Oyster gatherers on a Wild Coast beach at low tide. The sea is integral to these communities’ lives and culture.
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Indigenous people’s concerns and considerations could provide a strong basis for climate litigation in South Africa.
South Africa has strict gun control legislation.
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Firearms may provide firearm owners with a means of self-defence in confrontations with criminals, but the unlawful use of a licensed firearm can have negative legal consequences.
Public confidence in the Constitutional Court is key to its legitimacy.
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The court covered itself in glory in the first 15 years, but its performance has been patchy since then, coinciding with Jacob Zuma’s presidency.
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South Africa is among a few countries that completely prohibit the involvement of citizens in foreign armed conflict.
John Hlophe has become the first judge to be impeached in democratic South Africa.
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John Hlophe’s impeachment sets an example to other members of the judiciary who may feel tempted to abuse their power.
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The judgment will also benefit spouses in Muslim marriages, which were legally recognised in a 2022 Constitutional Court judgment.
Populist politicians accuse the judiciary of stalling societal changes.
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The governing ANC’s indifference to constitutionalism has left the constitution vulnerable to opportunistic attack by politicians.
The law requires that all sim cards in South Africa be registered.
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The justice ministry had more than enough time to make the law constitutional. Failure to do so is an indictment on its leadership in the process.
Typical apartheid-era houses in Soweto, South Africa.
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The transfer of township rental houses to inhabitants did not necessarily give families greater security. “Family houses” were frequently acquired by individuals.
Whistleblower Athol Williams, a former partner at Bain SA, testifies at the State Capture Commission in 2021.
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Whistleblowers should be entitled to financial support. But that has potential costs as well as benefits.
Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela, who presided over the murder trial of goalkeeper Senzo Mayiwa was suspended in July.
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The challenges facing South African judges have been well documented for decades. They include the high number of unfilled vacancies and poor working conditions.
Former South African president Jacob Zuma in court over corruption charges in 2018.
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If an offender is lawfully released on medical parole, but their health improves or even if they are cured, they cannot be forced to return to prison.
Former South African constitutional court judge, Yvonne Mokgoro.
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Justice Mokgoro’s advocacy for group solidarity and reconciliation is discernible in several of her judgments.
Demonstrations against South African power supplier ESKOM in 2015.
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South Africa’s courts are likely to set a high bar in cases brought against the government’s most recent state of disaster declaration.
South Africa’s governing ANC has continued the anti-cannabis repression inherited from apartheid.
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A 1971 law, and the parallel growth of an illegal economy, shaped South Africa’s unique cannabis landscape.
Protests outside the constitutional court at its decision to grant parole to Chris Hani’s killer, Janusz Walus.
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The court should have given the public a much clearer understanding of how it came to its decision, and what consideration it had given to public opinion.
Protesters demonstrate outside the high court in Cape Town against parole for Janusz Walus.
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The decision is likely to be relied on by courts to order the Department of Correctional Services to grant offenders parole.
Cyril Ramaphosa.
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The new process of impeachment requires an objective test to be met.
Mpho Phalatse was toppled as mayor of Johannesburg following a no-confidence vote in September. A high court reinstated her.
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In South Africa coalitions are weaponised as extensions of elections.
Activists hold placards as they call for the decriminalisation of prostitution.
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Regulating the sex work industry is the only way to protect sex workers from abuse and violence.