Legal Articles and Guides

The advocate who let President Jacob Zuma off the hook left his high-profile position as a Land Claims Court judge in May and has gone into private practice, says a Sunday Tribune report. Two weeks ago, Mokotedi Mpshe SC, appeared in the Durban Commercial Crime Court, representing a couple charged with fraud. It was his first case since he had made the decision.

Journalist and diplomat Jon Qwelane"s controversial freedom of speech battle gets a hearing in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) this week when he seeks to have sections of the law governing hate speech and harassment declared unconstitutional. A Mail & Guardian report says Qwelane is challenging the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act.

Seven luxury farms given to the Mashishimane tribe after a land claim will be auctioned this week to pay the legal fees due to Arnold Pistorius, uncle of Oscar Pistorius, and two of his business partners, claims Rapport. The farms belonged to Gamevest, a company owned by Pistorius and two others, when they were sold to the government to meet a land claim.

The Western Cape High Court has found a Constantia couple liable for the severe brain injuries suffered by a two-year-old child who fell into their swimming pool 12 years ago, says a Sunday Tribune report. Although the child, now 15, was rescued, she sustained serious brain injuries. Her parents sued the homeowners for more than R62m in damages, but the quantum has still to be decided.

The Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, Cape Town, has distanced itself from a court order granted to evict 28 families from a row of houses in nearby Bromwell Street, says a Cape Times report. One of the directors of Standard Mills, which owns the Old Biscuit Mill, said the company had no interest in evicting families from Woodstock and that the action went against their ethos.

Judge Nkola Motata has instituted a challenge to the constitutionality of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) Act, a move likely to bring the entire judicial accountability process to a halt once again, says a Business Day report. Motata"s papers were filed on the day the Constitutional Court gave a ruling that cleared the way for a number of judicial disciplinary proceedings to proceed after a three-year delay.

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.

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.

A Soshanguve man, left a quadriplegic after the police fired shots at his hijackers and wounded him as a result, is to get R19.2m in damages from the police. A Pretoria News report says Mandla Mnisi was left totally disabled after his vehicle was riddled with bullets " 45 in total.

Allegations of espionage have been levelled against established cigarette manufacturers, including tobacco giant British American Tobacco of SA, in a Western Cape High Court application lodged by Carnilinx, the manufacturer of low-cost brands, says a Cape Argus report. Carnilinx claims that the Tobacco Institute of SA (Tisa) " of which Batsa is a principal member " has been carrying out covert, unlawful surveillance of its operations and tracking its vehicles in an effort to force it out of the industry.

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.

It was in the interests of justice for the gross misconduct complaint against Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe, which has dragged on for more than eight years, to be concluded without any further delay, the Constitutional Court said in a judgment yesterday. Unless there is yet another twist, notes a BDlive report, the judgment clears the way for the JSC to finally resolve the Hlophe complaint and for all the other Judicial Conduct Tribunals " which had ground to a halt because of the litigation " to proceed.

Transport Minister Dipuo Peters has apparently described as "irregular expenditure" the R80m paid to a law firm to probe irregularities and wasteful expenditure at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa). According to a TimesLIVE report, the DA said it "is in possession of a confidential letter exposing… Peters" gross abuse of power by flagrantly attempting to thwart and ultimately terminate an independent investigation being conducted by Werksmans (Attorneys) into irregular tenders at the embattled rail agency".

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.

The knives are out for Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who is not only facing possible arrest by the Hawks tomorrow " he has been asked to present himself at their offices in connection with the alleged "rogue unit' at SARS " but is also the centre of what a News24 report describes as "a massive new forensic probe into deals concluded during his tenure at the organisation".