Author: Ground Up
By Tania Broughton The Constitutional Court has ruled that a section of the Legal Practice Act that only allows South African citizens or permanent residents to be admitted as lawyers is constitutional. Foreign law graduates who have lived, studied and completed articles and pupilage in South Africa do not qualify. The court said non-citizens have no rights under Section 22 of the Constitution which entrenches the rights of citizens to choose their trade occupation and profession. In a blow to foreign law graduates who have lived, studied and completed articles and pupilage in South Africa, the Constitutional Court has ruled that…
By Neil Thomas Stacey South Africa has committed to setting up hydrogen technology to move away from fossil fuels like coal and oil. Depending on how it is produced, hydrogen can eliminate carbon dioxide emissions. But new research has found that leaked hydrogen produces indirect “greenhouse gas” effects on a scale far higher than previously thought. Hydrogen leakages are inevitable, and they become more likely as we use hydrogen in smaller applications. This means we should be very selective about how we make and use hydrogen. South Africa has announced sweeping plans to develop its hydrogen industry, positioning itself to become…
By Geoffrey Allsop The Equality Court has ordered a number of people to apologise to the Chinese community and to pay R50,000 to a Chinese old age home. Comments posted on the Facebook pages of Carte Blanche TV programme and the Karoo Donkey Sanctuary were found to be hate speech. The Chinese Association of Gauteng identified 12 people who had made discriminatory statements and brought the case to the Equality Court. On 28 June, the Gauteng High Court (sitting as the Equality Court) found that comments made about Chinese people on Facebook constitute hate speech in terms of the Promotion of…
National Lotteries Commission COO Phillemon Letwaba has gone to court to have a forensic report into Lottery corruption declared illegal. This is the second attempt to stop a probe into alleged Lottery corruption. Letwaba claims that Abel Dlamini, the executive chairman of SkX protiviti, is biased and has a conflict of interest. SkX was commissioned by the Lottery to probe internal corruption. In the court application, Letwaba said that the non-profit company in which Dlamini’s apparent relatives are listed as directors, received an almost R15-million grant from the Lottery soon after SkX was appointed. He is concerned that “the conspectus of…
By Tania Broughton Nhlanhla Christopher Makhoba was dismissed from Clover in 2017 after posting on EyeWitness News’s Facebook site: “Whites mz be all killed”. The Durban Labour Court and the CCMA have upheld the dismissal. The court and the CCMA found the defense that the post was done after hours and the employee was unaware of the company’s social media policy irrelevant. “That is no excuse for calling for people to be murdered,” the CCMA commissioner said. An employee at Clover has failed in his bid to be reinstated to his job after he was dismissed for a Facebook posting in…
Only a massive global rollout of an effective vaccine can end the COVID-19 pandemic in the short tVaccine Rollouterm. The vaccine is being rolled out in the United Kingdom and United States. It’s expected to become available in Europe imminently. This is where things stand in South Africa. The Department of Health is playing its cards very close to its chest. The department has been extremely reluctant to provide any details of how a vaccination plan would work. In response to our questions, spokesperson Popo Maja said that the department is not commenting on any vaccine related to Covid-19, and…
A city tribunal has made way for Amazon to move in to River Club mega-development in Cape Town. The rezoning was decided in the face of 180 heritage and environmental objections. Buildings up to 11-storeys high are to be constructed on a First Nation site. Amazon’s presence is a “major breakthrough”, according to the chair of the tribunal. By Steve Kretzmann The rezoning of the River Club property in Observatory to allow a R4.5bn mega-development including headquarters for Amazon was given the go-ahead by the City of Cape Town’s Municipal Planning Tribunal on Friday 18 September. Friday’s decision to rezone the…
By Tania Broughton Children found guilty of trivial offences, including the possession or use of cannabis, may not be incarcerated, the Johannesburg High Court has ruled. The question before Judges Ingrid Opperman and Ratha Mokgoathleng was whether criminal penalties should be imposed on children when, following the Constitutional Court judgment Prince v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, the same was not true for adults. “It is a narrow question regarding decriminalisation of its [cannabis] use and possession so that other, more appropriate assistance, can be given to children,” the judges said. Court-ordered audits into youth detention centres have revealed that dozens…
By Zoë Postman Two men arrested for collecting and recycling waste during lockdown in Tshwane were released from Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre at about 5pm on Tuesday after spending three months in prison. Justice Shabangu and George Mphotshe, were arrested on 7 April for continuing to work under lockdown level five restrictions which stated that everyone should stay home unless they were providing an essential service. In a virtual hearing on Tuesday, Justice Brenda Neukircher of the North Gauteng High Court, declared the detention of the reclaimers unlawful and unconstitutional and ordered that they be released immediately. On 29 June, Lawyers…
By Jeffrey Abrahams Day 104 Lockdown. Dianne Blaauw (left) walked over to chat with Elizabeth Fourie and Bridgette Frolick who were enjoying the sun while their washing dried overhead. They knew that cold fronts were approaching the Cape and had done all their remaining laundry which, with small children in the house, is a constant chore. This photo is part of a series on Cape Town under lockdown. More about Lockdown diary Lockdown in pictures – Day 103: Screening 07 July 2020 Lockdown in pictures – Day 102: Weeding 06 July 2020 Lockdown in pictures – Day 101: Wait for it 05 July 2020