Legal Articles and Guides

The independent investigative journalism unit amaBhungane has won a punitive cost order against the Department of Defence in an access to information battle that has spanned four years. An amaBhungane report says it submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act request for records of all private landings at the Waterkloof airforce base for the 24 months preceding the April 2013 incident where the Gupta family landed an airliner bearing their wedding guests from India.

Dr Grzegorc Ludwick Pietz – who was dismissed without a disciplinary hearing for insolence‚ insubordination and gross negligence – will receive compensation equivalent to three months’ remuneration. A TimesLIVE report notes the doctor had been abusive towards nurses and had been grossly negligent in how he attended to a pregnant patient in November 2009.

The Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) has set aside an eviction order granted against 84 men‚ women and children living at 8 O’Reilly Street‚ Hillbrow‚ in Johannesburg’s inner city‚ the Socio-economic Rights Institute (Seri) said. According to a TimesLIVE report, it said the court held that the eviction order should not have been made without the City of Johannesburg being part of the proceedings.

Many people are of the view that what they write on Facebook of course has no consequences and accordingly they often make comments about individuals thinking that these platforms are safe to do so. That is off course not true.

Differences in meaning of the prepositions ‘at’ and ‘by’ support the argument that six public schools contravene the Constitution with their policies on teaching religion, the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) heard yesterday. During closing arguments, Hendrik van Nieuwenhuizen, for the Organisation for Religious Education and Democracy (Ogod), quoted section 15.2 of the Constitution, according to which ‘religious observances’ may be conducted ‘at’, and not ‘by’ public schools, says a report on the News24 site.

The customary marriage issue is to be argued in the Constitutional Court today. The matter has been brought by Thokozani Maphumulo, the second wife of her husband, Musawenkosi, for 25 years until his death. In his will he left his entire estate to his eldest born son from his first wife. In 2015, two years after he died, she was served with an eviction notice and she became another victim of an unregulated customary marriage system, notes a News24 report.

If one majority religion is practised in school assemblies‚ then any pupil who asks to miss the assembly is forced to say they are different. Advocate Johan du Toit SC was pressed on this in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) as he defended six Afrikaans schools’ right to promote a Christian ethos‚ including Bible readings, at assembly, notes a TimesLIVE report.

A battle over what constitutes a traditional African marriage is headed to the Constitutional Court. The break-up between former MTN CEO Sifiso Dabengwa and Joburg Theatre CEO Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema led to a 10-year legal fight, with Nduneni-Ngema seeking half of the multimillionaire’s estate, says a Sunday Times report.

In what The Star calls a major victory for property owners, the SCA has ruled that municipalities cannot demand that property sellers pay in advance for many months of rates, fees and charges before issuing a rates clearance certificate. In a case involving the Nelson Mandela municipality demanding at least R1m in advanced rates for one year from Amber Mountain Investments 3, the company paid under duress for the sale to go through.

barrier to some pupils gaining access to private schools, according to a Weekend Argus report. ‘We do not regulate fees of private education institutions.

The MEC for Health has to pay R18.2m in damages to a mother whose son was born more than 10 years ago with severe brain damage as a result of lack of oxygen. A Pretoria News report says Jessie Makhoba initially claimed more than R26m in damages in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) following the negligence of the staff and doctors at the Pholosong Hospital in Brakpan.

The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) ruled yesterday that deductions can be made from the bank accounts of social grant beneficiaries held with Grindrod. Net1 UEPS Technologies, the holding company for CPS, which administers the payment of social grants, approached the court for a declaratory order regarding the government’s decision to limit direct deductions from beneficiaries’ accounts, notes a BusinessLIVE report.

A rights group in northern KZN is taking the fight for housing to court, notes a report in The Mercury. The Endumeni Civic Association claims in papers filed in the KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg) that the constitutional rights of some of the most vulnerable and poor having been systematically violated. The association – represented by the Durban Legal Resources Centre – is asking the court to compel the Endumeni municipality to process applications for RDP housing in a ‘fair and transparent’ manner.

Three houses in the North West town of Coligny were set alight, a farm was under attack and rubber bullets and shock grenades were used hours after the local Magistrate’s Court, holding it cannot ‘be held ransom’ to public opinion, allowed two white farmerworkers, Pieter Doorewaard (26) and Phillip Schutte (34), to be released on bail yesterday, notes Daily News.

A 100% black-owned Port Elizabeth construction company faces liquidation, with the resultant loss of 300 jobs, following claims that the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality owes it R117m. The Herald reports the Eastern Cape High Court (Port Elizabeth) has provisionally wound up Masakeni Construction (Pty) Ltd, ordering a commission of inquiry in terms of the Companies Act.