All news items
6 August 2013
An affidavit by Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti on the state’s intended purchase of the MalaMala Game Reserve makes it clear the purchase price will be negotiated with the owners based on figures presented to the Land Claims Court.
Mr Nkwinti was reported to have already settled to pay the owners the full market price of R1bn, creating fears that the deal...
5 August 2013
The government has agreed to pay out more than R1-billion to settle a land claim against one of South Africa's most exclusive game lodges, the five-star Mala Mala reserve in Mpumalanga.
The deal between Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti and multimillionaire lodge owner Michael Rattray will wipe out a vast chunk of the national Land Claims Commission budget for the year. The system was set...
5 August 2013
Asylum-seekers in Limpopo have accused state organs of having taken away their livelihoods. A year ago, Limpopo police closed down foreign-owned tuckshops in the townships, saying that the asylum-seekers would need to apply for business permits. But the operation was aimed specifically at Ethiopian and Somali spaza shop owners, leaving locally-owned businesses untouched. Most lost everything and...
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1 August 2013
Downtown Johannesburg is no paradise. Some consider it an unfriendly and dilapidated concrete jungle. It is, however, cherished by those who cannot part with memories of better days - and those who call it home.
Thirty or so children call the Central Methodist Church in the heart of the city their home from 6.30am to 6pm every week day. They greet visitors with giddy cheers and screams, each...
30 July 2013
More than three years since it was introduced in Parliament, the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill has received presidential assent - paving the way for a single statute that will address human trafficking holistically and comprehensively, writes Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch.
According to a media statement issued yesterday, once in force the Act will make...
28 July 2013
South Africa’s top advocates are raking in millions, sparking concerns that the conferral of senior counsel status is “tantamount to a licence to print money”.
Several senior advocates and lawyers who spoke to City Press said South Africa’s top advocates charge as much as R45 000 per day.
At a very conservative estimate of only 15 hours of work per week, at R4...
26 July 2013
National identity, a sense of belonging and the right to citizenship are fundamental human rights. In South Africa last week, in addition to celebrating the 95th birthday of Africa’s living legend, Nelson Mandela, the government also started rolling out “smart” national identity documents (IDs). These secure, tamper-resistant documents were issued to, among others, senior...
24 July 2013
Foreign traders from Limpopo turned to the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday, claiming that they were being targeted and discriminated against by the police and the local authorities who were forcing them to close their businesses.
In the application by the Somali Association of South Africa, the Ethiopian Community of South Africa and others, against the Limpopo Department of Economic...
24 July 2013
Foreign traders who run spaza shops in Limpopo on Tuesday asked the North Gauteng High Court for an order enabling them to operate in the province.
The asylum seekers and refugees claimed they were being deliberately prevented from running businesses in Limpopo.
The case concerns the right of refugees and asylum seekers to support themselves by operating businesses in South Africa. It also...
14 July 2013
Parliament’s plans to allow advocates to deal directly with the public will “obliterate” the advocates profession and be the single most anti-transformative measure “ever to happen in the legal profession”.
This is the opinion of Advocate Ishmael Semenya, the chairperson of the General Council of the Bar, in his general chairman’s report, which was released...