The South African Bill of Rights and the Development of Family Law

Family law is probably the area of South African private law which has expanded and changed most rapidly in the past nine years. Many of these changes have come about as a result of the enactment of a Bill of Rights in both the interim and the final Constitution. 1 On the one hand, this is not surprising, since family law contains many legal rules which are overtly discriminatory on the bases of sex, gender, culture, religion and sexual orientation. On the other hand, legal rules in this area represent a codification of moral and social norms in the quotidian and 'private' lives of many people, which are often resistant to scrutiny and change.ML201

Stem cells and neoplasia a study of acquired melanocytic naevi

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.Melanocytic neoplasia is a multifaceted process involving a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Despite recent advances, the aetiology and pathogenesis of melanocytic neoplasms remains unclear and the anatomical location and state of differentiation of the initiating cell remains to be elucidated. Traditional models propose melanoma arises from an epidermal melanocyte which passes through defined stages of increasing atypia due to the accumulation of mutational events. The newly proposed tumour stem cell hypothesis, however, advocates melanoma may arise from a mutated tissue-resident precursor cell, and not froma terminally differentiated melanocyte. The overall aim of this study was to investigate whether benign naevi contain cells with a stem cell-like phenotype, and to examine the question of whether these might be stem cell precursors of malignant melanoma. Ten formalin-fixed and paraffin embedded human naevus biopsy samples, of five different naevus subtypes, were systematically re-evaluated by direct immunofluorescence first, to understand the lineage of a “naevus” cell, and second, to evaluate whether melanocytic naevi may originate from a precursor cell and not via de-differentiation from an epidermal melanocyte. For phenotypic characterisation, results were highly suggestive of a melanocytic lineage with 85.36% of naevus cells staining positively for the melanocyte specific differentiation antigen, Melan-A, as determined by a semi-quantitative analysis. Yet, these cells showed important morphological variations and were distinct from differentiated epidermal melanocytes. Furthermore, although studies have suggested regional variations in naevi and a possible Schwann cell lineage, there was no evidence in support of a Schwann cell phenotype of naevus cells in this study. Secondly, precursor markers were identified in all naevus subtypes analysed, thereby convincingly demonstrating the presence of precursor cells within naevus tissue. The majority of positively labelled cells localised to the epidermal compartment (72.72%) and this was similar for all three markers analysed: OCT4 (77.22%), NANOG (63.72%) and p75 (57.15%). Interestingly, dysplastic naevi showed a large proportion of OCT4+ cells (5.81%), which was by far the greatest proportion of any precursor marker identified in this study. As dysplastic subtypes are associated with an increased risk of melanoma development, this may imply an increased stem cell component confers this risk. Thirdly, analysis with the proliferation marker Ki-67 revealed the epidermal compartment contained the majority of dividing naevus cells (76.17%), thereby supporting an epidermal origin of naevi. Since the majority of precursor cells identified were within the epidermal compartment, this may suggest precursor cells drive naevus development, in support of the tumour stem cell hypothesis. In addition, the predominance of these precursor cells within the interfollicular epidermis may aid in identifying a potential stem cell niche. However, no precursor cells were noted in the normal intervening interfollicular epidermis or dermis of naevi, or in the epidermis or dermis of normal human skin, as may have been expected. In conclusion, the presence of stem cell markers in naevus tissue supports the hypothesis that at least some naevus cells may arise from stem cells, and not from differentiated melanocytes

The Rule That a Spouse Cannot Forfeit at Divorce What He Or She Has Contributed to the Marriage: An Argument for Chance

Unlike other systems of family law, South African law allows parties to choose their matrimonial property system by way of antenuptial contract. Although the financial consequences of the dissolution of marriage follow broadly from the chosen matrimonial property system, certain statutory and common-law mechanisms allow for a variation from the rigours of the applicable property regime. This article concerns one of these mechanisms, namely forfeiture of benefits in terms of s 9 of the Divorce Act 70 of 1979.ML201

Developing the Common Law of Breach of Promise and Universal Partnerships: Rights to Property Sharing for All Cohabitants

The Constitutional Court's 2005 judgment in Volks NO v Robinson' has been widely regarded as a setback for the extension of legal rights to opposite-sex cohabitants. The majority of the court held that an unmarried opposite-sex cohabitant is not a spouse under the Maintenance of Surviving Spouses Act 27 of 1990.2 According to Smith, this judgment 'effectively put paid to the judicial extension of matrimonial law to unmarried opposite-sex cohabiting life partners'.ML201

Guidelines for the Approval of Surrogate Motherhood Agreements:Ex Parte WH

In 2011 the North and South Gauteng High Courts were approached to confirm surrogate motherhood agreements in accordance with the provisions of chapter 19 of the Children's Act 38 of 2005. The judgments were reported as In Re-Confirmation of Three Surrogate motherhood Agreements 2011 (6) SA22 (GSJ) and Ex parte 14FI2011 (6) SA514 (GNP). This note concerns the latter judgment.ML201

Crying for Change: Examining the Use of Period Melodrama and the Melodramatic Mode in Contemporary Queer Representation

This thesis illustrates how Melodrama and the melodramatic mode have been adapted within contemporary cinema as both a means of commenting on prior LGBTQI representation, and of exposing mainstream audiences to the issues still faced by many within this spectrum. Through my analyses of Carol (2015), Brokeback Mountain (2005), and A Single Man (2009), I examine how filmmakers have drawn on Melodrama as both an aesthetic form, and as a reference to the broader field of generic history and criticism which ground it as a subversive form of societal critique. By focusing specifically on how these three films portray ideological issues of gender, stereotyping, parenthood, aging, and personal shame, my thesis argues that these films are making a commentary on the damaging effects of these discourses on broader society. I also simultaneously question whether the Period Melodrama as a genre can ever fully escape the conservative nature of this form, as well as the implications of continuing to portray those on the LGBTQI spectrum as victims

A Duty of Support for All South African Unmarried Intimate Partners Part 2

Part I of this two-part article argued that post-constitutional developments of the right to support have excluded the largest and most vulnerable sector of South African women – African women in invalid customary marriages and in intimate partnerships which do not resemble monogamous Western nuclear households. Part II explores the avenues to develop customary and common law to extend rights to support to these women. It argues that the current position discriminates against poor, rural African women on multiple intersecting grounds, which creates a duty for courts to develop the current legal rules. Customary law affords scope for development in relation to women in invalid customary marriages. Common law rights to support can be extended either ex contractu or ex lege. Because contractual support rights are of limited use to poor women, the legacy of the majority judgments in Volks v Robinson 2005 5 BCLR 446 (CC) (Volks) must be confronted to strengthen the legal basis for an automatic duty of support to all women in unmarried intimate relationships. The argument in Volks that, women choose to forego legal rights by not getting married is criticised. The minority judgment in Laubscher v Duplan 2017 2 SA 264 (CC) does, however, create potential for overturning this reasoning. &nbsp

Exploring Universal Partnerships and Putative Marriages as Tools for Awarding Partnership Property in Contemporary Family Law

Following upon the Supreme Court of Appeal’s judgment in Butters v Mncora, which broadened the criteria and consequences of universal partnerships in cohabitation relationships, this article investigates the potential of universal partnerships and putative marriages to allocate rights to share in partnership property in other intimate relationships. It traverses several instances in which marriages are not recognised - bigamous marriages, Muslim and Hindu religious marriages and invalid customary marriages – examining whether the wives in these marriages could use universal partnerships and putative marriages to claim a share in property. It then considers the use of universal partnerships to obtain a share of property in civil marriages out of community of property. It concludes by pointing out several issues which are in need of clarification and where the common law should be developed to give effect to fundamental constitutional rights.      &nbsp

’n Interseksionele ondersoek: Godsdiens, feminisme, identiteit en behoort in geselekteerde digbundels

Religion is a common theme in Afrikaans literature. Religious references are used in many ways—during the anti-apartheid struggle it was (for instance) employed to protest the actions of the government in literary texts such as poetry. Similarly, women poets use religion, which is usually associated with patriarchy, as a metaphor for struggles with identity and belonging. Spirituality and organised religion are also shown to be differing concepts with organised religion being the product of society which influences the position of different genders within its stuctures. Spirituality refers to something inherently human related to the individual’s personal belief system. In this article, religious reflections in poetry by three very different female poets will be explored as musings on how religion and belonging to a religious tradition are experienced. This will be done from the perspective of postsecular feminism, which does not revert to binary oppositions when discussing religion, but grapples with it in an intersectional way, as argued by Nandini Deo. An intersectional feminist approach will therefore be utilised to analyse selected poems of Lynthia Julius in Uit die kroes (From the kroes) (2020), of Corné Coetzee in nou, hier (now, here) (2017) and of Radna Fabias in Habitus (2018). Julius, a young black woman, and Coetzee, an older white woman, are Afrikaans poets whose work can be viewed as containing feminist ideas while also exploring the role of religion. Fabias, a black Dutch poet from Curaçao, represents a transnational example where similar themes are explored as in the work of the two Afrikaans poets, albeit from a very different intersectional position. In this article, intersections of, not just gender and race, but also culture, language, politics, nationality, age, ethnicity and identity are considered when understanding a woman’s sense of belonging to a religion