InfoUpdate
An Information Service supplied by the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society

11 December 2009

This professional service draws attention to current and important items of news
 and members are directed to the hosts' websites

InfoUpdate 25 of 2009
Recent Judgments 

Electronic copies of this information may be obtained from our librarians at help@lawlibrary.co.za or click on the underlined hyperlink where relevant

Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa - http://www.supremecourtofappeal.gov.za/index.html ; wwwserver.law.wits.ac.za/sca/index.php ; http://www.uovs.ac.za/apps/law/appeal/ ; http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/

Minister of Finance v Golden Arrow Bus Services (Pty) Ltd [2009] JOL 24672 (SCA)

In terms of section 3 the State liability Act 20 of 1957, " no execution, attachment or like process shall be issued against the defendant or respondent in any such action or proceeding or against any property of the State"  but the amount which is required to satisfy the action in question may be paid out of the National Revenue Fund or Provincial Revenue Fund.

In the matter of Minister of Finance v Golden Arrow Bus Services (Pty) Ltd [2009] JOL 24672 (SCA) where the Supreme  Court of Appeal handed down judgment this morning, the court had to decide whether the provisions of section 3 of the State Liability Act "may be  construed as an appropriation by an Act of Parliament in terms of which money may be withdrawn from the National Revenue Fund (‘the Fund’), or as providing for a direct charge against the Fund, as contemplated by s 213(2) of the Constitution, for purposes of satisfying court orders against the State sounding in money".

27 November 2009
532/08 [2009] ZASCA 151
City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality v Engineering Council of South Africa and Another

AA whistleblower safe - 1 December
The managing engineer of the power system control section at the Tshwane municipality, Jaco Weyers, who refused to appoint affirmative action candidates after they did poorly in their job selection tests, has been protected by a court decision for blowing the whistle on what the council was doing. The court ruled that Weyers had made a protective revelation and that disciplinary action could not be taken against him. - iafrica website

Telkom loses court case, paving way for mega fines - 27 November
The supreme court of appeal in Bloemfontein has dealt a big blow to Telkom, opening the way for the telecommunications operator to fined as much as R7bn for alleged anti-competitive abuses. The court has ruled in favour of the Competition Commission, which had appealed an earlier judgment by the high court in Telkom's favour. The commission lost the high court battle, not on merit, but rather as a result of procedural errors it made. - TechCentral website

Education MEC liable for boy's brain injuries - 1 December
The Western Cape Education MEC has been found liable for serious brain injuries that an eight-year-old boy sustained five years ago when he fell from the top bed of a double-bunk during a school excursion to a youth camp outside Wellington. This follows a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling on Friday that teachers supervising the children at the camp were negligent for failing to ensure that there were sufficient barriers on the top bunks, to prevent children from rolling out of bed. - allAfrica website

InfoUpdate : an Information Service supplied by the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society