The public-interest action in South Africa: The transformative injunction of the South African Constitution

The insertion of sec. 38 in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, has seen substantial broadening of standing opportunities for litigants since the advent of the country’s constitutional dispensation. Amongst others, it has led to the development of public-interest litigation in terms of sec. 38(d), which is in line with the constitutional mandate of societal transformation. The full impact of the latter constitutional provision has recently been illustrated by the public and legal controversy surrounding the South African government’s failure to arrest Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir while he was attending an AU summit in Johannesburg. The Southern African Litigation Centre’s application to enforce the International Criminal Court’s warrant of arrest against Al-Bashir was brought in the centre’s own name, but was supplemented by public interest. Currently, however, there is neither case law nor legislation explicitly dealing with a pure public-interest action in South Africa, which leaves litigants and the judiciary without any guiding principles. Therefore, this article draws on the South African Law Commission’s 1998 proposals on class and public-interest actions, as well as the substantial case law dealing with sec. 38(a) own-interest actions combined with a strong element of public interest, to formulate proposals on how ‘public interest’ as well as standing for public-interest litigants should be interpreted and determined

Between a rock and a hard place: COVID-19 and South Africa’s response

Abstract The spread of COVID-19 across China, Asia, Europe and the United States of America was met with public health responses that initially encouraged hand washing and social distancing. They quickly turned to restrictions on the freedom of movement and assembly in the form of forced isolation, mandatory quarantines and lockdowns. Africa’s first confirmed case was not until 14 February in Egypt and March saw a steady spread of the virus throughout the African continent. Concern began to rise about the impact that the virus would have on a continent that is currently facing HIV and TB epidemics and sporadic outbreaks of Ebola and Lassa Fever. There were fears that the already weakened health systems in many African jurisdictions may be unable to cope with another pandemic and quick and decisive action to stop the spread of the virus was considered to be essential. On 15 March 2020, nine days after the first recorded case in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a State of Disaster. Over the following weeks, a series of regulations were promulgated that limited the freedom of movement and assembly, limited the sale of certain items, specifically prohibited the sale and transportation of alcohol and cigarettes and criminalised the spread of disinformation on COVID-19. Together they represent the greatest limits on the Bill of Rights in post-apartheid South Africa. However, public health strategies such as social distancing and regular hand washing are a privilege many in South Africa cannot afford, especially for thosein crowded informal settlements and who use mass public transport systems. In this paper, we consider these regulations and argue that two major issues are a lack of a community informed response and an over-reliance on the criminal law to this major public health crisis

South Africa’s obligation as member state of the International Criminal Court: the Al-Bashir controversy

From text: This article is a commentary on the judgement of the North Gauteng High Court on 24 June 2015 in the matter of The Southern Africa Litigation Centre v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, which dealt with the recent controversy surrounding the South African government’s failure to arrest Mr Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, president of the Republic of Sudan, to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Universal jurisdiction as procedural tool to institute prosecutions for international core crimes

The establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) with its intended purpose of ending the cycle of impunity that has notoriously attached to the perpetrators of gross human rights  violations in the past hails a new chapter in international criminal law and justice. The structure of jurisdiction introduced by the ICC relies to a great extent on the co-operation of states to nationally prosecute perpetrators of gross violations of human rights. The ICC itself is intended to complement national jurisdiction and will only prosecute the most serious international crimes where the state that can exercise jurisdiction is either unwilling or unable to do so. This by necessity implies that states that are party to the ICC will be expected to establish and foster ways and means to enable themselves to investigate, prosecute, defend, adjudicate and to provide assistance to the ICC. One of the grounds upon which a state may exercise jurisdiction in terms of international criminal law is that of universal jurisdiction. This article explores aspects of the principle of universal jurisdiction and concludes that its application and development is of utmost importance in the quest of the international community to establish a credible international legal order

The demise of the Roman-Dutch ‘kommer-recht’: Interpretation of statutes so as to conform to the spirit, purport and objects of the South African Bill of Rights

The Supreme Court of Appeal (in a judgment dated 23.11.07) in the case of Bid Industrial Holdings v Strang (2007) SCA 144 (RSA) (now cited as 2008(3) SA 355 (SCA)) held that the common-law requirement of arrest to found or confirm jurisdiction where an incola plaintiff wishes to sue a foreign peregrinus, which procedure is authorised in section 19(1) (c) of the Supreme Court Act 59/1959,1 is unconstitutional. In essence it was so held because such an arrest restricts a person’s liberty and freedom (as entrenched in section 12 (1) of the Constitution) without a just cause. This article evaluates the judgment and highlights the importance of the full historical context and rationale for the existence of a common-law rule as yardstick against which to measure its constitutional justifiability. In this instance the rationale for the existence of the common-law rule of jurisdictional arrest was also, in essence, premised on the unequal treatment of foreigners vis à vis citizens, and predictably, this could not have passed the standard set by section 39(2) of the Constitution. The article investigates the method employed by the SCA in its interpretation of the alleged unconstitutional stipulations of the Supreme Court Act so as to bring it in line with the spirit,purport and objects of the South African Bill of Rights. Special attention is paid to the criticism of the judgment that it failed to comply with the peremptory stipulations of section 172 of the Constitution. The article concludes that such criticism is unwarranted

Banking on Family: What Was the Role of Family in the Establishment of Banks in 19th-Century South Africa?

Banks act as intermediaries between those with funds and those who seek funds for economic enterprises. They are a source of credit and capital investment, and their economic value is clear. Less is known about the role of social connections in the establishment of banks. Using data from 19th-century South Africa, we study the establishment of colonial banks and their shareholder profile. We show, using network analysis, that family connections and influential individuals were crucial to the establishment of these banks. This research opens new lines of inquiry into how these network structures may have influenced the success of these ventures as well

A new approach to evaluate gamma-ray measurements

Misunderstandings about the term random samples its implications may easily arise. Conditions under which the phases, obtained from arrival times, do not form a random sample and the dangers involved are discussed. Watson's U sup 2 test for uniformity is recommended for light curves with duty cycles larger than 10%. Under certain conditions, non-parametric density estimation may be used to determine estimates of the true light curve and its parameters

Nekbeseringe by kinders

Cervical spine injuries are often overlooked in young children with multiple injuries while diagnostic accuracy is reduced by difficulties in clinical and radiological investigation. Misinterpretation of normal radiographic appearances of vertebrae at different stages of maturity may lead to diagnostic confusion and inappropriate treatment. Two case histories are presented to illustrate these difficulties and guidelines are suggested to help establish the nature and extent of such injuries in young children

An empirical analysis of a private company’s corporate social investment in SMME development in South Africa

South Africa has a very high unemployment rate, low economic growth and dismal Total (early-stage) Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) preformance. Both government and private businesses are attemptingto address this problem. A private company, the South African Breweries (SAB), as part of their corporate social investment, runs the SAB KickStart Programme to establish and grow entrepreneurial small businesses among young South Africans. The programme applies four interventions: General Enterprising Tendency test; twoweek live-in business management training; funding and mentoring; and a national competition for prize money. Taking into consideration the cost of funding and operating the programme, its eff ectiveness required investigation. The population for the study comprised all the participants of the SAB KickStart Programme, from 2001 to 2006. From an analysis of variance (ANOVA) applied to the turnover and percentage profi t fi gures of respondents, it was deduced that funding and mentoring, after training, add value to the programme. The programme contributes to enterprise sustainability ,as 80 per cent of the respondents were still operating their initial businesses, while a further six percent have started another business – hence, a ‘failure’ rate of only 14 per cent. In conclusion, it can be said that the SAB KickStart Programme adds value, advances entrepreneurship, and can be replicated by other large institutions in South Africa

Preparation of Epidermal Tissues for Light Microscope Studies of Vitis - leaves

A method for preparing epidermal tissues of leaves of Vitis spp. for the study of surface characteristics with the aid of a light microscope is described. Certain morphological characteristics such as trichrome length and frequency, stomata frequency, diameter and index of two cultivars were determined by means of a light microscope which compared very favourably with the results obtained when using a scanning electron microscope