Legal Articles and Guides

The claws are out for a Verulam Magistrate Visha Naidoo after Yousuf Ahmed Deedat"s eight cats "disappeared from the face of the earth", following her issuing a final restraining order against him, says a Post report. In a likely unprecedented case of a litigant suing a magistrate regarding a matter he or she has presided over, Deedat is claiming R200 000 for alleged negligence, alternatively intentional injury to his reputation, dignity and good name.

Since the “new” 2008 Companies Act came into effect in 2011, directors and other company officers have had to shoulder a raft of additional responsibilities and risks, amongst them a significantly increased risk of personal liability. Consider for example the little-known section 218(2) which waits in ambush for the unwary in the “Miscellaneous Matters” section at the tail-end of the Act.

The case involving an alleged abalone syndicate resumed in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate's Court last week. A report in The Citizen notes that Port Elizabeth businessman Morne Blignault, who is believed to be the kingpin behind the multimillion-rand operation, appeared briefly in court alongside six co-accused, two of whom are Chinese nationals, Huang Zhenyong and Kekun Pan. Blignault"s ex-wife Marshelle, who is also implicated in the case, has been released on bail of R20 000.

The case in which Hilton Shaw sued the state for R9.4m has been "privately" settled, says a report in The Witness. In 2009 Hilton was found guilty of his wife Susan"s murder and sentenced to 12 years" imprisonment, but in 2012 a full Bench of the KZN High Court set aside the verdict, ruling it was "probable" that Susan committed suicide.

Judges of the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) have severely criticised a Benoni magistrate for implying that SA would, before too long, be like Zimbabwe with "no economy" because of Zimbabweans coming here to steal, says a report in The Citizen. Judge Motsamai Makume and acting Judge N Nkosi set aside the 15-year jail term the magistrate imposed on a Zimbabwean truck driver, Fortune Dube (34), for stealing a trailer and groceries worth more than R2m.

A former woman candidate attorney was found guilty yesterday on multiple charges that include fraud, crimen injuria and intimidation, says a report on the IoL site. Pravina Walabh (33), of Observatory, Cape Town, appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville, before Magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg.

A Cape Town conveyancer implicated in an alleged fraud case of more than R1m has said he will oppose a High Court ruling to pay back the money, notes a Cape Times report. The Western Cape High Court instructed the Mellow Wood Trust " appointed by the court " to finalise the transfer of property in the alleged fraud case involving attorney Garon Kavin Nortje.

A Limpopo man is claiming R580 000 in damages from the province's MEC for roads and transport after three traffic officials allegedly tried to strangle him and "stabbed" him with a pen because he apparently refused to pay them a bribe.

The death of Susan Shaw on a remote country estate in June 2007 is again under scrutiny by KZN High Court (Durban) Judge Peter Olsen due to a R9.4m damages claim against the state by her husband says a report in The Witness. Hilton Shaw alleges he was maliciously arrested and prosecuted for her murder.

The Constitutional Court heard a case yesterday which could have far-reaching consequences for the way cases are prosecuted, says a report in The Mercury. The issue was whether bodies like the National Council of SPCAs should be allowed to privately prosecute those the NPA let off the hook. The report says the matter is significant as Corruption Watch " which was admitted as a friend of the court " said a change in the legislation could allow for more corruption cases to come before court.

Deputy Defence Minister Kebby Maphatsoe, who doubles as head of the MK Veterans Association (MKMVA), has done a u-turn in a R1m defamation suit by retracting and apologising for the defamatory statements he made about Ronnie Kasrils, the former Intelligence Minister, on a day when his ill-considered words also landed him in trouble in a second defamation action.

The DA has filed its answering affidavit with the SCA in the latest round of the Zuma corruption charges saga, DA federal executive chairman James Selfe said yesterday, according to a report on the IoL site. Zuma is seeking leave to appeal the recent judgment handed down by a full Bench of the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), which effectively reinstated the 783 fraud, racketeering, and corruption charges controversially withdrawn by former NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe.

With more conflict over university fees on the horizon, Rapport says not a single student has been successfully prosecuted for the damages of more than R460m caused to universities in the first round of #FeesMustFall protests. Although a handful of universities started disciplinary proceedings, no criminal prosecution is under way for arsonists and no prosecutions for other crimes such as malicious damage to property have been concluded.

"Arrests and detention are not measures our Constitution created to apply to juvenile offenders. While it is clear that children can still be arrested and detained, police officers should not be so quick to exercise these measures against minors," says Safura Abdool Karim, in an analysis of the Constitutional Court judgment in Raduvha v Minister of Safety and Security and Another on the GroundUp site.

Oscar Pistorius" legal team has filed papers in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) in response to the state"s application " to be heard next Friday (26 August) " for leave to appeal the six-year jail sentence the athlete received for murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. The application by prosecutor Gerrie Nel claimed Judge Thokozile Masipa handed down a shockingly lenient sentence, but Pistorius" lawyers contend that there is no prospect of another court increasing the sentence.