaped hanging for drug trafficking as a court failed to decide which brother was the criminal, and cleared both. A judge in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, said the case was unique and she could not send the wrong person to his death. In 2003 police arrested one brother found driving drugs to a house. The second twin arrived soon afterwards and was also arrested. Neither officers nor a DNA test could identify which twin owned the drugs. - BBC News website

Singapore

Death penalty effective - 20 January
To scrap or retain the death penalty? The issue is a philosophical one and cannot be decided by statistics, Law Minister K Shanmugam said yesterday. There are powerful arguments on both sides, and no consensus is in sight. The Singapore Government thus has to find its own stand. It has decided to retain the death penalty as it has been effective in controlling the drug menace. - Straits Times website

South Korea

'It's a bizarre case' - 20 January
South Korean police said on Tuesday they have arrested four people who used mechanical diggers to break into the home of a former president's relative in search of a non-existent slush fund. The raiders, dressed in black or in military uniforms and pretending to belong to a United Nations taskforce hunting slush funds - backed up by three diggers and 28 private security guards - raided and searched the villa owned by a son-in-law of former president Kim Young-Sam last week. - IOL website

Thailand

Writer jailed for Thai 'insult' - 19 January
Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to three years in jail for insulting the monarchy. Bangkok's Criminal Court initially sentenced him for six years but reduced the term because he had pleaded guilty. The charge relates to a paragraph in a novel he wrote four years ago, 'Verisimilitude', which referred to an un-named Thai Crown Prince. According to the BBC's correspondent in Bangkok, Jonathan Head, it is not clear why the Thai authorities have decided to deal so severely with Nicolaides. He has been denied bail four times, and said he had endured "unspeakable suffering" in the five months since his arrest. - BBC News website

European Court of Justice

Sick workers entitled to full holiday pay, European court rules - 20 January
Workers on long-term sick leave are entitled to their full paid holiday rights, one of Europe's highest courts ruled today. The verdict clears up years of confusion over whether holiday rights accrued are lost after prolonged illness. It is a victory for a group of UK Revenue and Customs staff who challenged the loss of their annual holiday because of their enforced absence from work because of sickness. The ruling by the European Court of Justice declared : "A worker does not lose his right to paid annual leave which he has been unable to exercise because of sickness. He must be compensated for his annual leave not taken". - Times Online website

Italy

Italian right-to-die move blocked - 6 February
Italy's government has issued an emergency decree to prevent a woman who has been in a coma for 17 years from having her feeding tubes disconnected. Last year the father of Eluana Englaro won a court battle allowing the hospital to let her die. The centre-right government opposed the move. The new decree says food and water cannot be denied to a patient. It was approved despite objections from Italy's president. The case has provoked fierce debate in the country. - BBC News website

Guide to buying property in Italy : De Tullio Law - 19 January
Puglia based Italian lawyers De Tullio Law offers a short guide helping you to understand the basics steps of the Italian property conveyancing process when buying a property in Italy. Includes glossary. - nubricks website

Animal Rights

Jail for animal rights extremists who waged six-year blackmail campaign - 21 January
Seven animal rights extremists who waged a six-year campaign of blackmail and harrassment in a bid to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) were jailed for between 11 and four years today. Described by the judge as "urban terrorists", SHAC targeted hundreds of people whose employers did business with HLS, one of the world’s largest animal research companies which has a laboratory in Cambridgeshire. They received hoax bombs, sanitary towels allegedly contaminated with the HIV virus and letters threatening violence against their children, as well as nocturnal home visits from balaclava-wearing vandals. Their neighbours were sent anonymous letters warning that they lived close to a paedophile, while victims were told that the persecution would continue until their company severed all links with HLS. - Times Online website
Keyphrases :
Daniel Amos - four years
Daniel Wadham - five years
Gavin Medd-Hall - eight years
Gerrah Selby - four years
Gregg Avery - nine years
Heather Nicholson - eleven years
Natasha Avery - nine years

Criminal Justice System

Law Society warns of cyber justice danger - 5 February
The Law Society of England and Wales is calling on Parliament to review plans to remove the right of defendants to choose whether or not they participate in "virtual court" hearings – a controversial process which has, as yet, only been tested on a tiny scale. The use of virtual courts – introduced by amendments to the Police and Criminal Justice Bill in 2006 to save time and money – involves defendants appearing, not in court in person, but by live video conference link from a police station. - Tribune website

Fingerprint test may catch US killer - 22 January
A British inventor, Northampton scientist Dr John Bond's new fingerprinting technique has given fresh impetus to half a dozen unsolved cases and could help police identify the killer of a man shot dead 10 years ago in the US. - BBC News website

Finance

Statement on the Government's asset protection scheme - 19 January
As part of a a comprehensive package designed to reinforce the stability of the financial system, to increase confidence and capacity to lend, and in turn to support the recovery of the economy the Government is today announcing its intention to offer protection on those assets most affected by the current economic conditions. - eGov Monitor website

Human Rights

Dementia relatives 'admit abuse' - 23 January
More than half of those looking after a relative with dementia told researchers that they had mistreated them. The University College London research revealed that a third admitted "significant abuse". Verbal abuse or threats were common, but just three of the 220 people questioned in the British Medical Journal study admitted physical abuse. - BBC News website

Judiciary

'Written tests are no guide to your ability to be a judge' - 29 January
A judge has taken the unprecedented step of launching legal action because he failed to be shortlisted for a judicial post after sitting a new written test. David Page who has sat as a Ł102 000-a-year full-time immigration judge since 2002, was insulted and shocked to find that he was ruled out after two 40-minute written papers. - Times Online website

'Men in grey suits asked if I had some kind of unspeakable sexual interest' - 21 January
Sir Adrian Fulford, Britain's first openly gay judge, describes his 'bizarre and depressing' experience of applying for judicial appointment. - Times Online website

Land Affairs and Property

Parents warned over home loans to children - 3 February
Parents who want to help their children buy their first home should be careful about how they provide financial support, the president of the Law Society has warned. There are three ways for parents to help out their children : through an outright gift, as an interest-free loan, or as an investment, but the first and last have tax implications. - Guardian website

Taxation Law

Court fees plan 'tax on debtors' - 24 January
The Conservatives have criticised a proposal to increase court fees for debt proceedings by up to 233%. The plans were set out in a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) consultation document. A spokesman said the courts are self-funding and the proposed increases "reflect the full cost of providing the court system for those cases". - BBC News website

Miscellaneous

Four in 10 serious criminals let off with a caution - 22 January
New figures now show that even when crimes are dealt with, many are escaping with soft punishments. - Telegraph website

Let's not be too misty eyed about legal aid, but it is at a crossroads - 21 January
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Legal Aid and Advice Act 1949 - and lawyers will not need reminding that legal aid was conceived as a cornerstone of the welfare state. Now, according to the Ministry of Justice, fewer than one in three people is eligible for publicly funded legal advice (29 per cent). By contrast, in the first years of the scheme, eight out of ten people were eligible. - Times Online website

Nuclear test veterans launch case - 21 January
Veterans involved in British nuclear tests in the Indian and Pacific oceans are to launch a legal bid against the government at the High Court later. Ex-servicemen want compensation for illnesses they claim are the result of exposure to radiation in the 1950s. But MoD lawyers will try to derail their claims before a full hearing, by arguing the tests happened too long ago for compensation to be considered. - BBC News website

Do atomic test victims deserve compensation? - 22 January
Times Online website

Attorney-General go-ahead to prosecute The Times - 21 January
The Attorney-General has been given permission to bring contempt of court proceedings against the publishers of The Times and the foreman of a jury alleged to have revealed "secrets of the jury room". The foreman's anonymous criticism of the conviction of a childminder for the manslaughter of a baby in her care was reported in a Times article in 2007. At the High Court, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, QC, was given leave to bring proceedings against Times Newspapers Ltd and the foreman. The newspaper had not been informed of the hearing. - The Times website

Alaska

Senator Ted Stevens

The Murkoswski pardon letter - 20 January
Here's the text of the letter, dated Jan. 7, from Sen Lisa Murkowski to President Bush seeking a pardon for former Sen Ted Stevens. It was provided by Murkowski's office on Tuesday. - Anchorage Daily News website

Excerpt :
"Ordinarily a pardon request originates with the individual who is seeking the pardon. Senator Stevens has indicated that he does not intend to seek a pardon. I am pursuing this request, on my own initiative, in the interest of justice and out of compassion for a man who has served our Nation and the State of Alaska with great distinction for all of his adult life"

Judge in Stevens case : I want Mukasey’s Declaration before he leaves - 7 January
If the Law Blog had a contest for the Most Theatrical Trial of 2008, the bungled - though, at least for now, successful - prosecution of Alaska's former Senator, Ted Stevens, would easily take the cake. In October, Stevens was found guilty (is that a conviction?) on seven counts of lying on Senate financial documents. Then, last month we noted a report that a whistleblowing FBI agent had accused prosecutors of intentionally withholding exculpatory evidence from Stevens' lawyers and scheming to conceal a witness from the defense team. Now, Legal Times reports, US District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who presided over Stevens's trial, is telling the Department of Justice to buck up and play ball. Yesterday, Judge Sullivan ordered Attorney General Michael Mukasey to prepare a declaration that addresses questions about how the government handled the whistleblower complaint. - Wall Street Journal blog

United States District Court for the District of Columbia
16 January 2009
2008-0231
USA v Stevens
Opinion and order

Excerpt :
"This court is very sensitive to the extremely important, numerous, and competing demands made on high-level government officials such as the Attorney General, and therefore the Court does not ordinarily burden officials at that level with matters that can be addressed by others. However, based on the record in this case and the appearance that several attorneys in this matter - in multiple departments within the Department of Justice - may have intentionally withheld important information from the Court, it is the Court's view that a declaration from an official at the highest levels of the Department of Justice is appropriate and warranted in this instance"

FBI whistleblower gives Stevens more firepower in push for new trial - 23 December
Last month, we noted a report that a witness in the trial had told the judge that he received extensive help from prosecutors prior to taking the stand and would have testified differently had he not been given the assistance. And now this : The Legal Times reports that an FBI agent is accusing prosecutors of intentionally withholding exculpatory evidence from Stevens' lawyers and scheming to conceal a witness from the defense team. - Wall Street Journal blog

FBI whistleblower alleges government misconduct in Stevens case - 23 December
Legal Times website

See complaint at http://legaltimes.typepad.com/files/whistleblower_complaint.pdf
Note : "This document contains the identities of FBI sources, sophisticated techniques, and other sensitive information. This document is sensitive but unclassified"

US Senator indicted on false statement charges - 29 July 2008
United States Senator Theodore F Stevens of Alaska was charged today in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia with seven counts of making false statements related to Stevens' financial disclosure forms, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division announced. - US Department of Justice website

United States District Court for the District of Columbia
29 July 2008
United States of America v Theodore F Stevens
Indictment on seven counts

Criminal Justice System

Supreme Court says evidence is valid despite police error - 14 January
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that evidence found after an arrest based on incorrect information from police files may be used against a criminal suspect. In a 5-4 split, the court upheld the conviction of an Alabama man on federal drug and gun charges. - New York Times website

See :
Supreme Court of the United States
14 January 2009
07–513
Herring v United States

Family Law

New dad told to pay up or marry - 19 January
The state of Michigan is giving a father a choice : pay the medical cost of his daughter's birth or marry the girl's mother. Gary Johnson was billed $3 800 (R37 700) for the birth of his daughter JaeLyn, The Flint Journal reported. Johnson is not married to the child's mother, Rebecca Witt. The Michigan Legislature amended the state's paternity act five years ago to waive birthing costs for a father, if he married the child's mother. - Daily News website

Human Rights

Lawsuit says abortionist made mom watch 'murder' - 5 February
A Florida woman is suing an abortion business for forcing her to witness the "murder" of her daughter, who allegedly was "swept" into a biohazard bag to "suffocate and bleed to death". The case alleges the baby was born alive, then murdered "by defendant, abortion clinic owner, Belkis Gonzalez". The other defendants are cited for "unlicensed and unauthorized medical practice, botched abortions, evasive tactics, false medical records and the killing, hiding and disposing of the baby". Should the case result in a determination there was a live birth and homicide, it could have national implications because of the issue of care that abortionists are required to provide to babies who survive abortions. - World Net Daily website

Judiciary

How much should judges make? - 19 January
Money appears to have almost no impact on the quantity and quality of the work judges produce, Professor Scott Baker, a law professor at the University of North Carolina, found, and lots of capable people are eager to take the jobs at the current salary. - New York Times website

Mexico

Mexico to rethink death penalty - 23 January
The Congress in Mexico has agreed to debate the issue of reinstating capital punishment for some crimes. The move follows a surge in murders and kidnappings in the country, many linked to drug cartels and organised crime. Mexico abolished capital punishment in 2005, but recent surveys suggest that 70% of Mexicans are in favour of the death penalty. - BBC News website

Presidential Inauguration

President Obama's Inaugural Address
http://www.america.gov/st/usg-english/2009/January/20090120130302abretnuh0.2991602.html

Obama is sworn in for second time - 22 January
Barack Obama has been sworn in as US president for the second time in two days, because one word was given out of order during Tuesday's ceremony. - BBC News website

National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation, 2009
In his first official act since taking the oath of office, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation, calling on Americans to serve one another and our common purpose on this National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation. - Whitehouse blog

Obama seeks halt to Guantanamo trials - 21 January
Hours after taking office on Tuesday, US President Barack Obamaordered military prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals to ask for a 120-day halt in all pending cases. Military judges were expected to rule on the request on Wednesday at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an official involved in the trials said. - Reuters website

Judge halts 9/11 Guantanamo trial - 22 January
A judge has suspended for 120 days the Guantanamo Bay trials of five men accused over the 9/11 attacks, as requested by US President Barack Obama. Among the five is alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who had opposed the suspension saying he wanted to confess to his role in the attacks. The new administration also circulated a draft order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison within a year. - BBC News website

Some troops unhappy about Obama pledge on gays - 21 January
Many US troops in Iraq were overjoyed to see President Barack Obama take his oath, but some were unhappy about one thing the Democrat has promised to do : permit gay and lesbian soldiers to serve openly. - Reuters website

Obama freezes senior staff pay - 21 January
US President Barack Obama, in one of his first actions in office, said he was putting in place a pay freeze for senior White House staff and tightening up rules concerning former lobbyists who work in government. - IOL website

Change has come to WhiteHouse : the first blog from the Obama White House - 20 January
eGov Monitor website

White House plans open government - 22 January
Searching for data about the Obama administration should get easier as the Whitehouse.gov website gets overhauled. Mr Obama's new media team is letting search engines index almost everything on the site. By contrast, after eight years of government the Bush administration was stopping huge swathes of data from being searchable. The move is part of President Obama's larger push to make the US government more open and transparent. - BBC News website

[Revitalizing the economy] :American recovery and investment - 8 January
Speech and George Mason University. - Whitehouse website

Obama sets executive pay limits - 4 February
The Obama administration plans to limit pay to $500 000 a year for executives of government-assisted financial institutions in a new get-tough approach to bankers and Wall Street, a senior administration official said. - Mail & Guardian website

Privacy

Court affirms wiretapping without warrants - 14 January
In a rare public ruling, a secret federal appeals court has said telecommunications companies must cooperate with the government to intercept international phone calls and e-mail of American citizens suspected of being spies or terrorists. The ruling came in a case involving an unidentified company's challenge to 2007 legislation that expanded the president's legal power to conduct wiretapping without warrants for intelligence purposes. But the ruling, handed down in August 2008 by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review and made public Thursday, did not directly address whether President Bush was within his constitutional powers in ordering domestic wiretapping without warrants, without first getting Congressional approval, after the terrorist attacks of 2001. - New York Times website

Miscellaneous

Engineers sue to remove buildings commissioner - 28 January
The New York State Society of Professional Engineers filed a lawsuit Wednesday to remove Robert LiMandri as New York City's commissioner of buildings and void the law that allowed him to be named to the post. The city and the mayor were also named in the suit. Filed in New York State Supreme Court, the suit alleges that Mr LiMandri is not qualified for the job because he is not a licensed engineer or architect. Last year, the city passed a law that removed the requirement that the buildings commissioner be either a licensed engineer or architect so Mr LiMandri could be appointed to the post. The suit alleges the local law conflicts with New York State Education Law, which defines the practice of professional engineering. Mr LiMandri, who is an engineer but does not hold a state license, was tapped for the job last September after serving as acting commissioner for several months. - Crain's New York Business website

Cyberlaw

'Extradition lifeline' for hacker - 20 January
A Briton who hacked into American military computers appears to have been given a lifeline in his battle against extradition to the US. Gary McKinnon said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had agreed to put his extradition on hold while his case is considered. Mr McKinnon's legal team have asked the DPP to charge him under UK law, rather than extraditing him to the US. The DPP will give his answer to the request in four weeks' time. - BBC News website

Hacker Gary McKinnon 'at risk of suicide' if extradited to US - 20 January
The Times website

Environment

New evidence on Antarctic warming - 21 January
The continent of Antarctica is warming up in step with the rest of the world, according to a new analysis. Scientists say data from satellites and weather stations indicate a warming of about 0.6C over the last 50 years. Writing in the journal Nature, they say the trend is "difficult to explain" without the effect of rising greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, scientists in Antarctica say a major ice shelf, the Wilkins Ice Shelf, is about to break away from the continent. - BBC News website

International Court of Justice

UN court rules US execution violated treaty - 19 January
A United Nations court has found that the United States violated an international treaty and the court's own order when a Mexican national was executed last year in a Texas prison. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a ruling Monday in an unusual case that pitted President Bush against his home state in a dispute over federal authority, local sovereignty and foreign treaties. Mexico had filed a formal complaint against US state and federal officials. - CNN website

International Criminal Court

Complex law on war crime - 22 January
The regulations covering alleged war crimes are complex, carefully worded and restrictive. The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague does not appear to have jurisdiction in Gaza because the Israelis are not signatories to the Rome statute that set it up. However, individuals and nongovernmental organisations from nations that are signed up can make a case to the ICC ; and the United Nations Security Council can also pass a resolution calling for a war crimes investigation, as it did over alleged genocide in Darfur. In terms of the ICC statute, the use of white phosphorus could be governed by Article 8(2)(b) under which a war crime is potentially committed if weapons, including projectiles (shells), are launched "to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering or which are inherently indiscriminate in violation of the international law of armed conflict". It is up to Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC chief prosecutor, to decide whether the allegations fall into line with the Rome statute definitions. - Times Online website

Congo war crimes trial 'unfair' - 27 January
The war crimes trial against former Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga is "prejudicial", his lawyer has told day two of the case at The Hague. She claimed the prosecution's use of anonymous witnesses and secrecy clauses for the International Criminal Court (ICC) trial would hamper the defence. Mr Lubanga denies using hundreds of child soldiers in DR Congo's five-year conflict, which ended in 2003. The case is the first to come before the ICC. - BBC News website

Safety of child soldier witness queried at rebel leader's trial - 30 January
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was yesterday debating witness protection issues after a witness in the case of Democratic Republic of Congo war crimes suspect Thomas Lubanga retracted his testimony. - Cape Times website

Global court starts with a fumble. Warlord grins - 30 January
The prosecution's first witness, a child soldier, said he was snatched by Lubanga's militia on his way home from fifth-grade classes. The witness, now a teen, then threw the landmark case briefly into limbo when he recanted his testimony, denying that he'd ever been a child soldier taken to a military training camp, and that his testimony was prompted by an unnamed nongovernmental organization. In the court, Lubanga, sitting behind the defense team in dark suit and tie, and in clear view of his alleged former child recruit, smiled. - The Christian Science Monitor website

Minerals and Energy

Mineral code custodians striving to keep industry on the straight and narrow - 30 January
The custodians of the worlds’ minerals reporting standards are striving to keep the industry on the straight and narrow. There is a growing convergence of standards globally and an effort is being made to prevent companies from making exaggerated claims about their mineral assets. Developing and maintaining standards for the reporting of mineral reserves, mineral resources, and exploration results are important, says Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (Crirsco) chairperson Niall Weatherstone. - Creamer Media's Mining Weekly website

Internet Safety Technical Task Force releases final report on Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies - 14 January
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University today released the final report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, a group of 29 leading Internet businesses, non-profit organizations, academics, and technology companies that joined together for a year-long investigation of tools and technologies to create a safer environment on the Internet for youth. - Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University website

And you thought you had e-mail problems - 19 January
Tomorrow, members of the incoming Obama administration are going to be forced to change their e-mail not once, but twice. That means that they will have had four e-mail addresses over the past four months. For a few hours on Inauguration Day, they will have to rely on – what else – Gmail, Google's popular Web e-mail service. - New York Times website

Facebook, defamation and the law - 20 January
It is tempting to think that using Facebook will land you in prison, especially with all the media attention on the Duane Brady case in the Kliptown Magistrates Court. The simple truth is that sticking to a few simple rules should help you avoid that unpleasant experience of receiving a strongly worded letter from an attorney or, worse, an unwelcome visit from an unsympathetic police officer keen on dragging you off to a holding cell for the weekend. - Article by Paul Jacobson, web and digital media lawyer working in Johannesburg and principal attorney and founder of the new media law firm, Jacobson Attorneys, on the allAfrica website

See also :
Man bust for Facebook insults - 15 January
Times website

On Facebook, Sicilian Mafia is a hot topic - 19 January
In recent weeks, the Italian authorities have begun investigating Facebook discussion groups devoted to convicted Mafiosi, concerned that some members might be more than fans. - New York Times website

Data protection and social networking
Data Protection Law & Policy is organising a Special Briefing on Data Protection & Social Networking in February 2009. This full day Intensive will be co-hosted by leading city law firm Bristows,at their London offices. The rise of SNS has led to personal information about individuals becoming publicly (and globally) available in an unprecedented way and quantity, noted the 30th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners. As recent cases involving employee dismissals have illustrated, users of SNS are often not aware of the privacy risks associated with the information disclosed, and that comments made on SNS can be difficult to retract. - data protection law & policy website

Sex offenders booted off MySpace - 4 February
Social networking site MySpace has deleted the accounts of 90,000 users it has identified as sex offenders. The site was responding to a call from state attorneys general in the US to provide a list of offenders on its roster. MySpace and rival site Facebook have committed to making their sites safer for the growing number of young users. - BBC News website

Editorial row engulfs Wikipedia - 26 January
The online user-generated encyclopaedia Wikipedia is considering a radical change to how it is run. It is proposing a review of the rules, that would see revisions being approved before they were added to the site. The proposal comes after edits of the pages of Senators Robert Byrd and Edward Kennedy gave the false impression both had died. - BBC News website

Revealed : the environmental impact of Google searches - 11 January
Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research. While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. "Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power", said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. "A Google search has a definite environmental impact". - Times Online website

Powering a Google search - 11 January
Tools like email, online books and photos, and video chat all increase productivity while decreasing our reliance on car trips, pulp and paper. But as computers become a bigger part of more people's lives, information technology consumes an increasing amount of energy, and Google takes this impact seriously. In the time it takes to do a Google search, your own personal computer will use more energy than Google uses to answer your query. Recently, though, others have used much higher estimates, claiming that a typical search uses "half the energy as boiling a kettle of water" and produces 7 grams of CO2. We thought it would be helpful to explain why this number is *many* times too high. Google is fast - a typical search returns results in less than 0.2 seconds. The average adult needs about 8 000 kJ a day of energy from food, so a Google search uses just about the same amount of energy that your body burns in ten seconds. - The Official Google Blog

How green is my orange? - 21 January
PepsiCo calculated that the equivalent of 3.75 pounds of carbon dioxide is emitted to the atmosphere for each half-gallon carton of orange juice. - New York Times website

1) Either an experienced or recently-admitted attorney looking for a temporary position, preferably with experience in litigation

2) Experienced defended litigation paralegal

Contact

Email : grg@gavingow.co.za
Telephone : 031-561 1011
Cell : 082-567 6202

Please fax or email a two-page CV to 032-946 2444 or cindy@swo.co.za

Telephone : 031-708 2266
Fax : 031-708 2266
Email : brian@pldinc.co.za

Qualifications and Experience

LLB (UKZN)

Practical Legal Training School completed

Commencing Masters degree in commercial law through UNISA

Contact

Telephone : 039-695 2580
Cell : 083-569 8655
Email : velosh@live.co.za 

Qualifications and Experience

LLB (UNISA ; 2006)

Completed School for Legal Practice (2007)

Completed Parts 1-4 of the Attorneys Admission Examinations (2008)

National Diploma in Maritime Studies (1999)

Master Mariner Certificate of Competency (2008)

Twelve years experience in the shipping industry during which period I worked on numerous ships in various positions and since February 2008 I have been employed by the Durban University of Technology as lecturer in the department of Maritime Studies. In 2007 I commenced studying towards a Masters in Commerce (Maritime Studies) through the University of KwaZulu-Natal. I have completed the course work component of the MCom degree and I am currently in the process of finalising a topic for my dissertation

Area

Durban

Contact

Telephone 031-705 5242 / 031-373 2145
Cell : 083-894 4057
Email : Camp@DUT.ac.za

Qualifications and Experience

B Proc ; LLB

Practical Legal Training School completed

Twenty-five years' working experience in the insurance industry

Driver's licence (own car)

Area

Durban, preferably Chatsworth

Contact

Telephone 031-401 2871
Cell : 083-282 6011
Email : tonyvenkatsamy@gmail.com

Qualifications and Experience

Fourth year LLB student completing degree in 2009 at UKZN

Studied clinical law as a one-year elective

Worked as administrative assistant for insurance loss adjusters

Has driver's licence and own vehicle

Area

Durban

Contact

Cell : 083-233 8421
Email : lauren_lee_turner@yahoo.com

25 years' experience in the field of legal/conveyancing secretary

Contact

Cell : 072-718 5202
After hours : 031-400 3300

Qualifications and experience

Conveyancing (Malcon Tuition ; 2006)

Currently studying as a paralegal

Worked as a legal secretary in the Greater Durban area from March 1996 to March 2002 ; May 2002 to date

Other

Current notice period : two months

Contact

073-559 6326

Qualifications and Experience

Conveyancing (Malcon Tuition ; 2002)

Senior Paralegal Diploma (South Africa School of Paralegal Studies ; 2008)

Worked as a conveyancing secretary and attending to the administration of estates from January 2001 to October 2008

Contact

Telephone : 031-467 3129
Cell : 072-408 3133
Email : adriaanse.family@webmail.co.za