Recent Judgments Available on the Internet

 Witwatersrand Local Division - http://www.saflii.org/

27 March 2007
2007/999
Radzyn v Gwashana
Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998
Copy available on request

Useful Links and Items of Interest

Government gives clarity on short-term leases and stamp duty - 6 April
The proposed exemption of stamp duty on leases of less than five years in respect of leases signed on or after a certain date this year announced by the Minister of Finance in the budget in February, applies to residential, commercial and retail leases, according to David Warmback of Durban law firm Shepstone & Wylie. - Rodney Hayter website

 

New index puts house price growth at 24% - 20 April
A new house price index - which differs from other property price indices in that it uses repeat sales data - has revealed that South Africa's average price inflation rate, at 24 percent, was significantly higher than was suggested by other major residential property indices. The Lightstone Residential Property Price indices, launched yesterday, showed that average house price inflation declined to 24 percent last year after showing growth of 33 percent in both 2004 and 2005. They said the cumulative house price inflation rate was 288 percent from 1999 to 2006. - Business Report website

 

NCOP stays out of debate over provinces - 19 April
It is too early to make pronouncements on the debate around the future of South Africa's provinces, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) said on Thursday. "For us in the NCOP, it would be premature to pronounce ourselves on the possible outcome," NCOP House chairperson Tsietsi Setona told the Johannesburg Press Club. He said finalising the debate rests with the African National Congress's national executive committee. - Mail & Guardian website

 

New members appointed to Estate Agency Board - 20 April
The government has finally appointed a new board for the Estate Agency Affairs Board, the regulatory body for estate agents, following the dissolution of the board more than a year ago when a forensic audit found financial irregularities involving board members. - allAfrica website

 

Housing delays questioned - 20 April
A Kokstad farming community is frustrated after land donated to farm dwellers more than five years ago remains undeveloped. Max Bastard, of the farm Willowdale, told The Mercury that in 2002, heeding the calls of the government, the family donated a portion of land to the 27 families on the farm, with the hope of helping them acquire title to the land and in so doing bettering their lives. But, Bastard said, over five years after the implementation of the project, the dreams of the community who were to occupy the land on which houses were to be built still had not been realised. - IOL website

 

Bid to preserve Constantia valley unveiled - 17 April
A detailed heritage audit and draft conservation management plan for the entire Constantia Valley is being presented to the City of Cape Town today. Residents and conservationists hope it will stop the continued break-up of historic farms and properties for inappropriate developments. - allAfrica website

 

Mining of dunes 'won't harm potential for eco-tourism' - 20 April
If an Australian application to mine Pondoland's coastal dunes is approved, short- term benefits to locals will be ensured and the value of eco-tourism enterprises will not be undermined, regional minerals and energy director Nomvuyo Ketse said yesterday. Port Elizabeth-based Ketse is one of the key officials who will be guiding the department's decision on the controversial R1,4-billion application to mine the Xolobeni dunes, south of Port Edward, for ilmenite. - The Herald Online website

 

Pondoland communities object to Aussie mine - 20 April
Two communities living next to the site of the proposed Australian ilmenite mine in northern Pondoland have filed a complaint about the project with the Human Rights Commission. Social worker Jon Clarke, representing the Sigidi and Mtentu communities with prominent human rights lawyer Richard Spoor, said yesterday the complaints centred on two fundamental rights which were being violated by the developer, Mineral Resource Commodities (MRC). - The Herald Online website

 

'Illegal sand-mining crippling the economy' - 15 April
South Africa's building boom is contributing to the destruction of pristine protected areas through the increase of illegal sand-mining operations. This is despite the government's commitment to protect environmentally sensitive areas, to combat climate change and a vast number of laws that have been implemented to combat environmental violations. Illegal and legal sand-mining activities in Gauteng, North West, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal have attracted the attention of conservationists, who say areas destroyed to meet growing demands for building materials may never be rehabilitated because topsoil is a non-renewable resource. - IOL website

 

Water supply promised by developers of huge resort - 20 April
Cannon Rocks and Boknes residents have been promised a reliable water supply out of the Eastern Cape's next big tourism event, the construction of the multi-million-rand British BEE- funded La Repose tourism resort on the Woody Cape coastline. Developer John Carney, of London, made his first public appearance at the meeting. He and his project manager, Cape Town architect and town planner Phillip Thompson, were present when the managing directors of two leading environmental consulting firms, Dr Ted Avis of Grahamstown's Coastal and Environment Services (CES) and Jonathan Crowther of Cape Town's CCA Environmental, faced the interested and affected parties and explained the conservation theme behind the project. He announced that black entrepreneurs in the Alexandria areas would be offered five per cent of the company, with a further 25% going to a national BEE group headed by former SA Tourism chief executive officer Moss Mashishi. The social and environmental investment aspect of the project would be prominent. The 367ha Dekselfontein would be offered to small black business to run a cheese factory and a roadside farm stall, and to grow organic food for the resort. - The Herald Online website