Legal Articles and Guides

President Jacob Zuma finds himself in a corner today following the damning Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) judgment yesterday which struck the names of two senior officials from the roll of advocates, notes Daily News. The court removed the names of Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba and Specialised Commercial Crime Unit head Lawrence Mrwebi from the roll‚ following an application by the General Council of the Bar (GCB).

A senior human resources executive who has spent years in the courts waging a legal challenge to a separation agreement he signed with his employer‚ has now lost in the Constitutional Court, says a TimesLIVE report. The court handed down judgment yesterday in an application for leave to appeal from the Labour Appeal Court concerning the constitutional validity of a mutual separation agreement providing for a waiver of Muyiwa Gbenga-Oluwatoye's right of access to courts.

The Eastern Cape High Court (Mthatha) has ruled that Wayne Swanepoel must pay Bulelani Thembani R100 000 for calling him a ‘kaffir’ during an argument. A TimesLIVE report says its finding confirmed the view of an Mthatha Equality Court magistrate‚ who ordered Swanepoel last October to pay the damages and issue an unconditional apology to Thembani.

This week’s Constitutional Court judgment to change the management of emolument attachment orders (EAOs) is regarded as a ‘100% win’ for indebted people, according to Odette Geldenhuys, a senior associate at Webber Wentzel. A Fin24 report notes Geldenhuys is the pro bono attorney for the applicants who initially brought the case in the Western Cape High Court last year.

The Women’s Legal Centre Trust is adamant it wants the Muslim Marriages Bill made into law, despite counter-arguments by respondents – President Jacob Zuma, Parliament, the Departments of Home Affairs, Justice and Correctional Services – to have the case in the Western Cape High Court dismissed, says a Cape Times report.

Almost R2m emolument attachment orders could be affected by a Constitutional Court judgment due to be delivered today, says a Business Day report. It adds the ground-breaking case was originally heard in the Western Cape High Court in February 2015, and it challenges the constitutionality of the process of granting emolument attachment orders in the context of unsecured lending.

Media groups and NGOs took the issues of parliamentary signal-jamming and censoring of live broadcasts to the SCA yesterday, notes Daily News. Primedia‚ the SA National Editors Forum‚ the Right2Know Campaign and the Open Democracy Advice Centre approached the court to ensure live broadcasts from Parliament were not censored and that signal jamming devices were not used to block journalists using mobile phones, as had been the case during EFF disruptions of President Jacob Zuma’s State of Nation Address in February 2015.

This week’s victory for suspended Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) executive director Robert McBride in the Constitutional Court is the latest in several cases the government has lost before the court in recent months, according to a TimesLIVE report. Before the latest judgment‚ the court in March ruled that the failure by President Jacob Zuma to comply with the remedial action ordered against him by the Public Protector concerning the improvements at his Nkandla home was inconsistent with the Constitution.

In a ruling seen as a boost for the independence of police watchdog Ipid, the Constitutional Court yesterday confirmed Police Minister Nathi Nhleko did not have the legal power to suspend Ipid head Robert McBride. The court declared McBride’s suspension invalid and set it aside. It also rejected Nhleko’s arguments that – notwithstanding that the suspension and disciplinary proceedings were unlawful – they should remain in place because of the claimed seriousness of the allegations against him.

New papers in the battle between Eskom, French nuclear specialist Areva and its competitor Westinghouse over the R5bn tender to replace six steam generators at the Koeberg nuclear plant were filed in the Constitutional Court yesterday, says a Business Day report. Westinghouse applied to submit what it said was crucial new evidence showing that Eskom had made false claims on the safety issue in its argument.

President Jacob Zuma has filed his replying affidavit to the SCA in his bid to challenge the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) ruling that he should face corruption charges, says a News24 report. In June, the High Court dismissed Zuma's leave to appeal its corruption decision. The NPA and Zuma"s lawyers are seeking leave to appeal the ruling, on 29 April, that the decision to discontinue the prosecution against Zuma on 783 corruption charges be set aside.

Walmart-owned retailer Masstores took its battle with Pick n Pay Retailers to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday, says a BDlive report. The fight is over whether Pick n Pay is entitled to prevent Masstores" Game from selling fresh foods in its store at the Cape Gate shopping centre, by enforcing an exclusive right to trade as a supermarket.

A three-member Bench of the High Court of Malawi will today hear arguments on the constitutionality of section 184(1)(c) of the Penal Code. The applicant is a street vendor who was arrested on his way to sell plastic bags. The applicant"s criminal trial was subsequently stayed pending the determination of the constitutional petition he filed, submitting that the offence is outdated and vague.

The controversial Films and Publications Amendment Bill, which seeks to regulate the digital distribution of films and games and has been widely criticised as being unconstitutional, is the focus of attention in Parliament"s Communications Committee, which is holding public hearings on the Bill this week. Critics argue the Bill is an attempt to censor the Internet in SA and have labelled it "Africa"s worst new Internet censorship law", notes a BDlive report.

The Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) case in which Jon Qwelane is seeking to have sections of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (Pepuda) that govern hate speech and harassment ruled inconsistent with the Constitution, has been postponed, notes a Mail & Guardian report. Qwelane"s legal representatives sought postponement of the trial, due to begin yesterday, due to Qwelane"s poor health.