The Zimbabwean Immigration Federation seeks to defend the rights of Zimbabweans living in South Africa By Tania Broughton The Zimbabwean Immigration Federation is to challenge the decision by the South African government to scrap permits for Zimbabweans. The federation says the permit system was a solution that substantially reduced pressure on asylum management and curbed the ineffective deportation of Zimbabweans. It...

The Socio-Economic Rights Institute says that Johannesburg’s Central Magistrate’s Court is often not applying the relevant laws By Masego Mafata The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) has analysed 47 of the 65 evictions granted by the Johannesburg Central Magistrate’s Court from 2013 to 2018. Most of the cases were over non-payment of a monthly rental. In the vast majority...

An employer cannot interdict striking workers as a group if some of those on strike commit violence By Geoffrey Allsop The Constitutional Court has ruled that an employer cannot interdict striking workers as a group if some of those on strike commit violence To allow a broad interdict without proving that specific people in the group acted unlawfully would infringe on...

Municipality has tried to back out of settlement to buy unlawfully occupied buildings By Tania Broughton An agreement made an order of the court last year required the City of Ekurhuleni to buy 16 unlawfully occupied buildings using provincial funds. The agreement put an end to years of legal wrangling between the City, the province, the occupiers and the owners of...

Judge Desai found that South African Human Rights Commission monitors trying to enter the site were acting lawfully By James Stent The Western Cape High Court has criticised the City of Cape Town for its treatment of human rights monitors at its camp for homeless people in Strandfontein. The court also dismissed interdicts granted to the City last year which prevented...

Activists picketed outside the department’s regional office in Cape Town on Monday to demand better upgrades By Mary-Anne Gontsana Rape Crisis and supporters protested in Cape Town on Monday. They want the Justice department to fulfil its promise to make services at the sexual offences court in Khayelitsha safer and more accessible to all survivors. The department says it has made...

The court overturned a will written 119 years ago which stipulated that only male descendants could inherit By Tania Broughton The Constitutional Court last week overturned a clause in a will written 119 years ago, which specified that only male descendants could inherit the family’s farms and properties. At the heart of the matter was the issue of freedom of testation in private...

Rape survivor argues police did not investigate properly By Tania Broughton On Tuesday the Constitutional Court will hear the case of Ms K, who was repeatedly raped in Port Elizabeth in 2010. She argues that the police failed to act fast enough or to investigate her case properly. She won damages in the Port Elizabeth High Court but the Supreme Court...

But the CEO of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services can still be disciplined by the Justice Department  By Tania Broughton The Constitutional Court has confirmed, in part, that the law affecting the independence of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services falls foul of the Constitution. Parliament now has 24 months to amend provisions of the Correctional Services Act which effectively makes the...

The court has ruled that these employees can claim from the Compensation Fund if injured while on duty. The ground-breaking judgment also ensures domestic workers can apply retrospectively. By Musawenkosi Cabe “It’s unbelievable. We feel like flying, we are so happy. I nearly broke into song inside , breaking the law…” These were the words of 77-year-old Eunice Dhladhla,...