Legal Articles and Guides

The fear of challenging authority, coupled with the reluctance to take accountability, is what led to the deaths of 118 patients under the care of the Gauteng provincial government. This is according to Health Ombudsman Malegapuru William Makgoba, who was the first witness to present evidence to an arbitration committee set up to probe the deaths of the patients, notes a Business Day report.

Home-owners who default on their bond payments should not despair as they will not lose their property if they pay before it is sold. The Star reports this was the message from Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) acting Judge JG Rautenbach, who said people often threw in the towel when they received an order that they had to repay the outstanding bond, as well as an order declaring that the property may be sold so that the bank could recover its losses.

Oscar Pistorius’ family says a new film released on Monday showed a ' blatant disregard' for both his and Reeva Steenkamp’s family, and are taking legal action against the movie-makers. According to a TimesLIVE report, the Pistorius family dismissed the movie as a 'gross misrepresentation of the truth' and said neither Oscar, his family nor the defence were involved or consulted about the production.

The Constitutional Court has refused to hear a bid to overturn the SCA’s ruling that a nine-storey development – in Currie Road on Durban’s Berea – did not have to be partially demolished. The court said an application for leave to appeal bore no prospects of success, notes a report in The Mercury. The development has been the source of discord between neighbouring residents and the developer, Serengeti Rise Industries, since October 2014.

POPI (the Protection of Personal Information Act) will provide welcome protection for our personal information – our names, ID numbers, addresses, medical histories and so on, but the other side of the coin is that it will expose small businesses in particular to a whole new raft of onerous obligations and risks.

The Western Cape High Court has ruled that Parliament must amend the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) so that political parties will be compelled to disclose the source of their private funding, says a News24 report. Judge Yasmin Meer ruled that Parliament has 18 months to rectify ‘inconsistencies’ in PAIA, following an application from the NGO, My Vote Counts.

The SCA has ruled that asylum seekers may no longer apply for any type of visa while they are in SA and must do so before entering. A Cape Times report notes the judgment comes after Home Affairs Minister and department DG appealed a previous High Court ruling that asylum seekers were entitled to apply for visitors and work visas while in the country.

The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has come to the rescue of a 68-year-old woman who was about to be evicted from her home, says a TimesLIVE report. Mary Rahube launched an application to declare that she is the owner of the property in Mabopane on which she has lived since 1977.

A medical doctor and one of her patients have filed a combined application in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) requesting the court to legalise euthanasia. A Beeld report notes that Dr Sue Walter (43) – a specialist in palliative care – and patient Dieter Harck (68) are both terminally ill with cancer and motor-neuron disease respectively.

The State Security Agency should not have control over cyber security, the Right2Know (R2K) Campaign said in Parliament this week, according to a News24 report. R2K was among several organisations that made submissions to the Justice and Correctional Services Committee on the Cybercrime and Cybersecurity Bill. ‘In its current form it will potentially censor freedom of speech,’ said R2K's Karabo Rajuili.

‘If you get sent to Wolwerivier, what is the chance that you will be able to get out of Wolwerivier, or are you essentially going on a permanent basis,’ asked Acting Judge Mark Sher in the eviction case of 27 residents of Bromwell Street, Woodstock. A GroundUp report says the families have returned to the Western Cape High Court where a new judge is now hearing the case. The families are facing eviction to Wolwerivier after the Woodstock Hub bought the property on which they live.

Children’s rights came into focus in the Western Cape High Court yesterday as arguments to have Muslim marriages recognised under common law continued, notes a report in The Mercury. Advocate Michelle O’Sullivan, for the Women’s Legal Centre (WLC), argued that because Muslim marriages were not recognised, when couples divorced there was no automatic court oversight for the well-being of minors. This included issues such as where children would live, and orders on maintenance payments.

More than 700 structures were demolished by City Law Enforcement agencies over the weekend. According to a Cape Argus report, this comes days after the Western Cape High Court dismissed an application to evict 60 000 people living in the Marikana informal settlement in Philippi. Three mass land invasions in Khayelitsha prompted the City to demolish at least 751 occupied and unoccupied structures.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s last-minute court bid to prevent publication of a story alleging several extramarital affairs failed on Saturday night, notes a Mail & Guardian report. It says the case arose after detailed questions – sent from The Sunday Independent editor Steven Motale to Ramaphosa on Friday – were leaked and widely circulated on social media.

The DA has applied for direct access to the Constitutional Court to have the diplomatic immunity granted to Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe set aside. A News24 report says it filed papers claiming that International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane's decision to let Mugabe off the hook for alleged assault was ‘wholly without legal merit’, and should be declared invalid.