Professional Update
A
monthly newsletter for KZN Attorneys from the Kwazulu-Natal Law Society

1 June 2009

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

InfoUpdate 11 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

Equality Courts

Cosatu challenges Zille Cabinet - 12 May
Trade union federation Cosatu will challenge Western Cape Premier Helen Zille's all-male Cabinet in the Equality Court, SABC news reported on Monday. The Congress of SA Trade Unions had also approached the Human Rights Commission and Public Protector in its effort to have the Cabinet annulled. Cosatu's secretary in the province, Tony Ehrenreich, said the make-up of the Cabinet showed disregard for the country's constitutional and legislative principles. -
News24 website

Zille, ANC : the heat is on - 13 May
The fall-out over Premier Helen Zille's appointment of an all-male, mostly white provincial executive has intensified with a flurry of insults as well as threats of strikes and hauling her before the Equality Court. Zille's attack on the ANC and its allies came after Cosatu in the Western Cape threatened to embark on a protected strike over her predominantly white provincial executive. The union federation said it had submitted written complaints to the Public Protector, the Equality Court and the SA Human Rights Commission "to declare the (provincial executive) announcement in violation to (sic) the spirit of South Africa (sic) constitution". These complaints, Cosatu said, would also form the basis of a Section 77 application, allowing the labour federation to launch non-work-related industrial action under the Labour Relations Act. -
IOL website

Zille attacked on Facebook - 19 May
A vicious anti-Helen Zille group on the social networking website Facebook is hurling abuse at the new provincial premier over her all-male cabinet and her spat with the ANC Youth League. Named "Helen Zille - is still a venomous white racist adulterer", the Facebook group flings insults at her, including that she is a "brainwashed racist girl" who "commits coitus everywhere with her concubines cabinet in the W Cape". Although set up in the names of several alleged administrators, including ANCYL spokesperson Floyd Shivambu and a deputy cabinet minister, Malusi Gigaba, it is unclear whether they are, in fact, the administrators or involved in the site. - IOL website

Madness descends on the Western Cape - 12 May
Our politics seems to have descended into complete madness - and so soon after the election. First Helen Zille, finding herself in a fix because of her palish, all-male cabinet, fired off a moralistic broadside (better suited to a right wing fundamentalist Christian) against President Jacob Zuma just days after he was sworn in. Then the youngsters at the ANC Youth League sunk far, far, lower, with a sexist and defamatory statement so juvenile and ignorant that it is hard to believe the statement was not produced by "dark forces". If Zille wanted to, she could sue the (short) pants off the Youth League for this absurd and ignorant display of brutal and naked prejudice. One may very well criticise Zille for appointing an all-male cabinet. But having said that, the Equality Court challenge is so preposterous that I cannot believe any lawyer actually signed off on this idea. - Pierre de Vos on the
Constitutionally Speaking website

See also :
Appointment of the Western Cape Provincial Cabinet
Statement
issued by ANC Youth League Western Cape 13 May 2009. - The Times website

Johannesburg

Malema facing charges – 13 May
ANC Youth League President Julius Malema is to face charges in the Johannesburg Equity Court over his remarks that Jacob Zuma's rape accuser enjoyed herself with the now-State president. The Sonke Gender Justice NGO laid a complaint against the fire-brand leader, who will have to defend his comments and prove that they did not undermine women's dignity or be forced to publicly apologise. Malema, however, says he knows nothing of the charges. "I don't know about this. Let those people who want publicity go to court, because they won't find me there," Malema told the Cape Times. "I don't have time for this," he added. –
iafrica website

Mantashe fails to save Malema from court - 2 June
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has tried and failed to persuade Julius Malema's "hate speech" accuser to drop his Equality Court complaint against the ANC Youth League president. The court is scheduled to hear the complaint on Friday. Mbuyiselo Botha, head of advocacy for the Sonke Gender Justice NGO, on Monday said Mantashe had asked him if there was "no other way" he could resolve his complaint over Malema's comments that Jacob Zuma's rape accuser had enjoyed herself with him. - The Star website

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