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Recent
Judgments Available on the Internet
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Constitutional
Court of South Africa
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www.constitutionalcourt.org.za
;
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/
Deadlock as Hlophe takes battle to Concourt - 24 April
Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe's legal battle against
the country's top justices has been taken to the very
Constitutional Court in which they serve and which they cannot
adjudicate. The judge president on Tuesday filed papers seeking
leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court against a March 31
decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). A total of nine
appeal court judges overturned a decision of the South Gauteng
High Court and ruled that Chief Justice Pius Langa, his deputy
Dikgang Moseneke and 11 other justices had not violated Judge
Hlophe's constitutional rights. -
IOL website
See also :
Judicial Service Commission. Judge Hlophe
belowe
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Commercial Crimes Courts
Durban
Makgoba testifies in fraud case - 20 April
The experience and credentials of University of KwaZulu-Natal
Vice-chancellor Malegapuru Makgoba were under scrutiny on Friday
when he testified in the Durban Commercial Crimes Court in a trial
involving the university's former dean of management studies and a
student. Pumela Msweli-Mbanga and her student, Nobulele Potwana,
were charged with corruption after accounting firm
PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted a forensic audit of the
university in 2007. - IOL
website
UKZN PhD graduate on trial - 19 April
During a marathon cross-examination session in the witness box,
key State witness, University of KwaZulu-Natal vice-chancellor
Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, was adamant that corruption was
involved in the awarding of a university doctoral degree. Their
attorneys, during cross-examination, put to Makgoba that there was
no need for this matter to go to court, as it was more a
university matter about irregularities than a criminal one. -
IOL website
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Eastern
Cape High Court : Mthatha (Previously Eastern
Cape Division)
-
http://www.saflii.org.za/za/cases/ZAECMHC/
Doctor gets rail sentence : report - 17 April
The High Court in Port Elizabeth has sentenced a gynaecologist to
one year's imprisonment, suspended for three years, for causing
the death of a woman following an operation, the Herald Online
reported on Friday. Dr Marcus van Heerden was found guilty of
culpable homicide following the death of Ilse Malherbe after a
routine hysterectomy at St George's Hospital on October 19, 2004.
Anaesthetist Dr Michiel Botha was found not guilty. -
IOL website
Keyphrase :
Medical negligence
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Eastern Cape High Court : Port Elizabeth
(Previously Eastern Cape Division)
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http://www.saflii.org.za/za/cases/ZAECPEHC/2009/1.html
7 April 2009
1378/07 [2009] ZAECPEHC 7
Aeschliman v Road Accident Fund
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KwaZulu-Natal High Court : Durban (previously Natal
Provincial Division)
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http://www.saflii.org.za/za/cases/ZAKZDHC/
; Court rolls
via
http://www.lawlibrary.co.za/notice/highcourts/index.htm
and
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=197
14 April
2009
1109/07 [2009] ZAKZDHC 9
The GAP, Inc and Others v Kingsgate Clothing (Pty) Ltd and
Others
14 April 2009
6752/20007 [2009] ZAKZDHC 8
Feldman v Oshry NO and Another
3 April 2009
10406/2006 [2009] ZAKZDHC 7
Stocks Building Gauteng (Pty) Ltd v Federated Insurance
Guarantee Brokers (Pty) Ltd
Rent shocker for landlords : bombshell court finding - 20
April
Landlords with mortgage bonds registered over their rental
properties may have unwittingly surrendered their right to sue
defaulting tenants for unpaid rent without even knowing it! This
was the warning from Ian Slot, Managing Director of Seeff
Properties Atlantic Seaboard, City Bowl and V&A, this week after a
Durban court upheld a tenant's appeal. Slot urged landlords to
carefully check loan agreements on both commercial and residential
properties. In a statement released on Monday, Slot - an attorney
- said the tenant claimed that, because his landlord had ceded his
rental income to a bank as security for a loan, only the bank had
the right to take action against him. In Picardi Hotels Limited
versus Thekweni Properties (680/7) (2008) ZASCA 128, the
Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the Durban High Court's
decision that a landlord could sue his tenant for unpaid arrear
rentals, noted Slot. -
realestateweb website
See also :
Durban and Coast Local Division
26 September 2007
5516/2000 [2007] ZAKZHC 9
Thekweni Properties (Proprietary) Limited v Picardi Hotels Limited
and Others
Arrear rentals
Thekweni Properties
(Pty) Ltd v Picardi Hotels Ltd (and Others as Third Parties) (D&CLD)
Levinsohn D J P
2007 September 3, 4, 26
Cession - Cession in securitatem
debiti - Cession of right to rentals
contained in mortgage bond over properties purchased for purpose
deriving rental income - Cession
containing proviso that bank not acting upon cession without
mortagor's consent unless mortgagor in
breach - Presumption that parties
intended to vary ordinary consequences of cession by introducing
proviso - Proviso importing condition
suspending operation of cession -
Mortgagor retaining right to collect and enforce payment of
rentals pending fulfilment of condition -
Cedent having locus standi to sue for rentals
SALR - 2008 March
From InfoUpdate 10 of 2008
Cession
Cession in securitatem - Thekwini
Properties (Pty) Ltd v Picardi Hotels Ltd (and others as Third
Parties) 2008(2) SA 156(D)
CLISB - 2008, v.25(6), p.128
From InfoUpdate 29 of 2008
Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa
30 September 2008
680/07 [2008] ZASCA 128 ;
2009 (1) SA 493 (SCA)
Picardi Hotels Ltd v Thekweni Properties (Pty) Ltd
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KwaZulu-Natal High Court : Pietermaritzburg
(previously Natal
Provincial Division)
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http://www.saflii.org.za/za/cases/ZAKZPHC/
; Court rolls
via
http://www.lawlibrary.co.za/notice/highcourts/index.htm
and
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=190
21 April
2009
12275/2007 [2009] ZAKZPHC 15
Mkhize v Mathapersad an Another
2 April 2009
AR 480/2007 [2009] ZAKZPHC 14
S v Nzama and Another
2 April 2009
AR480/07 [2009] ZAKZPHC 13
S v Nzama and Another
Did Edwafin break the law? - 9 April
The recent troubles at Edwafin have left many investors out of
pocket and angry. Questions have been asked whether the company
somehow flouted the law. Edwafin appears to have ran into cash-flow
problems late last year, which resulted in it missing interest
payments to debenture holders. The fact that its websites have been
shut down, and executives are not engaging with investors or media,
certainly does not help its case. -
Moneyweb website
Edwafin : FSB 'knew in 2006' - 6 April
The Financial Services Board knew about the sale of debentures in
unlisted investment group Edwafin in March 2006, but declined to
investigate it and the unregistered brokers who were selling
debentures in the firm. Edwafin debenture holders, who expect to
receive quarterly payments on their investments, have not received
interest payments since October 2008. On March 16 2006, a financial
services practitioner whose identity is known to Fin24.com
alerted the FSB to Edwafin. This was followed up by an email on
March 27 2006, and again in November 2006. -
Fin24 website
Twist in battle over troubled Edwafin - 17 April
The troubled Hillcrest-based Edwafin Investment Holdings
(Proprietary) Limited has avoided provisional liquidation for at
least another month. However, in a new twist, key Edwafin
role-players yesterday lodged an application for the firm to be
placed under judicial management. This may be granted if a company
is unable to pay its debts while there is still a probability that
it can continue to conduct its business. -
The Witness website
Keyphrase :
Dorothy Griffin
KZP. 17 April 2009. 1630/09 and 3606/09. D J Griffin vs Edwafin
Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd
Teresa Chaplin
Generous interest, but watch out . . . - 20 January 2006
Edwarfin Investment Holdings (EIH), a Durban-based venture capital
company, is advertising 15% debentures to private investors – that
is twice the normal debenture rate. The little-known company run by
equally unknown entrepreneurs has liabilities in the form of
debentures worth R56m and is offering debentures worth another R20m
in a fourth offer. Founder and CEO Patrick Stapleton is confident it
will be able to service and eventually repay the debentures from the
profits it makes in small to medium- sized business ventures.
Investors' capital is committed for 63
months. - Moneyweb website
HIV infection : woman sues - 21 April
If paramedics at an accident scene on the
N3 on August 31, 2000 had handled the body of a pedestrian who was
killed in the crash and then touched the area surrounding an open
wound on the forehead of a motorist, it was possible they could have
transferred HIV from the pedestrian to her. This was the evidence
given in the high court in Pietermaritzburg yesterday by Professor
Desmond Martin, an expert in the field of virology and especially
the HI virus.The case has been proceeding in the high court since
late 2004. It resumed again before Judge Chiman Patel this week and
has now reached the stage of final legal argument, which is to be
presented tomorrow. In her evidence in 2005, the woman - who was a
keen sportswoman and very fit before the crash and her illness -
said she was HIV-negative on admission to hospital. In October 2000,
just weeks after the crash and her treatment, she tested positive,
with devastating effects. She said the revelation caused her
long-standing marriage to break down. Her husband has been tested
for the HI virus, but continues to test negative. An expert on
infectious diseases who gave evidence on the woman's
behalf, Dr David Spencer, said the woman was infected
"around the time"
of the accident. - Witness
website
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North Gauteng High Court (previously Transvaal
Provincial Division)
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http://www.saflii.org.za/za/cases/ZAGPPHC/
; Court rolls
at
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=79
21 April
2009
A322/09 [2009] ZAGPPHC 31
S v Maluleke
20 April
2009
38574/08 [2009] ZAGPPHC 30
Kidson and Another v Jimspeed Enterprises CC
20 April 2009
2973/09 [2009] ZAGPPHC 29
Ndlovu v Mokoena and Others
17 April 2009
15330/05 [2009] ZAGPPHC 28
KNA Insurance and Investment Brokers (Pty) Ltd (In Liquidation)
v South African Revenue Service and Another
17 April 2009
20675/2006 [2009] ZAGPPHC 27
Prochem (Pty) Ltd v Swart
17 April 2009
597/09 [2009] ZAGPPHC 26
Maredi Telecom & Broadcasting (Pty) Limited v Ericsson South
Africa (Pty) Limited and Others
16 April 2009
36949/2008 [2009] ZAGPPHC 25 ; [2009] JOL 23441(GNP)
Aeroquip South Africa (Pty) Ltd v Gross and Others
Link not working at present
It is the
general rule "that a final order may
be granted if the facts averred in the applicant’s affidavits
which have been admitted by the respondent, together the facts
alleged by the respondent justify such an order".
Further to this, an applicant is not entitled to introduce new
matter in its replying affidavit, but only to build on issues
raised in its founding affidavit unless the court exercises
its discretion in allowing the introduction of new facts, upon
the presentation of a proper explanation.
In the matter of
Aeroquip SA v Gross & others [2009] JOL 23441 (GNP),
where judgment was handed down by Southwood J in the North
Gauteng High Court (previously known as Transvaal Provincial
Division) this morning, the court had to deal with the
following :
1. Whether or
not to allow the introduction of facts that had not been
raised in the applicant's founding
affidavit in order to condone a delictual claim by the
applicant ;
2. Whether the
acknowledgment of debt by each of the respondents (one of
which was the firm of attorneys which previously undertook to
pay a debt on behalf of the applicant) was valid and
enforceable ;
3. Does an
attorney become personally liable for the payment of a debt
when he fails to pay a client's
creditor? ;
4. Dishonest and
unprofessional conduct on the part of an attorney.
Source
: LexisNexis
15 April 2009
10777/2004 [2009] ZAGPPHC 24
Combined Distribution Solutions CC v The Courier Freight Group
(Pty) Ltd trading as XPS
According to
section 9 of the
Currency and Exchange Control Act 9 of 1993, regulations
"may be made inter alia for the
attachmment of money and goods and expressly provides that an
attachment shall be for a period not exceeding 36 months
(subject to a qualification not presently relevant)".
In terms of
regulation 22C(1), money and goods may be attached, however
there is no provision relating to a time limit in this regard.
In the matter of
Khumalo & another v SA Reserve Bank & another [2009] JOL
23137 (T), the court dealt with the issue of whether or not
regulation 22C(1) is ultra vires and unconstitutional.
Judgment in this
matter was handed down by Southwood J (Murphy and Raulinga JJ
concurring) on 19 February 2009. An order was granted against
the first respondent declaring a Notice of Attachment in terms
of regulation 22C(1) of the Exchange Control Regulations which
was issued against the South African Reserve Bank, to be
invalid. The interim relief sought by the applicants was not
granted.
In a subsequent
judgment in the matter of Khumalo & another v South African
Reserve Bank & another [2009] JOL 23486 (GNP), which was
handed down by Southwood J in the North Gauteng High Court,
Pretoria ( previously known as the Transvaal Provincial
Division) this morning [24 April 2009],
the court had to deal with the South African Reserve Bank's
application in terms of Rule 30 to set aside the Notice of
Application for a Cross-Appeal by both applicants, as an
irregular step.
The court had to
further deal with the following :
1. The failure of
the court a quo to grant Interim relief and the appealability
thereof in terms of section 20(1) of Act 59 of 1959
;
2. The applicant's
failure to comply with rule 49(1)(b) ;
3. Whether it was
permissible to seek leave to cross appeal on condition that the
leave to appeal is granted and also successful.
Source
: LexisNexis
See :
19 February 2009
50711/08 [2009] ZAGPHC 32
Khumalo and Another v South African Reserve Bank and Another
Farmers looking for money - 10 April
Pretoria High Court judge Carl Rabie has ordered government to
immediately pay Limpopo farmers who sold their farms for
restitution but are still waiting for their money, months after
beneficiaries have taken possesion of the land. The Land Claims
Commission bought the farms on behalf of the Bakgatla Ba Mocha
Communal property Association on 27 February 2008. After the
purchases, the state could not pay for the farms, saying the money
was not budgeted for even at reduced prices, so the farmers took
the matter to court as a last resort. Judge Rabie told land
affairs minister Lulama Xingwana, land claims commissioner
Blessing Mphela and finance minister Trevor Manuel to immediately
make money available to pay the five farmowners. According to a
court report, the owners of the farms Turflaagte, De Kuil,
Middelkopje and Palmmiet Gat, all in the Bela Bela and Waterberg
districts, sold their farms to the state as willing sellers. -
FarmingUK website
Justice chiefs tackle Microsoft - 11 April
The Justice Department has taken Microsoft to court, alleging that
the computer giant overcharged it by almost R10-million in a
software contract. But Microsoft argues that the department failed
to act within a stipulated two-year period, because the contract
was signed in March 2005. In court papers filed at the Pretoria
High Court, the department has indicated that it wants to recoup
R9,6-million, which it claims was overcharged by Microsoft for
software licences. - IOL
website
Motlanthe files court papers - 17 April
Lawyers for President Kgalema Motlanthe on Friday filed papers in
the High Court in Pretoria in an attempt to uphold his decision to
fire national prosecuting chief Vusi Pikoli. Pikoli's lawyer Aslam
Moosajee confirmed that papers had been filed to court and that he
had received a copy. - IOL
website
Wheels must turn faster, says Pikoli - 20 April
Former prosecutions boss Vusi Pikoli is frustrated by President
Kgalema Motlanthe's lack of urgency in responding to the legal
challenge to his dismissal. Pikoli was set to meet attorney Aslam
Moosajee and his legal counsel on Monday, to discuss the way
forward after Motlanthe failed to reply fully on Friday to
Pikoli's allegations that he was fired for political reasons. -
IOL website
Motlanthe
tells court he was right to fire Pikoli - 21 April
President Kgalema Motlanthe has defended
his decision to fire former national director of public
prosecutions Vusi Pikoli, saying it was "strictly in accordance
with constitutional principles" and not made on instruction from
the African National Congress (ANC). He also said that it was his
"constitutional right and duty" to appoint Pikoli's successor and
added that "the process of the identification of an appropriate
person has commenced". - allAfrica
website
Derby-Lewis wants leave to appeal ruling - 18 April
Clive Derby-Lewis will soon turn to the Pretoria High Court to ask
for leave to appeal against last month's court decision to keep
him behind bars. Although papers were filed on his behalf in this
regard, no date has yet been set for the hearing. His lawyer,
Marius Coertze, said they would also ask for leave to appeal
against the hefty costs order with which Derby-Lewis was slapped
following his unsuccessful bid for freedom. It is understood that
his legal bill is running into more than R1-million. Sixteen
points on which the leave to appeal is based were cited in court
papers. - IOL website
FIFA wins
marketing case - 20 April
FIFA has won a court case against a Pretoria tavern which
displayed the words "World Cup 2010" on various signage. On
Monday, a law firm working with FIFA said the High Court in
Pretoria's ruling against Eastwoods Tavern was the first against
"ambush marketers". "It sends out a clear signal to any other
organisation considering ambush marketing that they will suffer
untoward consequences", said Owen Dean, a partner at intellectual
property law firm Spoor and Fisher, in a statement. -
iafrica website
Keyphrase :
2010 FIFA World Cup
Fifa scores first goal - 21 April
FIFA has won its first court case against "ambush
marketers" - popular Pretoria sports bar
Eastwoods Tavern.
The bar - located close to the Loftus stadium in
Pretoria, which is one of the venues to host games during next
year’' soccer World Cup, had been
carrying the "World Cup 2010"
logo below the main sign on its roof.
It also erected banners featuring the flags of several
soccer-playing countries accompanied by the numerals 2010, along
with the words "Twenty Ten South Africa".
The action against Eastwoods Tavern is the culmination of a
five-year collaboration between Fifa and Spoor & Fisher, which
included an extensive trade-mark registration programme covering
events such as South Africa 2010 and World Cup 2010. -
The Times website
'Advocate Barbie'
Case
Prinsloo fears his time has come - 14 April
Fugitive Dirk Prinsloo, who skipped bail and fled to Russia about
three years ago, feels that his "end is possibly near". This was
revealed in his latest correspondence via email sent to some
members of the media, in which he wrote "thank you" messages to
his father, his brothers and even to his deceased mother.
Prinsloo "vanished" in May 2006 in the middle of the sex trial he
is facing with his former girlfriend, Cezanne Visser. He left
Visser, also known as Advocate Barbie, to face the court alone.
The trial has been postponed to June 15. -
IOL website
The games Prinsloo plays - 18 April
Dirk Prinsloo has successfully evaded the law for three years and,
while some speculate he is somewhere in Russia or China, police
officers involved in the investigation believe he is not far from
his home in South Africa. Their belief comes he was seen about a
month ago at OR Tambo International Airport. -
IOL website
Presidential Pardons
Court asked to halt pardons - 14 April
The High Court in Pretoria must grant an interim interdict
preventing President Kgalema Motlanthe from granting pardons to
prisoners convicted of apartheid-era, politically motivated
crimes. This request was made by lawyers for civil society groups
on Tuesday. Geoff Budlender, SC, said the court should freeze the
granting of pardons until the rights of victims' families to make
representations had been determined. -
IOL website
Court told of victim participation in pardons - 14 April
The consideration of presidential pardons to persons convicted of
politically motivated apartheid-era crimes without any input from
victims was an affront to the human dignity of victims, their
families and society as a whole, the Pretoria High Court has
heard. - The Citizen
website
Motlanthe's pardon process not flawed
- 14 April
President Kgalema Motlanthe would not be acting unlawfully by
granting pardons to over 100 people convicted of apartheid-era,
politically motivated crimes, the High Court in Pretoria heard on
Tuesday. Arguing on behalf of Motlanthe and the justice
department, Marumo Moerane said according to the guidelines
governing the pardons special dispensation process, the victims of
the crimes and their families did not need to be consulted. -
The Times website
Court bid to prevent Motlanthe pardons - 15 April
Lawyers for President Kgalema Motlanthe told the North Gauteng
High Court in Pretoria yesterday that an application to interdict
him from giving presidential pardons to people who had committed
politically motivated crimes was "misconceived".
- Business Day website
Pardons bid : judgment reserved - 14
April
The High Court in Pretoria reserved judgment on Tuesday on a court
bid to interdict President Kgalema Motlanthe from granting over
100 pardons for politically motivated apartheid-era crimes. Just
after 18:00 Judge Willie Serici said that due to time constraints
he would probably only be able to hand down judgment at the end of
next week. - News24 website
Vodafone / Telkom Case
Vodafone facing South African court hurdle - 17 April
Vodafone faces an unexpected hurdle in its plans to advance into
Africa through spending $2.5bn to acquire control of South
Africa's biggest mobile phone company after a trade union sought
an urgent court order to block the deal. The world's largest
mobile operator by revenue said in October that it planned to
acquire an additional 15 per cent stake in Vodacom, its 50-50
joint venture with South Africa’s state-controlled Telkom. But the
Communication Workers Union said it would seek to prevent Telkom
selling its shares to the UK group at the high court in Pretoria
on Tuesday, claiming that it had not been properly consulted. -
Financial Times website
Union takes Telkom merger to court - 17 April
Telkom, Vodacom, Vodafone and the Department of Communications are
being taken to court by the Communication Workers Union, it said
on Friday in a statement.
The union served the three telecoms companies and the
department with notice of an urgent court interdict application in
a bid to halt the merger transaction between Vodacom and Vodafone.
Last year Telkom announced the sale of a 15 percent
stake in cellular operator Vodacom, worth R22.5 billion, to
multinational cellular operator Vodafone. -
The Times website
CWU wants court to stall Vodacom deal - 21 April
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) will ask the court today to
grant it an urgent interdict to delay the 15 percent sale of
Vodacom by Telkom to Vodafone. The CWU wants Telkom to properly
discuss the merger with the union, as it will affect its members.
But labour lawyers said yesterday that the right of
non-shareholders and unions to be consulted in merger discussions
was a vague process that had yet to be tested fully in court. -
Business Report website
Court delays union's bid to stop Vodacom deal - 22 April
A South African court has delayed judgement on a union bid to stop
Vodafone's planned $2.5 billion purchase of a 15 percent stake in
Vodacom from Telkom, the union said on Tuesday. The Communication
Workers Union (CWU) said the Pretoria High Court postponed taking
a decision on the matter until April 30. Telkom has agreed to meet
with the CWU on Thursday to discuss the matter, the union said,
adding it wanted Telkom to explain how it would sustain its
business after shedding its 50 percent stake in Vodacom and to
ensure it would not cut jobs. -
Creamer Media's
Engineering News website
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Northern Cape
High Court
-
http://www.saflii.org.za/za/cases/ZANCHC/
17 April
2009
799/06 [2009] ZANCHC 10
Rens v MEC for Health : Northern Cape
Provincial Department of Health
3 April 2009
291/2009 ;
325/2009 [2009] ZANCHC 11
The Khai-Ma Municipality v Groenwald ; The Khai-Mai
Local Municipality and Others v Van Rooyen and Others
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South Gauteng High Court
(previously Witwatersrand Local
Division)
-
http://www.saflii.org.za/za/cases/ZAGPJHC/
; Court rolls
at
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=173
15 April
2009
08/36580 [2009] ZAGPJHC 8
Replication Technology Group and Others v Gallo Africa Limited
In re : Gallo Africa Limited v Replication Technology Group and
Others
I killed for attention, says teenager - 15 April
Not more than 20 minutes after Morne Harmse pleaded guilty to one
count of murder and three of attempted murder in the Johannesburg
High Court on Tuesday, Judge Gerhardus Hattingh handed down a
conviction, saying Harmse had "acknowledged all the elements of
his crimes". In his admission of guilt, Harmse described how,
during his Grade 12 year, he and a group of fellow pupils from Nic
Diederichs Technical High School in Krugersdorp had talked about
doing something with "impressive consequences". On Friday August
15 last year, they planned a school massacre. Each boy said how he
would do it. Harmse planned to bring swords bought for him by his
father four or five years earlier. -
IOL website
Keyphrase :
'Slipknot' case
Professional case continues against South Africa's "Dr Death"
- 20 April
South African health authorities are continuing their efforts to
strip the cardiologist known as "Dr Death" of his right to
practice medicine, the Pretoria News reported yesterday. The
Pretoria High Court in April 2002 acquitted Wouter Basson of 46
charges, including attempted murder and fraud, related to his work
under the former apartheid government. Today, he is in private
practice in Cape Town. However, the Health Professions Council of
South Africa says that Basson should not be a practicing physician
because he "without permission" was involved in Johannesburg's WMD
activities. Basson said he hopes that the High Court will hear his
case and order an end to what he believes is a political
investigation. -
Global Security
Newswire website
Judge lashes out at Legal Aid Board for
delaying Tigon case - 23 April
Judge Geraldine Borchers fired a broadside at the Legal Aid Board
(LAB) in the South Gauteng High Court in
Johannesburg on Tuesday when she warned
: "I am tempted to hold the LAB in contempt of my order of January
14". The judge is hearing the case of Gary Porritt and Sue
Bennett, former directors of collapsed financial services company
Tigon, who face charges including fraud, tax evasion, share
manipulation and racketeering. The charges arise from the alleged
disappearance of R150 million of investors' funds. The judge had
ordered that the LAB appoint two advocates each for Porritt and
Bennett. – Business Report
website
Tycoon killed for R23 000 - 17 April
The wife of murdered tourism mogul Franz Richter, 80, has pleaded
not guilty to murder but provided no alibi or plea explanation.
Celiwe Mbokazi, 35, allegedly hired Mazwi Khumalo – a man with
whom she was having an affair – Tshepo Chirwa, Dumisani Xulu,
Gilbert Mosadi and Vincent Dlamini to rob and shoot her elderly
husband. They all pleaded not guilty but provided no explanations.
Khumalo admitted to having impregnated Mbokazi but said he knew
nothing about the killing. -
Sowetan website
Wife denies evidence on will - 24 April
Franz Richter's wife, Celiwe Mbokazi, has fiercely challenged
claims that she stood to gain R1-million from her slain husband's
death. Mbokazi's protest on Thursday came after Richter's
bookkeeper Sandra Wenman testified in the Johannesburg High Court
that the accused was aware that she personally stood to gain R1m
in cash, a house and benefits from her husband's hotel and
restaurants. - IOL website
Selebi Case
Ex-Interpol head Selebi in court - 14 April
South African prosecutors have applied for the corruption trial of
suspended police chief and ex-Interpol head Jackie Selebi to be
postponed. He is accused of accepting bribes worth 1.2m rand ($133
000, £90 000). He has previously
denied the charges and says there has been a conspiracy to remove
him from his job. He was a close ally of Thabo Mbeki, who stood
down as president last year after a bitter dispute with Jacob
Zuma, leader of the governing ANC. -
BBC News website
Selebi application delays trial : prosecutors - 14 April
Jackie Selebi's prosecutors have blamed the police for their
failure to put the National Commissioner on trial on Tuesday. And
they also insist that Selebi's successful court bid to force them
to hand over evidence against him has also stopped them from
proceeding with the corruption and defeating the ends of justice
case against him. Addressing Johannesburg High Court Judge Meyer
Joffe this morning, lead Selebi prosecutor Gerrie Nel said
Selebi's application against the state had forced the state to
"deviate from our investigation". -
IOL website
Selebi takes aim at Ngcuka and McCarthy - 14 April
Jackie Selebi has relaunched his attack on the ex-prosecuting
bosses blamed for the withdrawal of the Jacob Zuma corruption case
- accusing both Bulelani Ngcuka and Leonard McCarthy of
orchestrating a plot against him. Days after the National
Prosecuting Authority controversially withdrew all charges against
Zuma , National Police Commissioner Selebi has reiterated his
belief that Ngcuka was the NPA's puppet master. -
IOL website
Selebi must go now : Minister - 15 April
Safety and Security Minister Nathi Mthethwa says Jackie Selebi
must go now, and is blaming President Kgalema Motlanthe for
failing to appoint a new police commissioner. Mthethwa
says one of his priorities when he took over last September was to
appoint a permanent police commissioner to replace Selebi, who has
been on special paid leave for the past 15 months while facing
corruption and racketeering charges. -
Sowetan website
Selebi case postponed until May - 14 April
National police commissioner Jackie Selebi's
case was postponed to May 4 by the High Court in Johannesburg
today to allow for the tying up of loose ends. -
The Times website
How did Selebi’s lawyers get DVD? - 14 April
Scorpions prosecutor Gerrie Nel questioned how national police
commissioner Jackie Selebi's lawyers
came into possession of a DVD only declassified recently, the
Johannesburg High Court heard today. -
The Times website
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Western Cape High Court (previously Cape
Provincial Division)
-
http://www.saflii.org.za/za/cases/ZAWCHC/
; Court rolls at
http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=134
22 April
2009
15638/2008 [2009] ZAWCHC 61
Logista Inc and Others v Van der Merwe
21 April 2009
7060/2008 [2009] ZAWCHC 60
Neethling and Another v Oosthuizen
14 April
2009
SS106/08 [2009] ZAWCHC 59
S v Zenzile
Reconstruction of the court record
: Part of trial process. An accused is entitled to be
informed of same and to be represented in the process of
reconstruction. Failure to do so constitutes unfair trial
27 March
2009
19820/2008 [2009] ZAWCHC 58
B v B
Travel agent challenges fraud case - 14 April
One of the four travel agents charged with parliamentary travel
voucher fraud on Tuesday formally challenged the repeated
postponement of the case. Estelle Aggujaro's lawyer filed papers
asking the Cape High Court to investigate what she says is the
unreasonable delay in bringing the matter to trial. According to
prosecutor Jannie van Vuuren, the case was first put on the court
roll for trial in July 2006. Judge Hennie Erasmus postponed the
case to May 22 to allow the state and other parties to file
affidavits in answer to Aggujaro's application. -
IOL website
Travel case 'designed to destroy politicians' - 14 April
The Travelgate investigation had been designed to destroy the
reputations of certain politicians, one of the four travel agents
facing charges has claimed. Estelle Aggujaro made the allegation
in an affidavit submitted to the Cape High Court on Tuesday as
part of her attempt for a formal investigation into the reasons
for the repeated postponements of the case. She said the Scorpions
had targeted "political opponents" in the case, and that their
investigation had been intended to destroy "the reputation and
political role playing ability" of certain MPs. -
IOL website
Nude pictures of lover land man in the dock - 14 April
A South
African businessman faces a charge of crimen injuria for
allegedly publishing naked pictures and personal information of an
ex-girlfriend, and inviting men to have sex with her on hundreds
of Internet websites, including classified advertising website
Gumtree. Gerald Crawford of Stellenbosch also allegedly placed
fraudulent advertisements on Gumtree, offering rental
accommodation for the December holidays, for which he attached
her banking details. Reynhardt van Blommenstein, a computer
expert, discovered several websites featuring naked pictures of
the woman. Gmail and Yahoo email addresses were used to open the
websites, and to communicate with respondents. Van Blommenstein
said in a separate affidavit that the email accounts were linked
to Crawford. The websites were accessed from a computer using IP
addresses linked to a Telkom telephone number belonging to
Crawford, he added.
Crawford claims that
Van Blommenstein was not authorised to obtain the information
because he was not a cyber inspector, in line with the
Electronic Communications
and Transaction Act.
Crawford consulted an internet and IT
specialist, who said it was impossible to prove that an IP address
that accessed a site was linked to a specific computer. Crawford
is also opposing a Cape High Court application the woman lodged
against him to have his electronic equipment, as well as the
images and information removed from his home. She won an interim
court order and the goods are now in the custody of an attorney.
On June 3, Crawford will return to court to seek the return of the
items seized, and have the interim order set aside. -
IOL website
Earl Spencer's ex-wife at the centre of a love feud between her
estranged husband and soldier lover - 16 April
Victoria Aitken, whose maiden name is Lockwood, was married to
Princess Diana's brother for eight years. The former model has sat
on the sidelines as her estranged second husband Jonathan Aitken has
allegedly fought over her with her new lover James Clinch, in her
adopted home city of Cape Town. According to documents lodged at
the High Court of South Africa in Cape Town, Mr Aitken, a South
African, has not taken the break-up well. Mr Clinch accuses Mr
Aitken of threatening to kill him. He has applied for a
restraining order against Mr Aitken preventing him from assaulting
him, coming near his children his office and home. -
Mail Online website
Policeman's depression not treated : doctor - 15 April
The last witness for the defence in murder accused Marius van der
Westhuizen's trial, psychiatrist Johan Scholtz, believes the
former policeman suffered from depression and trauma that weren't
treated. Scholtz said this was aggravated by Van der Westhuizen's
personality and marital problems, before he shot his three
children and himself. Scholtz was approached by Van der
Westhuizen's attorney, Milton de la Harpe, for an assessment of
his client last November. - IOL
website
Sex workers win court order against police - 20 April
Cape Town sex workers on Monday won a High Court order to stop
police arresting them when they know prosecution is unlikely to
follow. The order, by Judge Burton Fourie, followed claims by sex
workers that police were carrying out arrests merely to harass and
intimidate them. One sex worker told the court in an affidavit she
had been taken into custody about 200 times over a period of six
years, but never prosecuted. - IOL
website
'Sex work, increase in crime linked' - 21 April
A court interdict preventing police from arresting sex workers was
granted because the NPA consistently fails to prosecute them, the
City of Cape Town said on Tuesday. "The inaction of the NPA
[National Prosecuting Authority] has undermined the City's
programme to reduce crime," safety and security chairperson,
Councillor JP Smith, said in a statement. -
IOL website
Looking for new way to deal with prostitutes - 22 April
The City of Cape Town says it will seek new ways of clamping down
on prostitutes following a high court ruling against the police on
Tuesday. "We are concerned about its impact on the enforcement of
by-laws and national legislation," said the chairman of the
council's safety and security portfolio committee, J P Smith. -
IOL website
Wine farm plans to go to ConCourt - 22 April
A R40-million Cape High Court action lodged by the Land Bank
against the second-oldest family-owned wine estate, Twee
Jongegezellen, has been postponed to give it time to prepare
further documents. The managing director of the farm, Nic Krone,
intends to lodge a Constitutional Court challenge against the
rules of court which relate to the manner in which the sheriff
serves documents. The case relates to loans the Land Bank had made
to the farm. It claims that Twee Jongegezellen owes it
R40-million. - IOL website
Gihwala must account for R4m 'loan' - 21 April
Fidentia curator Dines Gihwala has admitted defeat in an
acrimonious legal battle with a Swiss company, whose claims
against him he previously dismissed as baseless and aimed at
embarrassing him. Gihwala, who has acted for Finance Minister
Trevor Manuel and provided legal advice to Dr Frene Ginwala on
axed prosecuting head Vusi Pikoli's fitness to hold office, has
conceded to every single claim made against him by Swiss-based
investment management firm Montague Goldsmith. Gihwala is also
facing a possible defamation claim from Montague Goldsmith's chief
executive Karim Issa Mawj. - IOL
website
Fidentia Case
Fidentia's Goodwin gets jail sentence - 20 April
A key figure in the Fidentia saga, Steve Goodwin, has been
convicted of fraud and corruption, and of money laundering
involving about R93 million. In terms of a plea agreement endorsed
by the Cape High Court on Monday morning, he has been sentenced to
an effective 10 years in jail. Part of the deal is that he will
testify in criminal proceedings against his former associate, ex-Fidentia
boss Arthur Brown. - Business
Report website
20 April 2009
Fidentia's Steven Goodwin sentenced to
50 years [: statement by National Prosecuting Authority]
SA Government Information
website
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Regional Courts
Wynberg
Snorts of derision greet fraudster's apology - 10 April
Convicted fraudster Maurice de Grandhomme, an investment adviser,
apologised to his victims while asking the Wynberg Regional Court
for leniency in the passing of his sentence. His apologies were
met by snorts of derision from people in the public gallery. In
March he was found guilty of two alternate counts of theft, eight
of fraud and seven of contravening the
Companies Act. De
Grandhomme met his co-accused, former president of the SA Baseball
Union, Brian Lombard, while they were
serving sentences for unrelated fraud charges in Pollsmoor Prison
between 1997 and 2000. "If it wasn't for me Lombard would not have
been involved," De Grandhomme replied to Lombard's advocate,
Johnny Vermeulen. De Grandhomme confirmed to Vermeulen that he was
the mastermind and had initiated the illicit deals. Magistrate
Bruce Langa remanded De Grandhomme and warned Lombard, who is out
on R80 000 bail, to be back in court next Friday for sentencing. -
IOL website
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Magistrates Courts
Johannesburg
Magistrate in dock for fraud - 23 April
The case against a 40-year-old magistrate who allegedly altered the
sentence imposed on a fraudster was postponed in the Johannesburg
Magistrate's Court on Thursday. After Magistrate Lamson Nemakwarani
made representations to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP),
prosecutor Collen Ryan asked the court to postpone the matter, in
order for the DPP to decide whether the case could proceed or not.
Nemakwarani allegedly conspired with a third party and altered a
sentence imposed on an accused charged with fraud in the Brixton
Magistrate's Court, where he works. The accused was initially
sentenced to two years imprisonment, which were suspended, with the
option of a fine. The sentence was later changed, outside an open
court, to read : "Two years imprisonment
or R12 000 fine". - IOL website
Motata dubs state witness a 'lying racist' - 24 April
Asking for his case to be thrown out of court, Pretoria High Court
Judge Nkola Motata has launched ambitious attacks on state witness
Richard Baird - calling him a lying racist. Motata's defence
advocate Bantubonke Tokota told the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court
on Friday morning that the state's star witness, Baird, had the
skills to manipulate evidence and that everything he testified to
was contradicted by his fellow state witnesses. Tokota continued the
onslaught by accusing Baird of being biased, dishonest and a
completely hopeless witness. Baird, Tokota claimed, put pressure on
everyone at the scene to have Motata arrested. -
IOL website
Pinetown
Two up for murder, R3m insurance fraud - 13 April
The Wyebank businessman who allegedly faked his own death for
financial gain is due to appear in the Pinetown Magistrate's Court
on Wednesday. Sundraganes "Rajen" Chetty, presently on bail, and his
cousin Dayalan Reddy, are accused of faking Chetty's death to claim
from a R3 million insurance policy. Chetty was released on R50 000
bail while Reddy was released on bail of R5 000. Both have been
charged with murder and defeating the ends of justice. Chetty and
Reddy have been on bail since October 2008 but under strict
conditions imposed by the court. -
IOL website
Legal tussle delays Lotter trial - 24 April
Westville siblings Hardus and Nicolette Lotter who, along with
Nicolette's former boyfriend Mathew Naidoo are charged with the
murders of their parents, are unlikely to stand trial this year.
This is because the ongoing legal tussle between their attorney,
Danie Grundlingh, and the Legal Aid Board over who will represent
them has only been set down for argument on September 4. -
IOL website
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Advertising
Standards Authority
-
http://www.asasa.org.za/
Ngqula cries foul against Nando's ad - 14 April
The Advertising Standards Authority has dismissed an objection by
former SAA chief executive officer Khayakhulu Ngqula, to the line
"Chicken or beef Mr Ngqula?" in a Nando's advertisement. The
phrase "chicken or beef", usually associated with air hostesses,
made light of the "substantial media hype" around Ngqula's dispute
with SAA after allegations that his wife obtained a tender through
her association with him. It did not imply that he or she were
guilty, the authority ruled. - IOL
website
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Competition
Commission, Tribunal and
Appeal Court
-
http://www.compcom.co.za/
;
http://www.comptrib.co.za/
Manoim to replace Lewis as tribunal chair - 16 April
Cabinet has approved the appointment of Norman Manoim as the new
chairperson of the Competition Tribunal. He will replace Dr David
Lewis, whose term expires in July. Lewis served two terms as
chairperson and is precluded by legislation from serving a third.
Advocate Mbuyiseli Madlanga was also confirmed as the new deputy
chairperson, replacing Advocate Marumo Moerane. This appointment
would also become effective from July 1. -
Creamer Media's
Engineering News website
Competition Tribunal
16 April 2009
Statement on the Cabinet meeting of 15 April 2009
Mr N Manoim, Mr M Madlanga, Ms YT Carrim, Mr A
A Wessels, Ms M M Mokuena, Ms M
G Holden, Mr T Madima and Ms A T
Ndoni were appointed as members of the Competition Tribunal for a
period of five years. - SA
Government Information website
25 March 2009
135/LM/Dec08 [2009] ZACT 20
Vodafone Group Plc v Vodacom Group (Pty) Ltd
18 March 2009
09/LM/Jan09 [2009] ZACT 19
Investec Bank Ltd v Anglo-V3 (Pty) Ltd
17 March 2009
103/CR/Dec06 [2009] ZACT 18
Woodlands Dairy (Pty) Ltd and Another v Competition Commission
; Competition Commission v Clover Industries Limited and Others
6 March 2009
81/LM/Jul08 [2009] ZACT 17
Mobile Telephone Networks Holdings (Pty) Ltd v Verizon South
Africa (Pty) Ltd
4 March 2009
113/LM/Oct08 [2009] ZACT 16
Vodacom (Pty) Ltd v Storage Technology Services (Pty) Ltd
4 March 2009
132/LM/Dec08 [2009] ZACT 15
Ukhamba Holdings (Pty) Ltd v Pragma Africa (Pty) Ltd
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Court of
the Commissioner of Patents
30 January
2009
98/4753 [2009] ZACCP 1
Galison Manufacturing (Proprietary) Limited v Set Point
Industrial Technology (Proprietary) Limited and Another
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Government
and Legislation
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South
Africa Government Information
-
http://www.gov.za
;
http://www.polity.org.za
; http://www.buanews.gov.za/
Statements and
Speeches
20 April 2009
Appointment of new Deputy Commissioners [South African
Revenue Service]
17 April 2009
Pebco three families receive final investigation report
16 April 2009
Statement on the Cabinet meeting of 15 April 2009
Keyphrases :
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup Finals
Aid to Zimbabwe
Constitution of the
Republic of South Africa Amendment Bill
Convention on
International Liability for Damage caused by Space Objects of
1972 (Liability Convention)
Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space
(Registration Convention)
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW)
Cross-Boundary
Municipalities Laws Repeal and Related Matters Bill
Elections
Inauguration of President - Saturday 9 May 2009
Indian Premier League
National Energy Efficiency Strategy (revised)
National Youth Policy. 2009-2014
Rugby World Cup
Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender
and Development
Excerpt :
"The following bills were approved :
▪
Protection from Harassment Bill (for public comment)
▪
Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill (for
public comment)"
16 April 2009
Address by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sibusiso Ndebele at the launch
of the book, "Traditional Leadership and Democracy – How Far We
Have Come in KwaZulu-Natal"
15 April 2009
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sibusiso Ndebele rated best premier in
South Africa
14 April 2009
Notes following media briefing by Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs Fatima Hajaig and her Iraqi Under-Secretary, Labeed
Abbawi
8 April 2009
Tribute to Cecil Skotnes by Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo
Jordan
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Parliamentary Monitoring Group
-
http://www.pmg.org.za/
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Please note
that you may be required to be a subscriber to access certain
Committee reports |
Requests for
Submissions and Hearings
January 2009
National Framework : Guidelines for Provinces and
Municipalities in the implementation of the
Ward Funding Model
As contemplated in Section 73 of
Local Government
Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998 ; as amended by
Section 6(b) of the
Local Government Laws Amendment Act, 2008
Comments can be emailed to Mr Yusuf Patel at
wardcommittees@dplg.gov.za by 15 May 2009
Effective date : 9 April 2009
9 April 2009
Regulations in terms of Section 75(2) of the
Local Government
Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998 as amended in 2008
Regulations published for public comment
Comments can be emailed to
Mr Yusuf Patel at
wardcommittees@dplg.gov.za by 15 May
2009
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Legislation
Companies
Act
Companies Bill signed into law - 16 April
The Companies Bill, aimed at promoting transparency in corporate
governance, has been signed into law by President Kgalema Motlanthe,
the department of trade and industry announced on Thursday. The new
act could not have come into existence at a more opportune time, it
said in a statement. - Business
Report website
New Companies Act's a sword of Damocles - 14 April
Directors can join their auditors in prison for preparing materially
false financial statements under the new Companies Act
gazetted Thursday, April 9 2009. Ten years in prison is the maximum
penalty for this offence. That is directly in line with the worst
penalty in the Auditing Professions Act. Michael Bourne of Ernst &
Young advises directors of public interest companies to study the
new Act and get advice quickly. -
Moneyweb website
SA revamps companies law to limit insolvencies - 16 April
South Africa has revamped its company law to make firms more
accountable to shareholders and to protect those in financial
trouble from creditors while they put together rescue packages, it
said on Thursday. The department of trade and industry (DTI) said
the new law tightened rules on accounting and gave shareholders more
rights and access to information, in line with international norms.
It aims to encourage activism among minority shareholders,
particularly those based abroad, by reducing the minimum number of
shareholders needed to call a meeting to 10%. -
Creamer Media's
Engineering News website
Draft
Constitution 17th Amendment Bill
Cabinet approves draft bill - 16 April
Cabinet has approved the controversial draft Constitution 17th
Amendment Bill, which further empowers national government to
intervene at local government level. The bill will now be gazetted
for public comment before being submitted to Parliament, government
spokesman Themba Maseko told a media briefing on Thursday on the
outcomes of Wednesday's Cabinet meeting. -
IOL website
Government to push ahead with Reds and plan to amend Constitution
- 16 April
Cabinet approved plans to push ahead with an amendment to the
Constitution, which would give national government new and extended
powers of intervention at the local government level, government
spokesperson Themba Maseko said in Pretoria on Thursday. -
Creamer Media's
Engineering News website
Constitutional amendment to take power from local councils - 17
April
The cabinet has approved a constitutional amendment bill that will
strip municipalities of their power to levy payments for the
distribution of electricity. The government said yesterday that the
move was necessary because local governments were not ploughing back
power revenue into infrastructure. After the weekly cabinet meeting
that approved the Constitutional Seventeenth Amendment Bill
yesterday, government spokesman Themba Maseko said underinvestment
posed a danger of service breakdowns where infrastructure was
ageing. - Business Report
website
Cross Boundary
Municipalities Laws Repeal and Related Matters Amendment Act
Motlanthe signs cross-boundary law amendment - 9 April
President Kgalema Motlanthe has proclaimed a law amendment under
which Merafong municipality will be re-incorporated into Gauteng,
his office said on Thursday. Motlanthe's spokesman said the
president had set April 3 as the date on which the Cross Boundary
Municipalities Laws Repeal and Related Matters Amendment Act came
into operation. - IOL website
9 April 2009
President K Motlanthe assents to the Cross-boundary Municipalities
Laws Repeal and Related Matters Amendment Act
SA Government Information
website
Interactive
Gambling Tax Bill
Sars's nasty new gambling tax bill -
17 April
On June 9 2008 a new money Bill was made available to the public
for information and comment. The Bill is called The Interactive
Gambling Tax Bill and deals with the imposition of tax in respect
of interactive gambling and all other matters incidental thereto.
Put differently, it imposes a tax on online gambling, a form of
gambling which is soon to become lawful as a result of amendments
to the National Gambling Act, 2004. The main purpose of the Bill
is to provide for the payment of an interactive gambling tax at
the rate of 6% of gross gambling revenues (GRR), calculated at
this rate for each assessment period. -
Moneyweb website
Muslim
Marriages Bill
Marriage Bill 'big step for Muslims'
- 21 April
Members of the Muslim community should not fear that the Muslim
Marriage Bill will interfere with their customary laws. This was
said yesterday at a Gift of the Givers workshop on the Muslim
Marriage Bill held in Pietermaritzburg. Murinah Osman-Hyder, a
lecturer in the law faculty at the University of KwaZulu-Natal,
told the workshop the bill is a big step, not just for women's
rights, but for the rights of Muslims in general. Osman-Hyder said
Muslim women have no legal rights in their marriages or in the
event of a divorce. - Witness
website
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Useful
Links and Items of Interest
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Legal Profession
South Africa
Fugitive lawyer's pregnant wife face
court alone - 12 April
Juan Hattingh, high-flying attorney who owns 12 cars and 50
properties across South Africa is on the run from police for fraud
and money laundering totalling R50-million. The
35-year old fugitive allegedly defrauded banks, bridging finance
companies, friends and relatives by securing two bonds on a single
property and falsifying affidavits to the deeds office. On
Wednesday, Hattingh's 41-year-old wife,
who is 36 weeks pregnant with twins, was arrested for alleged
complicity. Hattingh's brother,
Francois, was arrested a few hours later in Bloemfontein.
Hattingh closed his Bloemfontein law practice in
February this year and was planning to relocate the firm to
Ballito. Last month, police discovered that Hattingh's
files and documents were being deliberately destroyed by three
workers at his sister-in-law's signage
business in the suburb of Ferreira in Bloemfontein. Cindy Ann was
granted R10 000 bail in the Verulam
Magistrate's Court this week. Her
passport was confiscated and she must report to police weekly. Her
lawyer, Jacques Botha, said his client did not know the precise
allegations in the case or the whereabouts of Hattingh. Hattingh's
brother will apply for bail in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's
Court on Tuesday. - The Times
website
PetroSA appoints legal advisers for refinery project - 15
April
National oil and gas company PetroSA announced on Wednesday that
it had appointed a consortium of law firms to provide legal
advisory services for the establishment of its proposed 400
000-bl/d oil refinery, dubbed Project Mthombo. The consortium,
which would be led by local firm Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (ENS),
would also include local firm Mkhabela Huntly Adekeye and Qunta
and two international partners, namely Clifford Chance, of the UK,
and Nixon Peabody, of the US. -
Creamer Media's
Engineering News website
Gated community : here we come - 14 April
Law Society
Chairman Michael de Broglio explains why he's abandoning suburbia.
- Moneyweb website
Crime and gated communities : Michael de Broglio, chairman, Law
Society - 14 April
Michael de Broglio is the leading Johannesburg attorney and a
former Chairperson of both the Johannesburg Attorneys Association
and Gauteng Law Council and is also a Law Society Councillor.
Michael, as you've written a piece that we have now published on
Moneyweb - you say it was not the Easter Bunny who visited
you and your family on Sunday. I know it's tough to go over such a
traumatic experience - perhaps you can recap very briefly what
happened to you and your family on Sunday afternoon? - Interview
with Alec Hogg on Moneyweb
website
Fiji
Fiji Law Society president released from detention - 15 April
The president of the Fiji
Law Society, Dorsami Naidu, has now been released from
detention after spending 24 hours in custody where he says he was
threatened with charges of sedition. Commodore Frank Bainimarama
and his main spokesman have both denied publicly that anyone has
been detained, but Mr Naidu says that is simply not the case. "I
was definitely detained . . . I couldn't
stay at my home, I wasn't allowed to leave the police station",
he said. - ABC News website
Defiant lawyer speaks out from jail cell - 15 April
The president of the Fiji Law Society was locked up overnight
after urging judges not to accept commissions from the new regime.
Dorsami Naidu was being held in a Lautoka police cell after being
interviewed by government representatives. At the weekend he sent
a letter to the country's judges - who were all sacked on Good
Friday - asking them not to swear allegiance to Commodore Frank
Bainimarama's Government. -
New Zealand Herald website
Fiji :
legal situation - 15 April
The New Zealand Law
Society is extremely concerned at the breakdown of the rule
of law in Fiji and believes New Zealand lawyers should not accept
appointment to any office under the regime. The breakdown in the
rule of law has seen judges sacked because the governing regime
disagreed with a Court of Appeal decision that the regime was
unlawful and the President of the Fiji Law Society, Dorsami Naidu,
detained after urging judges to remain true to the 1997
Constitution. - Scoop
website
Fiji's law chief defiant as official sackings mount - 15
April
Fiji's top law officer has rejected Australia's criticism of the
purge of his nation's judiciary, saying : "The new judges will
be just as independent as the old judges". Attorney-General
Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the criticism that had been directed at
the regime over last week's sacking of Fiji's judiciary had been
premature and inconsistent. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum's comments came as
Fiji's military tightened its grip on the troubled island,
taking control of the central bank and removing all
constitutional office holders, including the Supervisor of
Elections, the Ombudsman, the Auditor-General, the Director of
Public Prosecutions, the Commissioner of Police, and the
Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji. -
The Australian
website
Fiji judiciary butchered, says law society - 18 April
The head of the Fiji Law Society says the country's "butchered"
judiciary will no longer be independent. A presidential decree
has been issued to pave the way for the appointment of new
judges after the President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo sacked the
judiciary last weekend. The decree scraps the Law Society's
representation on the Judicial Service Commission - the
organisation that makes judicial appointments. The society's
president, Dorsami Naidu believes the society's absence from the
commission will enable the interim government to select judges
who back it. - Radio New
Zealand News website
Magistrates re-appointed in Fiji -
20 April
The head of the Fiji Law Society says he's not surprised that
the interim government has re-appointed most of its magistrates.
The entire judiciary was sacked after the Court of Appeal ruled
on 9 April that the previous interim government had been
illegally installed. Only two new people were among a line-up
appointed on Monday. Society president Dorsami Naidu says the
magistrates should not have been sacked in the first place
because they do not deal with constitutional matters or big
court cases. There's no word yet on when other appointments will
be made to higher ranking judicial positions. -
Radio New Zealand News
website
NZ lawyer defends accepting Fiji Solicitor-General post - 21
April
New Zealand lawyer Christopher Pryde has defended his decision
to take up the post of Fiji's Solicitor-General. His comments
follow strong criticism from the New Zealand Law Society, which
says he should have turned down the offer to protest against the
interim government's dissolution of the constitution earlier
this month. Mr Pryde says he believes in accepting the position,
he can help Fiji get back on track. -
ABC News website
Amnesty International fears further abuses in Fiji - 22
April
Amnesty International says the regime in Fiji has threatened
lawyers and could commit further human rights abuses now it has
almost unlimited power. Lawyers who take up positions in the
interim regime could face expulsion from the Fiji Law Society.
Society president Dorsami Naidu says he is in discussion with
members about the fate of these lawyers. He says the society is
waiting to see who will be appointed as judges and Chief Justice
before taking action. -
Radio New Zealand News website
Fiji judicial jobs unlawful, says NZ legal chief - 24 April
New Zealand Law Society president John
Marshall QC has warned that lawyers who accept judicial office
in Fiji will be in office unlawfully. He said the rule of law in
that country had broken down and all magistrates who accepted
office this week were now in office unlawfully. -
The Australian
website
India
London arbitration court opens in India - 21 April
Dignitaries representing the British and Indian legal professions
gathered in New Delhi this weekend to mark the latest step in the
opening of the prized Indian legal services market to foreign law
firms. Lord Goldsmith, QC, the former UK Attorney-General, and Sir
Richard Stagg, KCMG, the British High Commissioner to India, were
among the guests at a ceremony to celebrate the opening of a
satellite branch of the London Court of International Arbitration
(LCIA). - Times
Online website
Singapore
55 'ignorant' lawyers let off - 21 April
Some 55 lawyers who breached a legal requirement were spared
punishment by the Attorney-General after the
Law Society
explained that they were 'ignorant' of the new law. These lawyers,
who became partners, directors or sole proprietors, were required
under the Legal Profession Act to complete a mandatory Legal
Practice Management Course, organised by the Law Society, before
taking up their duties. -
The Straits Times website
Are lawyers to blame for driving up insurance claims? - 21
April
Every month, about a dozen law firms bought just over 4
000 motor accident reports from the General Insurance
Association (GIA). Although the association has never resorted to
calling them 'ambulance chasers', it believes there are some law
firms here which do little else than pursue motor accident claims.
The GIA suspects these lawyers - tipped off by
workshops carrying out repairs on damaged cars - buy the reports
to get the details of potential clients. To curb this 'data
mining', the GIA decided last year to leave out some information,
such as the contact details of motorists and the circumstances
leading to the accident. It had an immediate effect. The number of
reports purchased by the more than 200 law firms dropped from
about 6 000 a month to about 2
500 a month. The Law Society refutes the GIA's claims. 'We
have clear rules against touting,' a spokesman said. -
asiaone motoring
website
United
Kingdom
UK law firms advised to look towards Nigeria - 14 April
Nigeria could become a huge market for UK legal services, the Law
Society has said. The
Law Society of England and
Wales is on a trade mission to the West African country to
help British law firms to increase their activity there. -
Birmingham Post
website
It is time to scrap lawyers' success
fees? - 23 April
Is it time to kill the golden goose? A bandwagon is rolling over
the exorbitant charges racked up in some no-win, no-fee cases and
lawyers' 100 per cent uplift that could
ultimately lead to their demise. Next week Lord Justice Jackson,
the Court of Appeal judge, will outline provisional proposals of
his review on the costs of litigation. -
Times Online
website
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South Africa
Arts and Culture
Indian artefacts returned to centre - 19 April
After months of pressure from community-based organisations,
valuable Indian artefacts that were removed from the now defunct
Durban Cultural and Documentation Centre will be returned to their
former home.
Weziwe Thusi, the MEC for arts, culture and tourism in
the province, called a sudden meeting with community leaders this
week to announce that most of the historical artefacts, which are
now housed in Pietermaritzburg and Durban, would be returned to the
Derby Street property by next month.
The items, including musical instruments, traditional
clothing, documents, books and photographs, some dating back to the
1800s, would be housed in a smaller building alongside the former
documentation centre, which is now being transformed into a music
academy. - The Times
website
Communication
SABC tells Mkhonza to leave - 19 April
Kanyisiwe Mkhonza, the chairperson of the SABC board, nearly cried
after facing a vote of no confidence in her leadership. Some of
Mkhonza's colleagues have asked her to step down after she was
accused of being at the centre of the controversies that have pushed
the public broadcaster to the brink of collapse. -
IOL website
Correctional Services
20 April 2009
Investigation into the Conduct of Healthcare Practitioners
that Led to the Release of Mr Shabir Shaik on Medical Parole
IOL website
Excerpt :
"We
therefore find nothing untoward or unethical or unprofessional in
the conduct of all the practitioners involved in providing medical
care to Mr Shaik and in the reports they compiled on his condition"
The names of the doctors who freed Shaik - 20 April
IOL website
What the medical parole report said - 20 April
IOL website
Entertainment
Steve in legal spat - 19 April
Steve Hofmeyr's former lawyer has sued the entertainer for over
R200 000. The summons was issued by the High Court in Pretoria. In
response, Hofmeyr has laid formal charges against Peet Viljoen at
the Law Society of the
Northern Provinces. Hofmeyr and Viljoen's paths split in a
rather unpleasant way last year when Viljoen was representing
Hofmeyr in a dispute with Janine van der Vyfer, Hofmeyr's
ex-mistress. She had sued Hofmeyr for the alleged non-fulfilment of
certain promises he made during their relationship. -
News24 website
Environment
Despite strong water law, a crisis looms : lawyers warn - 14
April
South Africa’s water supplies were either not being used in
accordance with the principles of governing legislation, or the
Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Lindiwe Hendricks was not
performing her constitutional responsibilities. But whichever the
case, South Africa’s already threatened water reserves could be on
the brink of a crisis, environmental lawyers from corporate law firm
Werksmans argued in a recently published legal brief, entitled
'Another Watergate?'.
- Creamer Media's
Engineering News website
Family Law
Miss Take and the passport wife : a South African tale - 20
April
The battle lines are drawn between the wife with the passport and
the wife with the identity document as they fight it out over their
dead husband's body.
In one camp is the wife who saw her husband once a year
while she was left in Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland or Mozambique to
fend for the children, and he was out there in what seemed to be
perpetual employment on South Africa's
mines.
In the other is the "wife"
who cooked for him, washed his clothes and tended to his every whim.
The battle becomes messy as a multitude of conflicts emerge on
different levels.
His employer is pitted against the wives. -
The Times website
See also :
Court rules on burial of bigamous man - 21 October
in InfoUpdate 29 of 2008
Finance
Are debt counsellors running with our money? - 12 April
More than 24 debt counsellors are being investigated by the National
Credit Regulator for not transferring money paid to them by clients
to their creditors. This comes after a number of people complained
to The Sunday Independent that their houses had been
auctioned, allegedly without their prior knowledge, despite the fact
that they had paid the required monthly instalments to their debt
counsellors. - IOL website
Financial services workers overpaid : Allan Gray - 15 April
Allan Gray chief investment officer Ian Liddle says that the
financial industry and the people in it have made too much money. He
was speaking on Moneyweb's Market Commentator Podcast on
Wednesday. Liddle notes that a number of variables are at play to
reduce earnings, including societal pressure. He cites the example
of AIG executives voluntarily returning bonuses. -
Moneyweb website
Wage subsidy could have little impact - 23 April
One of the leftist ideas that have gained popularity over the last
year is the concept of a wage subsidy. The idea is that either
low-income individuals or the businesses that employ them would be
given a certain fixed subsidy that would top-up their wages.
Companies could pay lower salaries and use the subsidy to make up
the difference, and therefore, in theory, employ more people.
However, fighting unemployment by through wage subsidies could cost
as much as R90 000 per job, and could lower unemployment by as
little as 1.9%, according to a World Bank Policy Research Working
Paper released last month. The paper, entitled Wage subsidy and
labor market flexibility in South Africa, analysed the likely
impact of various levels of wage subsidies in various scenarios. -
Moneyweb website
See :
Wage subsidy and labor market flexibility in South Africa. 23
March 2009
World Bank website
Absa 'judgement call' behind decision to
double former CEO's pay - 23 April
Absa, controlled by Barclays, said its decision to double the pay of
former CEO Steve Booysen in 2008 was a "judgement
call" on what will be best for
shareholders. Booysen, 46, left Absa at the end of February, after
less than five years as CEO, to make way for former Transnet chief
Maria Ramos, whose contract at the state-owned transport company had
expired. Booysen is on "garden leave"
till August, when he will be paid R19,1m in addition to share
options and pay of R18,2m in 2008. -
Moneyweb website
Foreign Affairs
SA to
share TRC experiences with Iraq - 14 April
South Africa has resolved to share its experiences of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (TRC) with Iraq to help reconcile parties
in that country. This emerged during the South Africa/Iraq bilateral
meeting between Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Fatima Hajaig and
her Iraqi counterpart Labeed Abbawi at the Union Buildings on
Tuesday - the first governmental visit to South of the new regime in
Iraq. - BuaNews Online
website
Foreign Policy
Hogan says sorry, and keeps her job - 17 April
Health Minister Barbara Hogan has apologised to her Cabinet
colleagues after criticising her own government's controversial
decision to bar the Dalai Lama last month. She is the second member
of the executive to apologise within seven months in the Kgalema
Motlanthe administration - Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Fatima
Hajaig was forced to say sorry for making alleged anti-Semitic
remarks. - IOL website
Home Affairs
UK visa to cost South Africans R500 million - 16 April
Visa applications for travellers to the UK will cost the economy R
500 million in the next 12 to 18 months says immigration expert,
Leon Isaacson, MD of Global Migration. Not only this, but the
process has caused extreme inconvenience to travellers. -
Moneyweb website
Judicial
Service Commission
Judge Hlophe
Trial and error - 12 April
Deputy
Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke has dismissed suggestions that an
anti-Zuma vendetta on his part is a factor in the Constitutional
Court's complaint against Cape Judge President John Hlophe. Moseneke
told the commission that the perception, created by some in the ANC,
that he was anti-Zuma was untrue. "I have known [Zuma] from way
back. Our relationship has remained cordial ever since I knew him."
Moseneke, who has been tipped to replace Pius Langa as chief
justice, has been painted as the leading architect of a plot to
destroy Zuma. There have also been suggestions that Zuma prefers
Hlophe to Moseneke for the post of chief justice. Also testifying
last week, the two judges, Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta, said
Hlophe had tried to persuade them to reach a conclusion favourable
to Zuma.
Nkabinde also said that Hlophe told her he was close to several
Cabinet ministers, and that he had a list of people who would lose
their jobs when Zuma took over as South Africa's president. Both
Nkabinde and Jafta said they had made it clear to Hlophe that he was
not entitled to interfere in the Zuma case.
-
Mail & Guardian website
See also
: Constitutional Court above
Judiciary
Zuma wants neutral judges : ANC - 15 April
African National Congress President Jacob Zuma's controversial
remark that the Constitutional Court is "not God" was merely a plea
for judges not to take political sides, ruling party
treasurer-general Mathews Phosa said on Wednesday. Phosa told the
Cape Town Press Club he rushed to get clarification from Zuma after
he appeared to question the role of the country's highest court in
an interview published in Independent Newspapers' titles last week.
- IOL website
Labour Issues
Labour brokers expect to face significant new regulations as
opposition mounts - 14 April
It was unlikely that South Africa's labour
brokers would be banned outright, but the industry was likely to
face significant new regulation within the next two to three years,
the Confederation of Associations in the Private Employment Sector
(Capes) said on Tuesday. The discussions around the regulation or
possible banning of the TES industry in South Africa came to a head
in December last year, when the Namibian government decided to ban
labour brokers, as there was no provision for the industry in any of
the country’s legislation. Subsequntly, Cosatu sought to have the
issue placed on South Africa's economic agenda, arguing that the
system was an obstacle to securing "decent
work". Capes COO John Botha said that the
banning, as experienced in Namibia, was unlikely to carry over into
South Africa as several Acts, including the
Employment Equity Act
and the Skills Act,
dealt specifically with this sector. -
Creamer Media's
Engineering News website
SA likely to face yet more strikes, labour lawyer warns - 16
April
This month's national strike by truck
drivers may simply have been the prelude to what could turn out to
be a tough year for labour relations in South Africa, an employment
law specialist said on Thursday. Tensions would be heightened by the
fact that unions would not simply be bargaining for higher wages,
but battling to stave off retrenchments, as the economy slowed.
"Other than food, there is nothing more
emotional than retrenchment", Mike Maeso,
who is a partner and head of employment law at Shepstone & Wylie,
said. - Creamer Media's
Engineering News website
Public health system faces paralysis unless state acts - 21
April
The country's public health system could be grounded in two weeks if
the Department of Health fails to table an offer for the
occupational special dispensation for doctors at the public sector
committee bargaining chamber. The SA Medical Association (Sama),
which represents 6 000 doctors who serve in state facilities, has
threatened to embark on industrial action if nothing firm has been
reached in negotiations between practitioners and the state. -
Business Report website
Sars's take on labour brokers - 20 April
Section 66(1) of the Revenue Laws Amendment Act, No. 60 of 2008
introduced a definition of a "personal service provider" and limited
the definition of a "labour broker" to natural persons. The reasons
for these amendments was to stop the unnecessary overlap in the
provisions of the Income Tax
Act 58 of 1962, as amended specifically aimed at preventing
practices that seek to artificially disguise the employer-employee
relationship, in the case of entities, as the impact of this overlap
can be reduced by requesting exemption certificates from the South
African Revenue Service (Sars). -
Moneyweb website
Land Affairs and
Property
Sharp fall in the value of building plans passed - 15 Apil
The value of recorded building plans passed by larger
municipalities had declined by 42,3%, or nearly R6-billion,
year-on-year in February, according to statistics released by
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Wednesday. The value of
residential building plans passed had declined by 47,5%
year-on-year, while additions and alterations were down 39,3% and
non-residential building plans 33,9%. While eight of South Africa's
nine provinces had reported decreases in the value of building
plans passed in February, Gauteng had made the largest
contribution of 15,3% to the overall decrease. The value of
building plans passed in Gauteng dropped by 42,3% or R2,1-billion.
- Creamer Media's
Engineering News website
Property sector plans post-election lekgotla - 21 April
South Africa's fast-changing political
environment and its impact on the country's
economic outlook would receive attention at the South African
Property Owners Association's (Sapoa's)
forty-first International Convention and Property Exhibition, to
be held in Sandton in early June. -
Creamer Media's
Engineering News website
How crime is affecting the property market : John Loos, property
strategist, FNB - 15 April
Interview with Alex Hogg on the
Moneyweb website
Property sales in Pietermaritzburg :
down 40% - 16 April
The torpedoing by the major banks of consumer expectations of home
loan finance has been blamed by a Pietermaritzburg leading agent
for the approximate 40 percent decline in the city's residential
property sales and an approximate average of 10 to 12 percent dip
in selling prices with the highest decline in the top end of the
market. A continuance of the same lending strictness, as seems
likely, is expected by Pelham Henwood to elevate the city's "for
sale" stock levels to a historical high of about 3 000 properties
within the next three months, of which he forecasts only between
10 to 12 percent will be sold based on current trends. -
realestateweb
website
Development
Estate
plans for dunes rejected - 10 April
A proposed development within the Hout Bay beach dunefield system
has been refused by the local subcouncil. In a report to the Good
Hope subcouncil the City of Cape Town's environmental management
unit said the planned development would "benefit a few at the cost
of many", was at risk because of future climate change-linked
storm surges and was "irresponsible" because it was within a
particularly active and dynamic coastal dune system characterised
by wind-blown sand. The city agreed it was not within 100m of the
high-water mark, which triggers statutory environmental
requirements but said it "effectively forms part of the greater
beach development". The developer, D-Groep BV, said an
environmental impact assessment was conducted and the site was
considered sensitive because of the presence of coastal dunes and
a wetland. Limited development was therefore proposed with the
rest of the site being reserved for rehabilitation. -
allAfrica website
Fifty years of fighting for justice - 22 April
We are in middle of a protest walkabout towards the almost
century-old early morning market on Warwick Avenue, which is about
to be shut down for a shopping mall in the beautification process
before the 2010 World Cup.
The protestors are a motley crowd of black and Indian street
traders, fishermen, market representatives, street barbers,
singing their way down the road in their yellow T-shirts bearing
the message "World-class cities for all".
The 2010 football World Cup, the cause of all this activity, is
seen as the dark side of a big flashy World event every country
desires on its CV. The chant is unambiguous
: "Stop the traditional elitist
approach to building cities in preparation of the World Cup.
Include us". Much as in India, the chief
concern here is the gap between rich and poor. -
Tour Diaries blog
Keyphrase :
2010 FIFA World Cup
See
also :
http://streetnet.org.za/
Land Claims and
Expropriation
Farmers compensation - 20 April
Farmers who were forced to accept below-market related prices for
land sold to the state for restitution might still get the chance
to be fully compensated. At a recent meeting between Agri SA's
transformation committee and acting chief land claims commissioner
Blessing Mphela, Mphela said he wasn’t aware of the practice
whereby some landowner receive as little as 60% of their property's
valuation. He said it's not government
policy to buy land at less than market value. -
FarmingUK website
Farm dispute - 11 April
A dispute between a smallholder and a family claiming tenancy
rights on his property in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands has
neighbouring farmers worried that bad blood between the two
parties may affect other farmer/worker relationships in the area.
Colin de Gaspary of Bright Water Farm near Rietvlei is hoping the
Pietermaritzburg Land Claims Court will soon announce an eviction
order against the Masikane family which will finally end the
hostilities and threats against him. "When I bought my
smallholding 11 years ago, I allowed Irene Masikane and her one
son to continue living on a section of my property," he explained.
"However, I stipulated that only these two people were allowed to
live here. Now Irene's daughter, Joyce,
and her daughter, Dudu, are claiming the right to live on my
property because they say that their family has lived here since
1949", De Gaspary told Farmer's
Weekly. "But I have aerial photographs which show there were
no dwellings on my property in 1973 and I know the Masikane family
only moved onto my land in 1975". -
FarmingUK website
Armed mob grabs land-reform farm - 15 April
Disgruntled land-reform beneficiaries have invaded a farm near
Malelane in Mpumalanga, ousting its managers and assuming control
of the farm workers and the running of the farm.
The 3200ha farm, Foroma, is part of Tenbosch, a R10bn
land-restitution project, SA's biggest
by value. It is one of several farms handed back to four
communities who lost their land under apartheid legislation since
1923. Agribusiness Umlimi, which controls the joint-venture farm
management company Makhombo for the Lugedlane community, has
confirmed the land invasion.
Umlimi director Derek Pettit said the invasion was the
consequence of unreasonable profit expectations created by
trustees, apparently to entrench their positions, despite warnings
from Umlimi that it would take two to three years before a return
could be expected from what had been badly neglected farms. -
Business Day website
Commission intervenes on seized farms - 15 April
The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights has entered the fray
over the Mpumalanga farms seized by a community over alleged bad
management by its strategic partner. "We have visited the farms
and are engaging with both the trustees and Umlimi [Holdings, the
strategic partner's operating partner] with a view to resolve the
impasse," acting regional land claims commissioner Tumi Seboka
said in a statement on Wednesday. "The current situation
. . .
is based on the non-performance of Umlimi to develop the farms to
acceptable levels," she said. - IOL
website
Land confiscations : white tenants will not be tolerated - 15
April
Minister Xingwana said the farm was bought by land affairs for R2m
in 2007 and was given to Vanessa Moos
and a further R200 000 was spent building chicken houses and other
farm infrastructure. Minister Xingwana said Moos later complained
of a burglary at the farm and security was provided for her.
Still, Moos moved to Pretoria and had someone living at the farm.
She said Moos told the department of land affairs that she was
looking for a job in Pretoria. Minister Xingwana said
Yzervarkfontein farm was bought from a white farmer and given to a
black female under the land reform project. She expressed
indignation that Moos failed to look after the farm but chose
instead to sub-let it to a white man, Jan Marnweck, who just
looked after his children at the farm. "Land reform is about
previously disadvantaged black people who were denied land
ownership," she said. -
Moneyweb website
Woman can keep farm for now : court - 22 April
Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana and Veronica Moos - whose farm
was recently seized due to the department's "use it or lose it"
land distribution policy - on Tuesday reached an interim agreement
in terms of which Moos will be allowed access to the farm during
the day. Moos had headed to the high
court here to ask for an urgent order against the minister in
terms of which her possession of the farm was restored. She also
wanted an interdict against the minister, restraining her from
harassing or interfering with her occupation of the farm
Yzerfontein, near Bapsfontein. -
IOL website
Mondi seals KZN land claim - 17 April
Mondi Group joint chairman, Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday signed
Mondi’s second set of land claims to the value of R38.7 million,
with the Minister of Land Affairs, Lulama Xingwana. Structured
around the initial Mondi land claims model, the agreement provided
the seven communities in KwaZulu-Natal with a 20-year sale and
leaseback. "The communities will receive the titles to the land of
13 700 hectares and will benefit from an annual income, whilst
ensuring a continued supply of timber to Mondi’s mills," the
company said. - Business Report
website
R93m
land claim succeeds at Libode - 14 April
A Libode community rejoiced when land, from a settlement claim
worth R93 million, was handed over to it by the minister of Land
Affairs on Saturday.
The claimant community is made up of five villages –
Magcakini, Tyarha, Mamfengwini, Mdlankomo and Moyeni – which, when
the claim was made, had a total of 907 households, the members of
which are the direct descendants of the originally dispossessed
individuals.
The number has since grown to 1980 households with 5
769 beneficiaries.
The land claim, part of the government's
land redistribution programme, was first lodged in 1989.
- Dispatch Online
website
Covie land returned to families - 14 April
People dispossessed of their land at Covie in the heart of the
Tsitsikamma forest in the apartheid era had it returned on Monday
by the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights. The settlement of
Covie was registered in the deeds office when 30 allotments were
granted by the state in 1880. The farm Covie was demarcated as
commonage for the Covie community to graze their stock. Between
1970 and 1980, the then Community Development Board expropriated
the grazing rights to the land under the then
Group Areas Act.
Landless, the community spread all over the province and to the
Eastern Cape. Beverley Jansen, regional land claims commissioner
for the Western Cape, said after the Covie community had lodged
its claim before the deadline in 1998. "We've brought them all
back today, about 1 000 people, and 765 hectares has been
officially given back to them," Jansen said. About 150ha of the
land the Covie people lost now belongs to SANParks and is part of
the Tsitsitkamma National Park. Jansen said in lieu of this land,
the people had been given R1,2-million, which would go into
developing the land. "There are 411 families and the development
will be housing and small-scale farming". -
IOL website
Crookes sells off fourth block of land to state for R200m - 23
April
Agricultural products group Crookes Brothers has sold Komatipoort
Estate to the Department of Land Affairs for R200m, the company
said on Tuesday.
This is the latest of four land disposal agreements
that the company has reached with the government. The properties
sold were located south west of Komatipoort, Mpumalanga. -
Business Day website
Property Law
Government simplifies electrical certificate standards - 16
April
New rulings regarding the issuing of electrical compliance
certificates for residential properties effective from May 1 will
simplify the demands made on sellers and buyers of residential
property. - Rodney Hayter
website
Tony Clarke heavily critical of Cape Town Deeds Office - 8
April
Cape Town's Deeds Office has come under
strong criticism from a leading local estate agent for its poor
service levels. At the height of the 2004 to 2006 boom, says Tony
Clarke, MD of Rawson Properties in a company media release, the
Deeds Office examined up to 200 deeds per day and on average
taking ten working days process each deed prior to transfer. Now,
he says, the average turnaround time from the submission of the
documents to the point where they effect a transfer is up by 50% -
to 15 working days, a "ridiculous"
situation. - Rodney Hayter
website
Media
SABC3 fined R80 000 for defamation - 9 April
The SABC's investigative journalism programme Special
Assignment has been fined R80 000 for accusing a Cape Town
University professor of sexual molestation of children. The
two-part programme, aired on SABC3 on June 3 and July 3, 2008,
claimed that Professor Graham Fitch had engaged in acts of sexual
molestation of children. Fitch filed a complaint with the
Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCCSA) that the programmes had
defamed him. - IOL website
SABC cites legal concerns after pulling show - 15 April
The SABC has canned an episode of Special Assignment
looking at the state of political satire in the country. The show
was due to be broadcast on SABC3 at 8.30pm on Tuesday night, but
the public broadcaster on Tuesday afternoon decided to cancel the
show because their internal legal team were worried about "certain
things" in the show. In a press release sent out last week, the
SABC said the show would be about "how South Africans talk about
their politicians. Is a slow, chilling effect taking hold of
political humour in South Africa? Is political correctness leading
to an erosion of free speech? What risks do political satirists
run by ridiculing powerful figures?" the press release read. "We
also ask whether there are attempts being made to use South
Africa's courts to silence satire. We look at the
multimillion-rand lawsuit being brought against cartoonist
Jonathan Shapiro by ANC president Jacob Zuma - and what this could
mean for the rights of artists to lampoon political figures. -
IOL website
Inquiry rules in e.tv Sizzlers report - 21 April
e.tv has been cleared of any wrongdoing in its graphic
re-enactment of the Sizzlers gay massage parlour massacre. The
Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa has dismissed
complaints raised by relatives of two of the nine victims killed
by Adam Woest and Trevor Thys at the Sizzlers massage parlour in
Sea Point in 2003 about the 3rd Degree documentary on the
massacre. - IOL website
See also :
Zuma guns for top UK newspaper
below
BCC dismisses complaint against broadcaster - 23 April
The City of Tshwane has been left with a bloody nose after
challenging a Carte Blanche expose of fraud, corruption,
incompetence and nepotism in the administration. The Broadcasting
Complaints Commission said on Thursday it had dismissed a string
of 25 complaints by the city against a hard-hitting programme
broadcast by M-Net in October 2008. The commission said in a
statement the city had produced no evidence to counter many of the
claims. - IOL website
Minerals and Energy
S Africa regulator urges Eskom to apply for new tariff - 22
April
South Africa's utility Eskom, which has delayed an application for
a tariff increase, is in danger of missing a July 1 deadline for
any tariff hike to be implemented, the power regulator said.
Mbulelo Ncetezo, the executive director at the power regulator
NERSA, said it takes three to four months to process an
application, and state-owned Eskom was running out of time. -
Reuters website
Second take : liquidation unusual - 17 April
Creamer Media's Shannon O'Donnell speaks to Mining
Weekly editor Martin Creamer about the unusual liquidation of
Pamodzi Gold. - Creamer
Media's Mining Weekly website
South African union plans to call strike over Pamodzi -
21 April
South Africa's National Union of
Mineworkers plans to call a strike in the country's
North West province over the liquidation of Pamodzi Gold Ltd.
mines. Pamodzi's Orkney mine in the
North West province was placed under so-called provisional
liquidation on March 20 after funds ran dry. Its East Rand and
Free State mines have since been placed under provisional judicial
management. The company's shares have
been suspended since March 20. -
Bloomberg website
Municipal Management and Procedure
Cape
Town
City tables R23.8 billion draft budget - 16 April
The R23,8 billion draft budget was presented to Council on 30
March 2009, and is open for public comment until 30 April. It can
be viewed at public libraries and on the City's
website. The final budget will be approved by Council at the end
of May, and will be adopted at the start of the next financial
year on 1 July 2009. - City
of Cape Town website
See
:
Budget 2009-2010, Draft
City of Cape Town
website
Cape takes care of noisy clubs - 16 April
The City of Cape Town has served summonses on three popular Cape
Town nightspots for contravening noise regulation laws and trading
without the necessary business licences. Other nightspots are to
be targeted in the next week. Police have also weighed in, adding
that they are finalising a database containing surveillance
footage from cameras at all the "problem clubs" in the city in the
next two weeks. - IOL website
Cape Town's new
accommodation plan - 24 April
As the Western Cape gets ready to welcome an estimated four
million foreign visitors during 2010, the City of Cape Town has,
for the first time, adopted a uniform land use policy to oversee
guest accommodation establishments. This includes camping sites,
caravan parks, bed and breakfast facilities, boarding houses,
guest houses, backpackers' lodges,
self-catering apartments, hotels and resorts. -
Cape Business News website
eThekwini
Fat salaries for fat cats - 16 April
While workers thrash out salary increases for municipal employees
amid threats of a strike, Durban's top managers on contract are
assured of handsome salary packages come the new municipal
financial year. Unions have pointed out that most staff earned 27
times less than the managers did. -
IOL website
National Prosecuting
Authority
I'm nobody's puppet, says Hofmeyr - 19 April
Willie Hofmeyr, the deputy director of the National Prosecuting
Authority, (NPA) is now tipped to head the Directorate of Priority
Crime Investigations, the body that will replace the Scorpions. He
says : "My reputation means a lot to me. I will rather step down
than be embroiled in controversy." -
IOL website
Zuma Case : Dropped
Charges
Did Mpshe plagiarise a Hong Kong judge?
- 14 April
On Monday last week Acting National Director of Public Prosecution
Moketedi Mpshe announced his decision to drop charges against ANC
president Jacob Zuma. In his statement setting out the grounds for
his decision Mpshe cited various (mainly foreign) legal rulings.
Things start going slightly awry when Mpshe quotes the following
from the judgment of Smyth v Ushewekonze and Another 1998.
This judgment was issued by Gubbay CJ in the Harare High Court.
However, things become properly curious as Mpshe proceeds to cite
a string of rulings by the courts of the British Commonwealth.
First there Ormrod LJ's judgment in R v Derby Crown Court,
ex Parte Brooks is cited, then Mason CJ in Jago v District
Court of New South Wales, then Lord Lowry in Connelly v DPP
1964 ; then Lord Steyn in Regina
v Latif ; then Lord Clyde in R v
Martin ; and finally Lord Hope in
R v Hui Chi-Ming. At this point it is useful to divert to a
judgment handed down by Justice Conrad Seagroatt of the Hong Kong
High Court on December 13 2002. It is rather remarkable how
Mpshe's opinion of McCarthy so closely resembles that of Justice
Seagrott's opinion of the prosecution in his case in Hong Kong.
Their conclusions are rather similar as well. -
Politicsweb website
Includes comparative table between Mpshe
statement and Seagroatt judgment
Keyphrases :
Connelly v DPP [1964] AC 1254
Jago v District Court of New South Wales (1989) 168 CLR 23
R v Derby Crown Court, ex Parte Brooks [1985] 80 Cr App R 164
R v Hui Chi-ming [1992] 1 AC 34 277
R v Latif [1996] 1 WLR 104
R v Martin
6 April 2009
Statement by the National Director of Public Prosecutions
on the matter S v Zuma and others
National
Prosecuting Authority website
High Court of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
13 December 2002
Criminal Case 191/1999
Hksar v Lee Ming Tee
Excerpt
:
"143. It is against this evolved statement of broad
principle that the prosecution's failures and shortcomings with
regard to disclosure must be seen and tested. Those for close
consideration are best summed up by such expressions as "so
gravely wrong", "gross neglect of the elementary principles of
fairness", "so unfair and wrong", "misusing or manipulating the
process of the court". If those failures can properly be so
categorized, are they such as to make it unconscionable that a
re-trial should go forward?"
NPA boss plagiarised judge in Zuma ruling - 15 April
Red-faced officials have admitted that acting National Prosecuting
Authority head Mokotedi Mpshe plagiarised a Hong Kong judge in his
explanation of why he was dropping all charges against ANC
President Jacob Zuma. But NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali on Tuesday
insisted that Mpshe's failure to acknowledge his borrowing of Hong
Kong High Court Justice Conrad Seagroatt's December 2002 ruling -
in his reasoning on the Zuma decision - was an "innocent
oversight". - IOL website
NPA
plagiarism scandal maybe hides a deeper truth - 16 April
News that Mokotedi Mpshe plagiarised a decision of a Hong Kong
court that was later overturned on appeal when he tried to justify
his decision to drop charges against Mr Jacob Zuma, is of course
highly embarrasing. But does it have any legal significance? And
what does this say about the NPA - which is constitutionally
required to act without fear, fabvour or prejudice - and íts
integfỉty and independence? . . . Mpshe
said that the decision to drop charges against Mr Zuma was made
under time pressure . . . Mr Zuma's
application for a permanent stay of prosecution was only to be
heard in August, so what was the time pressure Mpshe spoke about?
Could the time pressure relate to the looming election and perhaps
to some informal deal struck with the ANC bigwigs to drop charges
before the election? This suspicion is enhanced by the fact that
Mpshe had invited Mr Zuma to make representations to him about his
case, despite the fact that the Supreme Court of Appeal had found
that there was no such legal duty on the NPA and the case was
still under consideration by the Constitutional Court. Why did
Mpshe suddenly invite Zuma to make representations - even though
he had no duty to do so? - Pierre de Vos on the
Constitutionally
Speaking blog
Reaction : Local
NPA's Zuma decision 'indefensible'
- 16 April
Leading advocate Wim Trengove has urged lawyers to speak out
against the reprieve granted to ANC president Jacob Zuma, calling
it "‘incomprehensible and indefensible".
Speaking to law students at the University of Cape Town, Trengove,
who has acted for the NPA in cases involving Zuma, faulted the
decision to withdraw fraud and corruption charges against him on
several grounds. - The Times
website
Trengove : Zuma decision 'tipping point' - 16 April
The National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA) decision to drop
charges against African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob
Zuma was a tipping point that could lead to the erosion of the
rule of law, a senior advocate has warned, the Star reported
on Thursday. - Mail & Guardian
website
Advocate slammed for Zuma comments - 17 April
South African Institute of Race Relations president Sipho Seepe
has accused Advocate Wim Trengove of having a financial motive in
criticising the decision to drop charges against Jacob Zuma. Seepe,
a prominent critic of Zuma's prosecution, said on Thursday that
Trengove - who has previously acted for the National Prosecuting
Authority against Zuma - would have "benefited financially" if the
prosecution had continued. - IOL
website
Heath supports Mpshe's decision - 16 April
National Director of Public Prosecutions Moketedi Mpshe could have
made no other decision than to drop charges against ANC president
Jacob Zuma, former judge Willem Heath said on Thursday. "If he
proceeded [with the prosecution] the judge would have ruled that
it was an illegality and it would have come to an end," Heath
said. Heath was chairing an academic debate in Pretoria on the
withdrawal of corruption charges against Zuma on April 6. -
IOL website
Reaction to 'The
Tapes'
Parliament sought NPA probe - 11 April
The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) began monitoring former
Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy after Parliament found his unit's
activities were "very dangerous and
against our national interest". The NIA
began monitoring McCarthy - with the requisite permission from a
judge following an instruction from the parliamentary committee .
- The Weekender
website
Did Michael
Hulley give the game away? - 14 April
When Mr Jacob Zuma's lawyer was asked
about the origins of the tapes illegally and criminally handed
over to the Zuma camp and then used by the NPA to drop charges
against Mr Zuma he said that attorney-client privilege prevented
him from saying where the tapes came from. Interesting. Who is Mr
Hulley's client whom he is protecting?
Jacob Zuma? - Pierre de Vos on the
Constitutionally
Speaking website
Zuma and Khumalo rift revealed - 19 April
The divide between Jacob Zuma and businessman Mzi Khumalo, who is
implicated in the tapes that show his involvement in discussions
about the timing of the reinstatement of the charges against the
country's presidential hopeful, began in Durban over competing
bids for a major contract. Khumalo was the chairman of the Durban
Point Development Company and Zuma was the MEC for economic
affairs and tourism in KwaZulu-Natal. The shenanigans which led to
the rift are set out in the judgment by Judge Hilary Squires who
convicted Schabir Shaik, Zuma's financial adviser, of fraud. -
Business Report website
Keyphrases :
Hilton Hotel (Durban)
Laurusco Developments
Nkobi Holdings
Point area redevelopment
Renong Berhad
Secprop 60
Vulindlela
Waterfront Company
Zuma's lawyer to be probed - 20 April
ANC president Jacob Zuma's lawyer, Michael Hulley, has been
reported to the
KwaZulu-Natal Law Society for being in possession of
"classified material". Trade union Amicus SA lodged the complaint,
asking the body to investigate how Hulley came to be in possession
of the so-called Mbekigate tapes, of tapped phone conversations
between former prosecutions boss Bulelani Ngcuka and former
Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy. -
IOL website
Effect on National
Prosecuting Authority
Zuma prosecutor is down, but far from out - 12 April
Jacob Zuma's prosecution was "absolutely not" born out of a
political vendetta. And, says Billy Downer, the leading Zuma
prosecutor, former National Prosecuting Authority boss Bulelani
Ngcuka and former head of the Scorpions Leonard McCarthy were
"very surprised" when evidence of graft surfaced against the ANC
president. Mpshe acknowledged that Downer and his team had
disagreed with the decision and believed a judge should decide
whether the case against Zuma - which the NPA has described as
"strong" - was too compromised to continue. -
IOL website
Politics
Poor funding 'thwarts democracy' -
15 April
The lack of regulation in political party funding was the biggest
threat to democracy in South Africa, said political analyst Steven
Friedman on Wednesday. He was speaking at a quarterly debate
hosted by the Helen Suzman Foundation on political party funding
in South Africa. - IOL website
Phosa : no disclosure on party funding - 15 April
ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa said on Wednesday there would
be no law forcing political parties to disclose their funding
until they were entitled to sufficient levels of public funding.
He said the party has been studying several Western democracies
including Britain and Germany in an attempt to determine "best
practice" in terms of dealing transparently with party funding.
"You will find in those countries the taxpayer funds democracy,"
Phosa said. - IOL website
Jacob Zuma weighs cabinet position for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
- 18 April
In an astounding political comeback, Nelson Mandela's ex-wife
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is poised to get a major role at the
centre of the government formed after next week's general election
in South Africa. Well-placed sources say the 71-year-old,
acrimoniously sacked from the government for incompetence by her
then husband when he was president, has been told that after Jacob
Zuma wins the election she will be given a senior cabinet post.
Already she has been named No5 on the ruling African National
Congress's ticket, ahead of most ministers and senior government
officials, and is thus assured of a seat in the new parliament.
Last week the country's electoral court ruled that despite her
record Ms Madikizela-Mandela could contest next week's election on
behalf of the ANC. -
The Australian
website
Trade and Industry
Clothing and textile quotas
1 400 job losses expected at textile
manufacturer Seardel as it shuts four divisions - 12 April
Job losses were expected at Seardel as a result of restructuring,
South Africa's largest textile manufacturer said on Thursday.
Subject to the outcome of the required consultation process with
interested parties, the group would close its spinning, weaving,
finishing and denim divisions. According to a statement, these
divisions employed a total of about 1 400 workers. -
Business Report website
Keyphrase :
Frame Textiles
Seardel to close down Frame Textiles : Johnny Copelyn, CEO, HCI
- 14 April
Interview with Alex Hogg on the
Moneyweb website
Trade deals, imports leave textile sector threadbare - 14
April
Jobs in the clothing and textile industry are expected to plummet
further this year as deficiencies in the trade deal with
neighbouring countries and the undervaluation of goods exported
from China continue to hammer the sector. At its peak, the
industry employed more than 100 000 people, but in 2008 the
workforce stood at about 50 000. It has fallen to 45 000 in 2009.
- Business Report website
Union fuming over Seardel closure - 14 April
Workers Union (Sactwu) on Tuesday expressed its outrage at the
announcement that manufacturer Seardel would close some of its
divisions. - Mail & Guardian
website
Quotas on imports pointless : reports - 15 April
As job losses mount in the clothing and textile sector, two
reports have criticised quotas imposed on 31 lines of Chinese
imports as pointless and probably counterproductive. The quotas
ran for two years from January 2007. A request to China to allow
the quotas to continue was recently rejected. -
Business Report website
Transport
New Durban airport begins to take shape, but clock is ticking
- 24 April
The approach to the new Durban International Airport looks like a
wasteland and makes you wonder how the Ilembe consortium is ever
going to have it ready by May 1 next year. But as you breast the
hill and look down, the amazing sight of a virtually complete
airport rises impressively to greet you. Ilembe, which is
responsible for the design and construction and has been working
on the site for 19 months, is currently finalising a contract with
Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) and the Dube Tradeport to
maintain the airport for ten years after its completion. -
Creamer Media's
Engineering News website
Western Cape
Cape seeks changes to Chapman's Peak contract - 17 April
The Western Cape government has acknowledged it made mistakes in
the Chapman's Peak contract, because of which the province has
forked out millions in taxpayers' money to the Entilini concession
holder as compensation while the road remains closed. The
contract, signed six years ago as the Western Cape's first
public-private partnership, was lawful and had to be complied
with. Terminating it would cost the province R180-million. Premier
Lynne Brown announced on Thursday that, in the light of the
findings of the task team she appointed to look into the Chapman's
Peak contract, the province intended to renegotiate sections of
the contract with Entilini consortium. -
IOL website
Brown won't release Erasmus report - 19 April
Western Cape premier Lynne Brown says she is not going to release
the report of a probe into the establishment of the Erasmus
Commission. The commission was set up by her predecessor Ebrahim
Rasool, like her an ANC appointee, ostensibly to examine the
legality of the DA-controlled City of Cape Town's bribery
investigation into renegade councillor Badih Chaaban. However, a
full bench of high court judges ruled in September last year that
the commission was unconstitutional. The judges said Rasool's
motive had in fact been the "improper one" of seeking to embarrass
his political opponents. Brown's office said in a statement on
Sunday that following the judgement she had decided she wanted to
use the ruling to help improve the efficiency of her
administration. - IOL website
see
also :
Cape
Provincial Division
1 September 2008
5933/08 [2008] ZAWCHC 52 ;
2008 (6) SA 345 (C)
City of Cape Town v Premier of the Western Cape and Others
Western Cape to cut aquaculture industry red tape - 24 April
The Western Cape Government has drafted an aquaculture strategy
document that minimises red tape for both land and sea-based fish
farming operations. This effort is expected to produce over ZAR
2.5 billion (EUR 215 million) and 44 000
jobs in the next 15 years. The project entails placing aquaculture
development zones by dense areas of fish farms and related
industries. The government hopes these quarters will attract
customers through low prices and convenience, increasing producers'
profits. Currently, the province hosts 59 aquaculture farms. -
FIS website
Miscellaneous
Zuma guns for top UK newspaper - 14 April
Though his lawsuits against several media houses in South Africa
have yet to be finalised, The Times has reliably learnt
that the presidential frontrunner will this week institute legal
action against British newspaper The Guardian.
Zuma in 2006 made defamation claims totalling tens of
millions of rands against South African newspapers, a radio
station and the popular cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, better known
as "Zapiro",
over articles pertaining to his much-publicised rape trial, at
which he was acquitted.
Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Rapport has brokered
an out-of-court settlement with Zuma.
The lawsuits against the former Sunday Times
columnist David Bullard were withdrawn after Bullard apologised to
Zuma.
The ANC president will now sue The Guardian over
a column written by author Simon Jenkins in which Zuma is
described as a ‘"polygamous,
leopard-skin-draped Zulu boss’". Jenkins
also describes Zuma as an "‘unschooled
former terrorist, communist sympathiser and rabble-rouser’".
Zuma has assembled a team of experts to deal with his
defamation claims against the media.
The Times also understands that Zuma has appointed a
leading London legal firm that specialises in defamation suits. -
The Times website
According to the
apparently reprinted column
Get used to a corrupt and chaotic South Africa. But don't write it
off [6 March 2009] on the
Skadi Forum website, the
column by Simon Jenkins referred to above used to be online at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/06/south-africa-election-simon-jenkins
The same link is
referred to at
http://www.sa2010.gov.za/aggregator/sources/1?page=25
and numerous other news sources
Guardian to pay Zuma 'modest sum' over 'subbing error' - 20
April
The Guardian was negotiating a settlement with ANC
president Jacob Zuma's lawyers over a comment it says it published
by mistake, a spokesperson said on Monday. -
Mail & Guardian website
Zuma goes ahead with libel action - 21
April
ANC President Jacob Zuma has refused to accept a UK
newspaper's "inadequate" apology and partial retraction of an
article published earlier this month, and is pressing ahead with
his libel action. The Guardian newspaper
has admitted to an "editing error" in its article of March 6, in
which Zuma was accused of being "a rapist and guilty of corruption
and bribery". -
IOL website
See also :
Media. Political satire
above
UCT man faces disbarment in the US - 21 April
Paul Ngobeni, the deputy registrar of legal services at UCT, is in
the process of being disbarred from practising law in
Massachusetts after having lost his licence in the neighbouring US
state of Connecticut. Ngobeni, who was part of the brains trust
that drove ANC president Jacob Zuma's defence and is an ally of
Cape Judge President John Hlophe, was admitted to the Connecticut
bar in 1989, but was put on interim suspension in 2005 for posing
"a substantial threat of irreparable harm to his clients or to
prospective clients". The Connecticut bar alleged 17 counts of
misconduct, including taking fees without providing a service,
incompetence, lack of diligence, failure to communicate with
clients, misrepresentation and deceit. -
IOL website
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Africa
Botswana
Gem
producer Botswana cuts output - 17 April
The world's largest diamond mine producer, Botswana, is to cut
output by more than half this year, because of falling demand for
gems. Debswana, jointly owned by the Botswana government and De
Beers, said it would produce 15 million carats of diamonds, against
33.6 million carats last year. -
BBC News website
Somalia
Could
19th-Century plan stop piracy? - 12 April
If the navies of the world need some advice on ways to stop piracy
off Somalia, they could look to Lord Palmerston, British Foreign
Secretary in 1841. Palmerston, the great advocate of gunboat
diplomacy, was speaking in support of a British naval officer,
Joseph Denman. Denman had attacked and destroyed slave quarters on
the West African coast and had been sued by the Spanish owners for
damages. It was British policy to try to destroy the slave trade,
but this sometimes ran into legal complications. -
BBC News website
France
charges suspected pirates - 17 April
Three suspected Somali pirates have been charged with hijacking
and false imprisonment, French prosecutors say. The three were
captured by French commandos in a hostage rescue operation in the
Indian Ocean on 10 April and brought to France to face trial. Two
pirates and the skipper of the yacht Tanit were killed and four
hostages freed in the operation. The men
face a life sentence in prison if convicted of the charges. -
BBC News website
Somali chaos spills from land to sea - 18 April
Last year Somali pirates were responsible for more than 100
attacks on shipping and although attempts are being made to tackle
the problem, finding a solution is not straightforward reports
Karen Allen in Kenya. - BBC News
website
Pirates raise legal questions - 18 April
Arresting Somali pirates may be the easy part. Foreign navies in
the region have detained dozens of them but the ensuing legal
avenues are ill-defined and raise human rights concerns. Since
piracy surged dramatically in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden in
late 2007, the growing fleet of foreign warships in the area have
detained scores of pirates in a bid to curb a scourge threatening
world trade. - The Times
website
'Teenage
pirate' arrives in US - 21 April
A Somali teenager accused of being one of the pirates who held an
American sea captain hostage has been flown from Africa to the US
to face trial. Abde Wale Abdul Kadhir Muse is the first person to
be tried in the US on piracy charges in more than a century, the
Associated Press news agency says. He was held over the seizure
off Somalia of Richard Phillips, captain of the Maersk Alabama
cargo ship. - BBC News
website
'It's a
pirate's life for me' - 22 April
A 25-year-old Somali pirate has told the BBC's Mohamed Olad Hassan
by telephone from the notorious den of Harardhere in central
Somalia why he became a sea bandit. Dahir Mohamed Hayeysi says he
and his big-spending accomplices are seen by many as heroes. -
BBC News website
Zimbabwe
Profiting
from Zimbabwe's 'blood diamonds' - 20 April
A BBC investigation in Zimbabwe has uncovered evidence that
senior people around President Robert Mugabe are benefiting from
the sale of illegal diamonds. World Affairs Editor John
Simpson has just returned from a visit to Marange, in eastern
Zimbabwe, which contains the largest known concentration of
diamonds in the world. - BBC News
website
Tsvangirai death crash may have been planned - 18 April
A car crash which killed the wife of Zimbabwe's Prime Minister,
Morgan Tsvangirai, may not have been accidental, according to
preliminary reports. Senior officials from Mr Tsvangirai's party,
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said investigators doubt
the cause of the 6 March crash which killed Susan Tsvangirai and
injured her husband. - The
Independent website
See
also :
United States. Foreign Policy. Zimbabwe
below
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Antarctica
New
limits to Antarctic tourism - 18 April
Countries with ties to Antarctica have adopted US proposals to limit
tourism in the region, in a bid to protect the fragile ecosystem of
the continent. Parties to the Antarctic Treaty agreed to limit the
size of cruise ships and the number of tourists taken ashore at a
meeting in the US city of Baltimore. Limiting tourism has taken on
urgency due to a surge in visits and a number of cruise ship
accidents. Antarctic visits have risen from 6
700 in 1992-93 to over 45 000 last
season. - BBC News website
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Asia
Free farms for the asking - 11 April
Five-hundred thousand hectares of land on four tropical islands in
Asia have been offered to farmers from South Africa and Zimbabwe who
are looking for a fresh start. And the land is free. Chris Niemandt,
who represents two non-profit organisations in various fields of
ministry, Quantum International and Sejati Biotech, explained, "The
government has made the land available initially for crop farming
and after that for export crops to uplift the economy". -
FarmingUK website
China
Chinese woman in $57m fraud trial - 17 April
A Chinese woman who turned her beauty business into a multi-million
dollar property empire could be executed after being put on trial
for financial fraud. Wu Ying, 28, who comes from a family of poor
farmers, has pleaded not guilty to charges that she ran a pyramid
scheme. She is accused of defrauding investors of $57m (£38m) by
promising returns of up to 10% but failing to invest their money
properly, state media reports. -
BBC News website
India
IPL contracts : time to take the matter to court? - 16 April
IPL contracts have been slammed by a number of experts as being the
'worst in professional sport'.
The issue of the Pakistani players is a case in point as different
statements from various circles regarding the ineligibility of the
Pakistani players circulate. Even after the event was moved to South
Africa on security grounds, it emerged that the contracts of the
Pakistani players had been terminated without them being informed. -
Dawn Blog
North
Korea
US
women 'face North Korea trial' - 24 April
Two US journalists arrested by North Korea near its border with
China are to face trial, North Korea's state media has reported.
Euna Lee, a Korean-American, and Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, who
work for Current TV, were detained on 17 March. The North said it
had decided to charge the women after completing an inquiry into
their "crimes" - although the precise charges remain unclear. The
North says the two women illegally crossed the border from China. -
BBC News website
Keyphrases :
Freedom of the Press
Journalists abroad
Reporters Without Borders [http://www.rsf.org/]
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Australasia
New
Zealand
Confusion over NZ islands' names - 22 April
New Zealanders are to be asked what they would like to call their
two main islands, currently North and South. The country's
Geographic Board, which assigns and approves place name changes,
has announced consultations on alternative English and Maori
names. The move follows the discovery that the geographically
correct names, used for 200 years, were not legally registered. -
BBC News website
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Europe
Negotiations
underway on major legislation in European parliament - 15 April
A series of informal negotiations are taking place between
Parliament and Council representatives with the aim of striking a
deal on important pieces of legislation ahead of the 4-7 June
elections. On working time, telecom regulation, the economic
recovery plan and on the supervision of banking and insurance
companies, the outcome of the talks will show whether new laws are
enacted in the next few weeks and what form they will take. -
eGov Monitor website
Draft deal on
regulation of CRA - 17 April
The Czech EU Presidency has led the member states and the European
Parliament to a draft agreement on regulation of credit rating
agencies as part of EU efforts to avoid the repetition of a global
financial crisis. The new regulatory measure aims to have
credit rating agencies, which assess the creditworthiness of
various subjects, including sovereign states, registered and
supervised in the EU. - eGov
Monitor website
Commission adopts
new programme to fight terrorism and proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction - 17 April
On the eve of the donors' conference for
Pakistan, the European Commission has adopted a new three year
programme to fight terrorism, trafficking and proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction. The
2009-2011 Indicative
Programme for the Instrument for Stability includes the first
global counter-terrorism measures developed by the Commission
together with experts from EU Member States. Key priorities are
Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as the Sahel region in Africa. -
eGov Monitor website
EU Commission
launches case against UK over privacy and personal data protection
- 15 April
The Commission has opened an infringement proceeding against the
United Kingdom after a series of complaints by UK internet users,
and extensive communication of the Commission with UK authorities,
about the use of a behavioural advertising technology known as
'Phorm' by
internet service providers. The proceeding addresses several
problems with the UK's implementation of
EU ePrivacy and personal
data protection rules, under which EU countries must ensure,
among other things, the confidentiality of communications by
prohibiting interception and surveillance without the user's
consent. These problems emerged during the Commission's
inquiry into the UK authorities' action in
response to complaints from internet users concerning Phorm. -
eGov Monitor website
Musicians in line for cash boost - 23 April
Ageing musicians could receive a financial boost after the European
Parliament voted to extend the copyright on sound recordings.
Performers and record labels currently earn royalties for 50 years.
That would rise to 70 years under the new plan. -
BBC News website
Britain's
professions becoming more socially exclusive - 15 April
The Panel on Fair Access to the Professions, led by Alan Milburn MP,
has today published a first research paper highlighting key trends
and issues in access to the Professions. The report identifies where
progress had been made to widen access to professions such as law,
medicine, media, publishing, Civil Service and banking for young
people but also identifies where barriers still exist. The research
report finds that many of Britain's professions have become more
socially exclusive and that, as a consequence, bright children from
average income families, not just those from more disadvantaged
backgrounds, are missing out on a professional career. -
eGov Monitor website
Excerpt :
"Amongst its key findings the report says :
▪ Over half of professional occupations like law and finance are
currently dominated by people from independent schools which are
attended by just 7% of the population
▪ 75% of judges and 45% of top civil servants were independently
schooled
▪ A typical professional born in 1958 came from a family which
earned 17% more than the average family income ; but by 1970 the
family income gap between those who went on to pursue a
professional career and the average family had risen to 27% with
journalism and accountancy seeing the biggest rise
▪ Lawyers who were born in 1970 grew up in families 64% above the
average family's income and for doctors the figure was 63%"
Austria
Too many calls : nother fined for stalking son - 9 April
An Austrian court stopped a case of motherly love gone too far by
fining a 73-year-old woman for calling her son up to 50 times a day.
- IOL website
Italy
Italian
town launches quake probe - 11 April
An investigation has begun into allegations of poor building work
which may have exacerbated damage caused by Monday's central
Italian earthquake. The chief prosecutor of quake-hit L'Aquila
said standards must be checked after experts said more structures
should have withstood the quake. -
BBC News website
Italian judge asked to toss out CIA kidnap trial - 22 April
Lawyers representing CIA agents accused in Italy of kidnapping a
terrorism suspect asked a judge to toss out the trial on Tuesday,
after a higher court ruled some evidence used to help win their
indictments was classified. Judge Oscar Magi adjourned the
proceedings until May 20 to consider the requests, which could
abruptly end the most high-profile case in Europe into secret
transfers of a terrorism suspect, known as "renditions". -
Reuters website
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Middle East
Afghanistan
Shi'ite Personal Status
Law
How a reviled Afghan law on women went from a magazine to a
maelstrom - 16 April
The law that exploded Afghan women's rights onto the world stage
began in obscurity two years ago, when it was published as a
proposal in a magazine for Shia clerics. From there, it was
circulated to the Ministry of Justice, where it began its
bureaucratic progress into law. At that point, few outside the
Afghan government were paying attention. But inside the country,
news of the legislation raised eyebrows. Months before President
Hamid Karzai quietly signed it into law, legal activists in Kabul
sounded alarms about its content to international stakeholders, but
got nowhere, they say. In fact, it was only at the summit on
Afghanistan in The Hague earlier this month, when the law was
brought to the attention of participants by the Finnish Foreign
Minister, that the world reaction detonated. US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton promptly confronted Mr Karzai with the West's
disapproval, setting off a series of reactions and news reports that
prompted him to send the law back for review. -
Globe and Mail website
Iran
Iran says US journalist tried behind closed doors - 14 April
A jailed American journalist charged by Iran with espionage stood
trial on Monday in Iran's Revolutionary
Court behind closed doors and a verdict is expected within weeks,
Iran's judiciary spokesman said Tuesday. Roxana Saberi, a
31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen, was arrested in late
January and initially accused of working without press
credentials. But an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious
allegation against her last week, charging her with spying for the
United States. Saberi has been living in Iran for the last six
years, working as a freelance reporter for organizations including
National Public Radio and the British Broadcasting Corp.
-
Associated Press on Google website
Keyphrases :
Freedom of the Press
Journalists abroad
Reporters Without Borders [http://www.rsf.org/]
Saberi parents welcome Iran signs - 21 April
The parents of jailed US-Iranian reporter Roxana Saberi have
welcomed comments by Iran's judiciary chief calling for a swift
and fair appeal. Her father Reza, called the remarks a positive
sign and said the appeal could be heard as early as next week. -
BBC News website
Iranian President asks court to reconsider spy case - 19
April
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a rare effort to intervene in
the justice system, urged Tehran's
chief prosecutor on Sunday to fairly examine the cases of an
Iranian-American journalist and an Iranian-Canadian blogger. -
New York Times website
Love letter plea for Saberi - 22 April
The partner of jailed US-Iranian reporter Roxana Saberi has
written an emotional love letter in an attempt to have her
freed. Iranian film director Bahman Ghobadi, whose films have
won prizes in Cannes and Berlin, said Ms Saberi was a victim of
Iran's "political games". He asked to be allowed to testify at
her appeal, saying that "she is innocent and guiltless" of the
charges. - BBC News website
See also :
Death
of journalism's Queensberry Rules - 12 April
British journalist Colin Freeman has been kidnapped in Somalia
and shot at in Iraq. He describes to the BBC his
experience of reporting from the world's danger zones where the
rules protecting journalists no longer apply. -
BBC News website
See also :
United States. Foreign Policy. Iran
below
Saudi Arabia
Child marriage case showcases deep splits in Saudi society -
16 April
The refusal of a Saudi judge to annul a marriage contract that
weds an 8-year-old girl to a man in his late 40s has brought
into sharp relief the tribal and religious forces complicating
this country's march to modernity.
Judge Habib A Al Habib in the Saudi city of Onaiza said the girl
can petition for a divorce once she reaches puberty. And
although he also stipulated that no sexual relations take place
before the girl is 18, his ruling has set off a firestorm of
national controversy. The judge's
decision, issued April 11 despite an appeals court request to
reconsider his earlier approval of the contract, also showcases
the deep splits in Saudi society between traditionalists and
those favoring social and political reforms. -
Global Post website
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United Kingdom
Correctional Services
Ronnie Biggs recommended for early release - 24 April
The Parole Board has postponed recommending whether Ronnie Biggs
should be released from jail in the summer in a wrangle over who
should pay for round-the-clock medical care for the Great Train
Robber. Members of the board were unable to make a decision on
Biggs’s application because no suitable nursing home had been
identified to accommodate him. Officials at Barnet Primary Care
Trust in North London have refused to pay for the 24-hour care he
will require for the rest of his life. Negotiations are now taking
place to find funding to provide care for Biggs who, after suffering
a series of strokes, is unable to speak and communicates through
gestures and spelling out words with letters of the alphabet. He is
fed through a tube in the stomach and can walk only a few steps
unaided. - Times Online
website
Courts
Driver fell asleep before hitting six cars - 23 April
A driver who ploughed into six cars when he fell asleep has been
jailed for 12 months and banned from driving for six years after
which he will have to take an extended retest. He admitted he had
not been getting proper rest because he slept in his cab to save
money. Wouter Kirstein, originally from South Africa, but now living
in Co Tipperary, had been sent to the Crown Court for sentence after
pleading guilty to dangerous driving before Chester Magistrates. -
Road Transport website
Judge Margaret Short sacked for being rude to solicitors - 24
April
A district judge has been sacked for "inappropriate,
petulant and rude" behaviour towards
solicitors appearing before her in court. In the first judicial
sacking for decades, Judge Margaret Short has been removed by the
Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice after a
"history of complaints".
The decision was announced yesterday by the Office for Judicial
Complaints, which said that the decision to remove the judge
followed a judicial investigation started in 2006. That found that
as well as being rude and petulant, the judge had taken annual leave
when told not to ; refused to hand over
papers to assist the investigation into her behaviour and made
serious "untrue"
allegations against support staff. -
Times Online
website
Family Law
When trophy wives win the war chest, it's time to rethink - 10
April
Brian Myerson is not the first wealthy man to try to slash
payments to a former wife. And he won't be the last. As the
recession bites, more of the business tycoons who once traded
trophy wives like other men upgraded cars will apply for
post-marital refunds. The moralists will cry that Myerson and
other financiers in the same boat are evading responsibility. They
will crow that they are simply looking for another bailout, much
as they did when the banks went bust. But even when those points
are conceded, it is hard not to see that there is a basic
unfairness for the man. And there is a simple solution: divorce
settlements could come with a derivatives contract tied in, so
that the fortunes of both former partners could continue to move
in tandem. - Sydney Morning
Herald website
Heiress Katrin Radmacher fights to enforce prenuptial against
husband - 21 April
The status of prenuptial contracts in England will be tested in a
landmark appeal in London next week when a multimillionaire German
heiress seeks to enforce an agreement that would leave her husband
with nothing. Katrin Radmacher, a paper industry heiress worth an
estimated £100 million, claims that her estranged husband is
seeking to renege on a deal the couple made before they married in
London in 1998 in which he agreed not to claim against her if they
separated. The estranged husband, Nicolas Granatino, has hired
Fiona Shackleton, London's best known divorce lawyer who advised
Sir Paul McCartney is his split with Heather Mills, to act over
his claim of a share of her fortune when the case comes before the
Court of Appeal. -
Times Online website
Finance
Budget 2009 :
protecting tax revenues - 22 April
Today the Chancellor announces a series of measures to protect the
tax system from abuse and ensure that all individuals and businesses
pay their fair share of tax. The Government is determined to
continue to challenge tax evasion and avoidance, which undermine
fiscal stability, damage the delivery of policy objectives, impose
significant costs on society and shift a greater burden of tax onto
ordinary taxpayers. - eGov
Monitor website
Names, addresses and professions of people who evade tax to be
published under Budget - 22 April
People who deliberately evade paying tens of thousands of pounds in
tax are to be 'named and shamed' under plans announced under the
2009 Budget. - Telegraph
website
Tougher tax regime for company cars under 2009 Budget - 22 April
Telegraph website
Home owners offered help in the 2009 Budget -
23 April
Home owners have been offered help with an extension of the stamp
duty holiday and changes to a scheme to help with mortgage payments
if they lose their jobs.. -
Telegraph website
The most comprehensive response to the Budget anywhere - 22
April
Times Online website
Health
Secret filming nurse struck off - 16 April
A nurse who secretly filmed for the BBC to reveal the neglect of
elderly patients at a hospital has been struck off for misconduct.
Margaret Haywood, a nurse for over 20 years, filmed at the Royal
Sussex Hospital in Brighton for a BBC Panorama programme in July
2005. She was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council which
said she failed to "follow her obligations as a nurse". Ms Haywood,
from Liverpool, said : "I am absolutely devastated and upset by it
all. I think I have been treated very harshly. It is a serious issue
and I knew it was a risk I was taking but I thought the filming was
justified and it was in the public interest". -
BBC News website
Human Rights
The truth behind the
Iraq War and role of Parliament. Part I - 14 April
The two largest rebellions ever within a governing party occurred
six years ago but, despite them, Parliament decided to support
President Bush's war in Iraq. The last of
our troops are coming home now, so it is a good time to ask the
following question : what is the profit
from our victory? - eGov
Monitor website
British troops 'breached human rights laws' during Iraqi
interrogations - 23 April
British troops were accused at the High Court yesterday of using
interrogation techniques on Iraqi civilian detainees that breached
human rights laws. Six Iraqis were asking the court to order an
independent public inquiry into allegations that soldiers may have
killed up to 20 captives held after a gun battle in southern Iraq in
2004. They are putting medical evidence before the court which they
say supports their contentions that captives were tortured, murdered
and their bodies mutilated. -
Times Online website
Transport and Roads
UK moves
towards car scrap scheme - 12 April
The government is likely to introduce an incentive scheme for car
owners to scrap old vehicles in exchange for new ones, the BBC has
learned. The move would probably involve a payment of £2 000 to
trade in cars that are a certain number of years old. The
controversial plans are designed to boost demand for new cars and
help struggling carmakers who are suffering during the recession.
A similar scheme in Germany has seen demand for new cars rise
dramatically. - BBC News
website
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United States
American International
Group (AIG)
3 trustees of AIG are quiet, perhaps to a fault - 19 April
In an early sign of just how tricky corporate governance has become
in the era of taxpayer bailouts, three little-known trustees with no
office, no staff and almost no mission will soon be deciding
questions that affect the fate of American International Group, the
giant insurance company. The trustees include a retired Wall Street
executive, the head of a Texas pipeline company and the chairwoman
of a firm in Bermuda that provides administrative services to hedge
funds. - New York Times
website
Arms
and Ammunition
Gun
control 10 years after Columbine - 20 April
The
library where the two disturbed teenagers, Eric Harris and Dylan
Klebold, roamed and fired indiscriminately has now been rebuilt. Engraved
in stone on the library wall, are the names of the 13 murdered by
Harris and Klebold. The Brady Campaign - a US group that lobbies for
stricter controls - says that every day in America 32 people die in
shootings. Columbine may have sparked a national debate about gun
control, but the debate has not really moved on. It is not much
harder to buy a gun now than it was a decade ago - in fact in some
states it is easier. -
BBC News website
Banking
US credit card bill advances on eve of Obama meet - 22 April
Legislation to curb credit card fees and limit consumer penalties
cleared a congressional panel on Wednesday, a day ahead of a meeting
between industry executives and President Barack Obama at the White
House. The bill is an early test of political will for Democrats
pushing for regulatory reform amid the economic crisis and would
mean sweeping changes for card-issuing banks, many of which have
received government bailout money. -
Reuters website
Courts
Verdict blights Spector's legacy - 14 April
The
conviction of legendary record producer Phil Spector brings to an
end a six-year legal drama that has both intrigued and dismayed
the general public and music fans. A jury in Los Angeles found him
guilty of second-degree murder. The victim, Lana Clarkson, was an
out-of-work actress who was earning a living as a hostess at a
Hollywood nightclub. The verdict by a six-man, six-woman jury,
follows a retrial that lasted over five months. Spector's first
trial, two years ago, ended with the jurors unable to reach a
unanimous decision. The original jury was not given the option of
voting on a manslaughter charge. -
BBC News website
Obama key to apartheid lawsuits - 12 April
Victims of apartheid's state atrocities are pinning their hopes on
United States President Barack Obama and the new ANC government of
Jacob Zuma to help clinch a deal with multinational corporations
that would see them paying out reparations for their role in
violent repression. They are urging the incoming government to
make an appeal to Obama to help settle the claims for damages in
excess of $400-billion relating to apartheid human rights
violations to which US-domiciled companies allegedly contributed
by propping up the white minority state. -
IOL website
Keyphrase :
United States. 'Apartheid Case'
US judge OKs $350 million BearingPoint sale to Deloitte - 17
April
A federal judge approved on Friday the sale of bankrupt computer
services firm BearingPoint Inc's BGPTQ.OB public services unit to
accounting firm Deloitte & Touche LLP DLTE.UL for $350 million.
Saying BearingPoint's business had been deteriorating, Judge
Robert Gerber of the US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, approved
the sale rather than wait for a confirmation hearing for a Chapter
11 reorganization in the hope BearingPoint's value might increase
"further down the road". A lawyer for the Law Debenture Trust Co
of New York, trustee to $450 million in BearingPoint's notes, or
about two- thirds of its unsecured debt, had objected to the sale,
arguing it would wipe out unsecured creditors. The lawyer, David
Elkind, said there was no urgency to sell BearingPoint's
government practice and asked the court to wait for a confirmation
hearing of its Chapter 11 reorganization plan. -
Reuters website
US woman
gets dead fiance's sperm - 19 April
A New York woman has won a race-against-the-clock legal bid to
harvest her dead fiance's sperm. Gisela Marrero told a Bronx court
her partner had spoken about having another child with her only
the day before his death from a suspected heart attack. She had
only 36 hours to collect 31-year-old Johnny Quintana's semen
before it would have become unusable. As the couple were unmarried
she needed a court order, which was granted just four hours before
the deadline. - BBC News
website
Civil lawsuit over Katrina begins - 20 April
A groundbreaking civil suit began in federal court here Monday to
consider claims by property owners that the Army Corps of
Engineers amplified the destructive effects of Hurricane
Katrina by building a poorly designed navigation channel adjacent
to the city. The Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, a 76-mile-long
channel known locally as MR-GO and pronounced "Mister
Go", was completed in 1968 and created a
straight shot to the Gulf of Mexico from New Orleans. The suit
claims that the channel was flawed in its design, construction and
operation, and that those flaws intensified the flood damage to
the eastern parts of New Orleans and St Bernard Parish. -
New York Times website
US jails SA man for trying to smuggle arms - 23 April
A South African man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in
the US for conspiring to smuggle illegal military weapons into
that country and sell them to a South African posing as a
go-between for international terrorist groups. Christiaan Dewet
"David" Spies, 37, was convicted in July 2007 on multiple charges
that included importing illegal weapons and conspiring to defraud
the US government. - IOL
website
Finance
4 February 2009
Treasury announces new restrictions on executive compensation
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
US judge orders Madoff assets secured for seizure - 20 April
A US judge blocked the transfer of the personal wealth of
swindler Bernard Madoff and his wife because it could be subject to
forfeiture as various parties compete to lock down the assets for
distribution to defrauded investors. The order on Monday by Judge
Denny Chin, who oversees the criminal case against Madoff, came on
the same day a bankruptcy court judge approved the appointment of an
interim trustee to coordinate efforts to recover the former
investment adviser's property and money. -
Reuters website
Foreign Policy
27
March 2009
What's new in the strategy for
Afghanistan and
Pakistan
White House website
14
March 2009
Readout of the President's telephone call to President Fernandez de
Kirchner of Argentina
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
27 January
2009
Readout on the President's calls to foreign leaders : [Australia
and Columbia]
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
7
April 2009
Readout of the President's call with President Aliyev of
Azerbaijan
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
30
March 2009
Readout of the President's telephone call to Prime Minister Harper
of Canada
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
23 January
2009
President's calls to foreign leaders : [Canada,
Saudi Arabia,
United Kingdom,
United Nations]
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
1
April 2009
Background readout by senior administration officials on President
Obama's meeting with President Hu Jintao of
China
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
12 March
2009
Readout on the President's meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister
Yang Jiechi
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
13
April 2009
Promoting democracy and human rights in
Cuba : Memorandum
for the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the
Secretary of Commerce
White House website
13
April 2009
Fact Sheet :
Reaching out to the Cuban people
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
Castro
welcomes US Cuba changes - 14 April
Former Cuban President Fidel Castro has described US rules allowing
unlimited family travel and remittances to the island as "positive,
although minimal". - BBC News
website
Cuba ready for US talks on rights, prisoners - 17 April
Cuba is open to talks with the United States about "everything"
including political prisoners, President Raul Castro said on
Thursday, a major softening of the communist island's stance toward
its long-term foe. "We have sent messages to the U.S. government in
private and in public that we are willing to discuss everything,
whenever they want," Castro said in an impassioned speech to a
meeting of leftist leaders in Venezuela on the anniversary of a
failed US-led invasion of Cuba in 1961. -
Reuters website
Clinton
admits Cuba policy failed - 17 April
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that US policy
towards Cuba has failed, welcoming an offer to talk from the Cuban
president. She said the US was "taking a serious look" at how to
respond to President Raul Castro's comments, which she called an
"overture". Mr Castro had said he was ready for discussions covering
human rights, political prisoners and press freedom. -
BBC News website
Fidel Castro dampens hopes for better US-Cuba ties - 22 April
Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro put a damper on rising hopes for
better US-Cuba relations by saying President Barack Obama had
misinterpreted his brother's apparently conciliatory words. The
82-year-old Castro also signaled that Cuba may be unwilling to make
concessions to end 50 years of hostilities with the United States
because the Cuban government believes it is not to blame for their
troubled history. - Reuters
website
5 April 2009
Readout of President Obama's meeting with President Klaus and Prime
Minister Topolanek of the
Czech Republic
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
18
March 2009
Readout of the President's call with President-Elect Mauricio Funes
of El Salvador
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
10 April 2009
Readout of the President's call with President Mills of
Ghana
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
13 March 2009
Readout of the President's telephone call to President Yudhoyono of
Indonesia
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
11 March 2009
Continuation of the national emergency with respect to
Iran
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
Obama administration opens door for
Iran - 15 April
One of the main stumbling blocks to talk with Iran has been the
condition that Iran suspends its uranium enrichment. Now, the Obama
administration may take that option off the table, at least for now.
The United States and its European allies, which have just invited
Iran to a fresh round of nuclear talks, are coming to the
realization that if Iran's nuclear program isn't quite at the point
of no return, it will be soon. -
CNN website
Case
tests Obama's Iran agenda - 18 April
It started with a young woman arrested for allegedly buying a bottle
of wine. Now the case of Roxana Saberi could become the first big
test of relations between Iran and the new administration of
President Barack Obama. - BBC News
website
See also
: Middle East. Iran above
2 February 2009
Readout on President Obama's calls to
Iraqi President
Talbani, Prime Minister Maliki and President Lee of the
Republic of Korea
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
1 April 2009
Readout of the President's call with
Israeli Prime
Minister Netanyahu
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
24 February
2009
Readout on the President's meeting with
Japanese Prime
Minister Aso
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
29 January
2009
Readout on the President's call to Prime Minister Aso of Japan
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
2 April 2009
Background readout by senior administration officials to the travel
pool on the President's meeting with President Lee of the
Republic of Korea
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
27 February
2009
Readout on the President's call to
Lebanese President
Michel Sleiman
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
24 March
2009
Administration officials announce
US-Mexico Border
Security Policy : a comprehensive response and commitment
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
13 April
2009
Readout of the President's call with President Garcia of
Peru
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
1 April 2009
Background readout by senior administration officials on President
Obama's meeting with Russian
President Medvedev
Office of the Press Secretary (London, United Kingdom).
White House website
2 April 2009
Readout of the President's meeting with King Abdullah bin Abd
al-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi
Arabia
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
13 March
2009
Readout of the President's call to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
13 February 2009
Readout on the President's call to King Juan Carlos I of
Spain
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
9 April 2009
Readout of the President's call with Prime Minister Manning of
Trinidad and Tobago
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
16 February
2009
Readout on the President's call to
Turkish President Gul
and Prime Minister Erdogan
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
23 March
2009
Readout of the President's telephone call to Prime Minister Brown of
the United Kingdom
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
4 March 2009
Continuation of the national emergency with respect to
Zimbabwe
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
4 March 2009
To the Congress of the United States : a message from the President
on Zimbabwe
Office of the Press Secretary.
White House website
Human Rights
CIA
shuts down its secret prisons - 9 April
The US has stopped running its global network of secret prisons,
CIA director Leon Panetta has announced. "CIA no longer operates
detention facilities or black sites", Mr
Panetta said in a letter to staff. Remaining sites would be
decommissioned, he said. The "black sites" were used to detain
terrorism suspects, some of whom were subjected to interrogation
methods described by many as torture. President Obama vowed to
shut down the facilities shortly after taking office. -
BBC News website
Obama releases interrogation memos, says CIA operatives won’t be
prosecuted - 16 April
After a tense internal debate, President Obama officially
announced this afternoon that his administration would not
prosecute CIA operatives for carrying out controversial
interrogations of terrorist suspects, as the Justice Department
began releasing a number of detailed memos describing harsh
techniques used against Al Qaeda suspects in secret overseas
prisons. - New York
Times website
Should CIA 'torture' staff be prosecuted? - 17 April
US President Barack Obama says CIA agents who used harsh
interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects during the Bush era
will not be prosecuted. Do you agree with his decision?
- BBC News website
CIA
torture exemption 'illegal' - 19 April
US President Barack Obama's decision not to prosecute CIA agents
who used torture tactics is a violation of international law, a UN
expert says. The UN special rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak,
says the US is bound under the UN Convention against Torture to
prosecute those who engage in it. -
BBC News website
See
: UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment. 26 June 1987
http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/39/a39r046.htm
Obama
seeks to boost CIA morale - 20 April
US President Barack Obama is to visit the CIA, in a bid to
reassure staff stung by the release of memos detailing harsh
interrogation techniques. The visit follows comments by a former
CIA chief who said the memos would limit its ability to pursue
terrorists. It has been revealed that two al-Qaeda suspects were
waterboarded 266 times. - BBC
News website
Cheney
enters 'torture' memos row - 21 April
Former US Vice-President Dick Cheney has urged the CIA to release
memos which he says show harsh interrogation techniques such as
water-boarding work. His comments follow the publication of memos
written by Bush administration lawyers which justified the
techniques. Mr Cheney said that the decision to publish the memos
was a mistake. And it was misleading, he said, because the
documents did not include those demonstrating that harsh
interrogation delivered intelligence "success". -
BBC News website
Clinton says Cheney not a "reliable source" - 22 April
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took aim on Wednesday at former
Vice President Dick Cheney, telling lawmakers she did not view him
as a "particularly reliable source" on issues of torture. -
Reuters website
Condoleezza Rice gave nod for 'torture' techniques - 23 April
A Senate Intelligence Committee document has revealed that
Condoleezza Rice personally approved the CIA's
use of waterboarding on al-Qaeda suspects. The new narrative
provides the most detailed timeline yet of the conception and
top-level approval of the violent "enhanced
interrogation" techniques employed by
American officials. -
Times Online website
CIA memo
prosecutions 'possible' - 21 April
US President Barack Obama has left open the possibility of
prosecuting officials who wrote CIA memos allowing harsh
interrogation techniques. It would be up to the attorney general
whether to prosecute, Mr Obama said. -
BBC News website
Ban on drooping drawers faces legal challenge - 12 April
As fashion statements go, the young men’s "sagging
pants" look, with trousers slung low
enough to reveal a generous swath of boxer shorts, has some
lamentable drawbacks. In the tiny beachfront town of Riviera
Beach, 70 miles north of Miami, the look is against the law. Last
year, more than 70 percent of voters here backed an ordinance
making it illegal to wear trousers low enough to reveal skin or
underwear. Other cities, including Lynwood, Ill, and Flint, Mich,
have passed similar measures, but none appear to have pursued
violators as energetically as Riviera Beach. Since the law took
effect last July, 15 to 20 young men have been charged with
violating the ordinance, defense lawyers say. But with many of the
cases pending, the Office of the Palm Beach County Public Defender
last week challenged the ordinance on constitutional grounds. -
New York Times website
'Nazi
guard' deportation blocked - 15 April
An 89-year-old man wanted in Germany on war crimes charges has
been released from custody after his deportation from the US was
blocked. Earlier, US federal agents had detained John Demjanjuk at
his home in Ohio, carrying him out in a wheelchair. But a US
federal appeals court granted an 11th hour stay of deportation
after Mr Demjanjuk's family argued that he was too ill to be
transported. He is accused of being a guard at the Sobibor death
camp in World War II. - BBC News
website
Judiciary
When to retire a Justice - 12 April
Having long observed as well as experienced aging, I question the
wisdom and virtue of people in their 70s who continue to exercise
great power over others. I have been teaching law only part time
for eight years, since I turned 70. But Supreme Court justices,
who have more influence on our society than almost anybody, often
cling to their offices until they die, even though, as veteran
federal judges, they are entitled to retire at full pay. You may
have heard that justices and other federal judges enjoy
"life tenure"
- something that is easy to believe when the average age of the
Supreme Court justices is 69. However, Article III of the
Constitution says
only that federal judges, both of the Supreme Court and of lower
courts, can retain their offices as long as they maintain
"good behavior".
This seems to imply that the justices have a duty to retire when
they are no longer fit to work full time. That duty is a rule in
some countries : Britain, for instance,
forces judges to retire at 70. -
New York Times website
Miscellaneous
Obama
diary : the first 100 days - 14 April
BBC News website
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International
Court of Arbitration
for Sport
http://jurisprudence.tas-cas.org/sites/CaseLaw/Pages/SearchDecisions.aspx
International Criminal
Court
Africa and the International Criminal Court - 14 April
In light of the recent arrest warrant issued for Sudanese
President Omar Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court,
there have been allegations from some Arab and African leaders as
well as certain prominent public figures and organizations that
the ICC is a hegemonic tool of the West, designed to subjugate
leaders of the African continent and advance an imperialist
agenda. Read the full Fact Sheet : Coalition for the International
Criminal Court Factsheet. -
Cocorioko website
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United Nations
Durban Review
Conference [Against Racism]
Geneva
20-24 April 2009
http://www.un.org/durbanreview2009/
Durban II boycott swells - 17 April
As negotiations come down to the wire ahead of Monday’s opening of
the United Nations' politically charged
racism conference in Geneva, several European countries are expected
on Friday to announce that they will boycott the event. UN officials'
attempts to avert a widening boycott of the gathering appear to have
been undermined by continued wrangling over wording in the
conference's draft declaration, and by
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s decision to attend. -
CNS News website
International Conference Against Racism : behind the US gov’t
boycott - 18 April
The decision by the Obama administration to boycott the Durban
Review Conference Against Racism has raised a torrent of petitions,
protests and criticism. An actual boycott of the upcoming April
20-24 meeting would be the first time that the United States has
refused to participate in a United Nations conference. This has come
as a shock to many who expected a fundamentally different attitude
toward an international conference on racism from the Obama
administration. - Workers World
website
20 April 2009
Dlamini
Zuma to address the UN Durban Review
BuaNews Online website
Event on Durban II sidelines turns spotlight onto repressive regimes
- 20 April
On the eve of the UN's politically-charged
racism conference in Geneva, human rights activists and dissidents
from some of the world's most repressive
regimes met in the Swiss city Sunday to discuss violations not
expected to feature in the conference documents. -
CNS News website
Fault lines
split UN racism summit - 20 April
A UN review conference on progress to counter racism and "related
intolerance" looks like descending into a battle about Israel and
the Palestinians, just as the original one did in 2001. -
BBC News website
World powers snub racism conference - 20 April
The US and at least seven other countries are boycotting the United
Nations' first global racism conference in eight years, fearing
demands to denounce Israel and ban criticism of Islam. The
Netherlands, Germany and New Zealand announced their boycotts on
Sunday, while Australia, Canada, Israel and Italy had already said
they would not attend. -
Press Association on Google website
New Zealand joins boycott of UN racism meet - 20 April
New Zealand will join a boycott of a UN racism conference because it
risks becoming a "rancorous and unproductive debate," Foreign
Minister Murray McCully said Monday. New Zealand has joined a number
of countries including the United States, Australia, Canada, Israel,
Italy, and the Netherlands in deciding not to go to the five-day
Durban Review Conference in Geneva. -
Inquirer website
Ban Ki-moon profoundly disappointed by boycott - 20 April
At a UN conference on racism in Geneva, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
has expressed profound disappointment over the cancellations of a
number of Western countries. -
Radio Netherlands
website
Durban Review Conference starts high-level segment and hears
statement by President of
Iran - 20 April
Also hears from dignitaries from Norway, South Africa, Cameroon,
Tanzania, Botswana, Brazil, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Senegal
Tunisia, Morocco, OIC and Mexico
United Nations Information Service Meeting Summary on
UN website
Delegates
walk out of UN racism conference - 20 April
A number of delegates to the UN's conference on Racism walked out
this afternoon during a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad. - RTE News website
Walk-outs at the UN - 20 April
In retrospect, it is pretty clear that the UN anti-racism summit was
an accident waiting to happen. And so it has proved. About an hour
ago, there was a walk-out by European delegates - after President
Ahmadinejad of Iran unleashed his usual anti-Israel rant. -
Financial Times blog
Reactions to Iran president at UN racism meet - 20 April
Following are some reactions to comments by Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a UN conference on racism on Monday. -
Reuters website
Excerpt
:
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi
Pillay
"There's no room for political posturing by some states
because somebody who traditionally makes obnoxious statements once
again does"
Ahmadinejad
speech : world reactions - 20 April
BBC News website
UN attempts to contain fallout at racism meeting - 20 April
As delegates reconvene at the UN anti-racism meeting Tuesday, top UN
officials sought to contain the fallout after an anti-Israel
onslaught by Iran's president prompted a mass walkout. -
AFP on Google website
UN
'regrets' Ahmadinejad speech - 21 April
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
"misused" an anti-racism conference at which he called Israel a
racist state. The Iranian president's speech sparked wide
condemnation and a walkout by EU delegates. Iran criticised Mr Ban's
comments as "one-sided". - BBC News
website
Tutu slammed at racism conference - 20 April
US attorney Alan Dershowitz said on Monday on the sidelines of the
Durban Review Conference on racism in Geneva that Switzerland's
president was supportive of "hate mongering" and that the
anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu was a "racist and bigot". "Tutu
is a bigot and a racist," said Derschowitz about the Nobel Peace
Prize winning South African archbishop. He is "blind, deaf and dumb
when it comes to issues of Israel". Tutu has voiced support for the
Palestinians and headed a fact finding mission to the Gaza Strip for
the UN's human rights bodies. - IOL
website
Reflections on racism - 21 April
Even though the US administration is not participating in the Durban
Review Conference in Geneva, Americans and others can still take a
moment for some personal reflection, says Nadia Hijab. -
Middle East Online
website
Racism
conference groups expelled - 23 April
The UN has expelled three groups from an anti-racism conference in
connection with a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The groups - two Jewish and one Iranian - had been expelled for
"unacceptable behaviour", a spokesman said. -
BBC News website
Keyphrase :
Coexist
French Union of Jewish Students (UEJF)
Iranian Neda Institute for Political and Scientific Research
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Miscellaneous
Booze no excuse - 21 April
Getting
drunk, even rip-roaring drunk, is no excuse for a man mistaking an
underage girl for an adult, according to a study released on Monday.
Under national laws in many countries, men accused of illegal sex
with a minor can claim on "reasonable grounds" that they were not
aware that the girl was underage. Factors often taken into account
in such cases are how much alcohol a man has imbibed, or how much
make-up the young lady might have been wearing. But the new study,
led by Vincent Egan from the University of Leicester in Britain,
shows that even when thoroughly soused, a man remains a shrewd judge
of female maturity. The study was published in the British Journal
of Psychology. -
IOL website
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Miscellaneous E-Things
Pirate Bay founders jailed for copyright offences - 19 April
The Pirate Bay's four Swedish founders were sentence to jail for
helping consumers illegally download online music and films, handing
the entertainment industry a victory in the battle to protect
copyrights. Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde
Kolmisoppi and Carl Lundstroem were given jail sentences of one year
each by a Stockholm district court yesterday. The court ordered the
defences to pay compensation and damages of 30 million kronor
(R32.18 million), less than the 100 million kronor claimed by
prosecutors. The defendants said they would appeal. -
Business Report website
Pirate
Bay lawyers demand retrial - 23 April
Lawyers for four men jailed for running The Pirate Bay file-sharing
website are calling for a retrial, saying the judge could have had a
conflict of interest. Judge Tomas Norstrom is a member of the
Swedish Copyright Association and sits on the board of Swedish
Association for the Protection of Industrial Property. -
BBC News website
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