Legal Articles and Guides

Retired Western Cape High Court judge and current Legal Services Ombud Siraj Desai has hit back at a complaint lodged against him by the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) over his pro-Palestine activities, describing it as an unfair ‘scatter-shot approach’, an attempt to discredit him and to ‘curb and curtail the space for human rights advocacy’.

The grace period for licence renewals has once again been extended, with 1.2m motorists in possession of expired licences yet to renew them.

A substantial majority of the JSC has voted to uphold a gross misconduct finding against Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe, paving the way for an impeachment process by Parliament.

The South African attorney arrested and charged with embezzlement of more than R1.4m in Mauritius is facing a disciplinary process before the Legal Practice Council (LPC).

The end of the grace period for renewing learner’s licences, driving licence cards, temporary driving licences, and professional driving permits (PrdPs) that expired between March and December last year is looming.

Convicted killer Shannon Petersen has managed to get a postponement on his sentence appeal date, despite being late in filing his court papers, after a judge allowed it in the interests of justice.

The Restaurant Association of SA (Rasa) is calling for the Cabinet to end restrictions on eateries after an estimated 1 100 restaurants shut down during the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, says a Business Day report.

The NPA has applied for leave to dispute the authority of BDK Attorneys to represent a Gupta-owned company that is the subject of an interim restraint order.

Lawyer Seth Nthai's career has been dealt a blow after the Constitutional Court dismissed his application to appeal a SCA judgment that overturned his re-admission to the Bar.

‘An unusual event occurred last week – that serial loser of litigation before the courts, the Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, won in court.’

Three Zimbabwe-born law graduates, who cannot practise because they are not ‘permanent residents’ or SA citizens, have launched a constitutional challenge to the Legal Practice Act (LPA), according to legal writer Tania Broughton in a GroundUp report.

In what a Moneyweb report describes as an an unprecedented move, Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) declared force majeure yesterday following the ongoing fallout from a cyber-attack last week which hit the entire Transnet Group.

‘Justice Edwin Cameron is unquestionably one of the very finest judges produced in SA. His is a voice of legal clarity and moral authority. Thus, when he recently analysed the reasons for the inability of the South African legal system to respond to the so-called Stalingrad legal strategy, designed to prevent the final resolution of important litigation, his contribution to a debate that goes to the very legitimacy of the legal system needs an urgent response.’

Critical water infrastructure and communication networks faced no direct assault during the wave of violent unrest last week.

Don’t blame the Constitution for allowing Stalingrad tactics – blatantly employed by for President Jacob Zuma, but by others as well – to cause unreasonable delays in criminal trials.