Deaf
learner gains support for court case - 16 July
Deaf and blind people picketed outside the Pietermaritzburg High
Court on Thursday to support a deaf pupil who is fighting to have
sign language declared an official language in schools. "We
as the KwaZulu-Natal Blind and Deaf Society fully support Kyle
Springate in his attempts to have sign language declared an
official language in schools," said KwaZulu-Natal Blind and
Deaf Society CEO, Jace Nair. With the help of the Legal Resource
Centre, Springate, a matric pupil at Westville High School, filed
court papers against the education department in June. The
department was expected to file its own papers on Thursday after
it failed to meet the July 5 deadline. - IOL
website
Department
opposes sign language at schools - 16 July
The Department of Education will oppose a court application by a
deaf KwaZulu-Natal matric pupil who wants sign language declared
an official language at schools, the Pietermaritzburg High Court
heard on Thursday. - IOL
website
Pmb
magistrate loses case - 20 July
KwaZulu-Natal High Court Judge Chris Nicholson has ruled that a
bid by Pietermaritzburg magistrate Ashin Singh to intervene as an
amicus curiae in the recent corruption trial of President Jacob
Zuma, was done for "ulterior purposes" to pursue a
long-standing feud between him and State advocate Billy Downer SC,
and granted a punitive cost order against Singh. In a reserved
judgment handed down in the Pietermaritzburg high court, Nicholson
also cleared Downer and former KZN head of the Investigative
Directorate, Organised Crime, Chris MacAdam, of allegations of
dishonesty imputed by Singh, saying the accounts given on their
behalf "reveal no blame-worthiness at all". He said the
affidavits filed on the State's behalf denying the allegations,
had provided answers to all the facts and allegations concerned
and "effectively refuted" the allegations. Singh had
tried to withdraw his application after filing it, but the State
maintained that it was entitled to respond. - Witness
website