Workers’ Compensation Act to get first overhaul in 23 years By Justin Brown Proposed changes to the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act to include domestic workers have been welcomed by unions. The Act was passed in 1993, before the Constitution, and has not been amended for years. The proposed amendments follow court rulings that the exclusion of domestic workers...

Court rules that Xolobeni community should have received mining application before the right was granted By Geoffrey Allsop The Umgungundlovu community, located in Xolobeni in the Eastern Cape, has won an important case in the Gauteng High Court that enables communities to meaningfully consult with companies that want to conduct mining operations in areas where they live or work. On 11 September, Judge...

Residents of a farm in Mpumalanga say they endure unbearable working conditions and routine abuse from the farmer, despite having lived on the land for decades. By Magnificent Mndebele A farm in ward 15 of the Msukaligwa Local Municipality in Mpumalanga stretches for thousands of hectares. The farmer has diverse interests, but specialises in forestry, mielies, hay and livestock. His family has...

Activists believe a radical “new normal” is needed for land reform By Kyla Hazell and Nkosikhona Swartbooi Three parcels of public land stand out from recent land contestation in Cape Town. One is the King David Mowbray Golf Course. One is the Tafelberg Site in Sea Point. And the other is an occupied plot in Ethembeni, Khayelitsha. Two of these sites were considered “surplus”...

39 children died at the hands of police or in custody between April 2012 and March 2018 By Daneel Knoetze 39 children died at the hands of police or in custody between April 2012 and March 2018. Almost none of these cases have resulted in convictions. Can IPID, the police watchdog, overcome years of cover-up and dysfunction? Few criminal cases against the...

Judges emphasise that procedural fairness must be upheld By Tania Broughton A magistrate ruled that a husband accused of abuse by his wife must leave the family home. The Western Cape High Court overturned the magistrate’s ruling. When evicting an alleged abuser in a case of domestic violence an informed assessment must be made and basic fairness applied, the judges ruled...