Legal Articles and Guides

SA’s biggest public sector union, Nehawu, has threatened Health Minister Zweli Mkhize with court action, accusing his department of allegedly forcing some health workers to work without protective gear, notes a Cape Argus report.

As the strong-arms tactics of the police and the army came into sharp focus yesterday (see separate reports below), including in one instance a home invasion, President Cyril Ramaphosa last night ramped up the fight against Covid-19, announcing 10 000 field workers are set to go door-to-door across the country to screen residents for symptoms.

As we begin the fourth day of 21-day lockdown, news of legal challenges, as well as positive responses from some sections of the law community, is beginning to filter through the myriad reports on the effects of the shutdown on individuals and businesses across the country.

The first labour-related case on Covid-19 may come before the Labour Court as early as next week. According to a statement on the Politicsweb site, Solidarity intends to bring an urgent application on behalf of Dr Megan Sarah Martin.

Four Covid-19 positive patients, among the first group identified as carrying the virus upon their return from Italy, are demanding to be released from quarantine in Durban's Addington Hospital.

The Methodist Church is in the process of bringing an eviction order against hundreds of refugees who have been living in its Central Methodist Mission in Cape Town since last year, on the grounds of health and safety.

A Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) judge yesterday stressed the urgency of containing the coronavirus when she turned down a bid by two law students to remain quarantined at their Wits University residence after the institution ordered an evacuation this week.

Two Wits law students filed an urgent application in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) yesterday seeking to interdict the evacuation of students from residences.

The Gauteng Health Department says a family that refused to be quarantined after testing positive for coronavirus on Monday has been found and placed in a health facility, says a report in The Citizen.

A Port Elizabeth woman has won a 10-year legal battle after a surgeon nicked her bile duct during an operation to remove her gall bladder, says a Sunday Times report.

The Constitutional Court justices have criticised orders by a lower court on legislation governing domestic work, describing them as ‘drastic’ and scant on detail.

The Eastern Cape High Court (Makhanda) has reserved its verdict in an application regarding the registration of the births of children by unmarried fathers.

The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) has recommended petitions to the SA Law Reform Commission to amend legislation to ensure consent was properly obtained for sterilisation procedures for women.

In what Business Day calls a scathing and precedent-setting ruling against Discovery Health Medical Scheme, the industry regulator has opened the door for consumers to force the industry to pay for treatment not available in state hospitals.

Environmental lawyer Jeremy Ridl has been briefed by Pietermaritzburg schools and community groups to take action against the KZN Government and the Msunduzi Municipality over the problems caused by a local landfill.