Judge rules that Jade September must be allowed to live as a woman  By Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti The Equality Court has ruled that a woman transgender inmate may express her gender identity while incarcerated in an all-male prison. The court ruled, on 23 September, that the inmate is allowed to wear her hair long; wear make-up; wear female clothing and be addressed by officials...

Numerous applications for exemption and institutional failure are hampering the government’s efforts to reach its target of six million workers being paid the minimum wage instituted in January. By Musawenkosi Cabe It has been almost nine months since the National Minimum Wage Act came into force and yet labour institutions, organised labour and employer organisations are still trying to familiarise themselves...

Understanding the complicated in duplum rule By Athalie Crawford If you borrow money and the interest accumulates to equal the amount you borrowed, can you still be charged further interest? This is dealt with by the in duplum rule, and it is complicated and changing. The rule kicks in when a person has been defaulting on loan repayments. In the first place, it’s important to distinguish between...

Can an accused be convicted of rape for being part of a group with a common intent to rape? By Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti The Constitutional Court has been asked to rule on whether or not the doctrine of “common purpose” can be applied to rape: in other words, whether or not people who share the intent to rape can be convicted of...

Judges reaffirm right of accused to be brought to court within 48 hours By Ciaran Ryan The Constitutional Court, in August, ordered the Minister of Police to pay R300,000 plus interest for the wrongful arrest in 2012 of Bryan de Klerk after a charge of assault was lodged against him by an employee, Rael Lasarow. This judgment provides police and magistrates with greater clarity over...

Protesters call for plan to transform Johannesburg’s hostels Coalition marches against xenophobia By Zoë Postman Hundreds of people marched through Johannesburg at the weekend demanding an end to xenophobia and gender-based violence. The route was supposed to take the marchers through Hillbrow but it was changed on the morning of the march because police said they had received intelligence that it was not...

The same conduct by someone other than a parent towards the same child would be indefensible assault By Zoë Postman In a landmark judgment handed down on Wednesday, the Constitutional Court declared that parents may not spank their children. The court declared the common law defence of “reasonable and moderate chastisement” — which allowed parents to spank their children with the justification that it was...

They allege that City of Cape Town officials have confiscated their private property in violation of a court order By Raymond Joseph An urgent application by seven homeless people to have Cape Town’s Mayor, a member of the Mayoral Committee and the City’s head of safety and security imprisoned for 30 days for contempt of court will be heard in the Cape...

Advocates for learners without birth certificates who have been barred from schools argue that the state is punishing them for circumstances beyond their control. By Tania Broughton The voices of 37 children barred from school because they have no birth certificates will be heard at the Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda this week when they argue, on behalf of themselves...

Activists want new developments in city centre to include affordable housing  By Sandisiwe Shoba Activist organisation and law centre Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) has launched litigation in the Cape High Court to compel the City of Cape Town to develop a housing policy that would require new developments to include affordable housing. To launch the litigation about 30 NU and Reclaim the City members...