Legal Articles and Guides

The Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) has painted a picture of a biased Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), which acted against Constitutional Court guidelines when its Complaints and Compliance Committee ruled in an ‘irrational and unreasonable’ manner against a DA election advertisement scheduled to be aired on the SABC during the 2014 elections campaign.

The Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Yuppiechef Holdings that another online company‚ Yuppie Gadgets‚ infringed Yuppiechef’s trademark, says a BDlive report. The trouble started when Urban Gadgets decided in 2011 to change its name to Yuppie Gadgets‚ prompting Yuppiechef to launch its application.

Western Cape ANC leader Marius Fransman suffered a comprehensive defeat in the Western Cape High Court last week, says a TimesLIVE report. Judge Nolwazi Boqwana dismissed a case brought by Fransman against the Speaker of the Western Cape legislature and the chair of its Standing Committee on Public Accounts. The case stemmed from Fransman’s reign as MEC for Transport and Public Works between 2005 and 2008.

The City of Johannesburg is losing huge amounts of money as a result of its failure to properly administer property rates, Advocate Anthonie Viviers, chair of the city’s 2008 Valuation Appeal Board, states in an affidavit in support of an urgent High Court application, notes a Moneyweb report. On the other hand, ratepayers who have been slapped with inflated valuations are prejudiced by delays in finalising their appeals.

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.

Parliament has heard that the manufacture and procurement of set-top boxes – which will be required when digital migration occurs – has been halted pending the conclusion of the legal battle over the non-encryption of the converters. A Business Day report says the Universal Services and Access Agency of SA (Usaasa) – which is implementing the digital migration process – addressed a joint meeting of Parliament's Communications Committee.

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.

Women who leave their marriages destitute because of the government’s failure to recognise their Muslim nuptials will today ask the Western Cape High Court to rescue them, says a report in The Herald. The Women’s Legal Centre said it was litigating in the public interest because the lack of recognition of such marriages affected women and children in particular.

The felling of pine trees in Tokai Forest has been halted, thanks to an order granted in the Western Cape High Court, says a Weekend Argus report. The interim interdict, signed off by Judge Lee Bozalek, was granted after urban parks safety association Parkscape, MTO Forestry and SANParks agreed to suspend the felling process until court proceedings next month.

Two of the country’s nine Regional Court Presidents remain in their posts despite allegations of corruption and fraud levelled last year, according to Rapport. In the case of the KZN incumbent, Eric Nzimande, he is accused of offering an acting job to a magistrate in exchange for cash and even sexual favours. In the other case, the president allegedly claimed R65 000 for travel allowances. Yet she is still serving on the Ethics Committee of the Magistrates' Commission.

After 10 years of litigation, the lobola conundrum is set to head to the SCA. Joburg City Theatres CEO Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema’s lengthy battle for half of wealthy businessman Sifiso Dabengwa’s estate was dealt yet another blow last week when the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) dismissed her application for leave to appeal, says a Sunday Times report. They would take the matter to the SCA, said Ike Motloung, Nduneni-Ngema’s lawyer.