Judges Matter welcomes the move but says more judges are needed By Tania Broughton The Gauteng High Court has too few judges for the number of civil matters enrolled, with the earliest available court dates in 2031. A draft directive by Judge President Dunstan Mlambo proposes that cases will only be set down for trial if they first undergo mediation. Some...

The short answer You can lodge a complaint with the Legal Practice Council and lay criminal charges with the police. The whole question Dear Athalie I tried to buy a plot in Cape Town for R200,000. The lawyer who was managing the sale process told me to deposit R100,000 to the seller and the other R100,000 to the lawyer's trust account. I didn't...

The short answer It may be that your mother and children and the separated wife and her children are both entitled to inherit. The whole question Dear Athalie My mother, my siblings and I lived with my father in his house although he was married to another woman. There is a lobola letter for my mother. Can we change the title deed to my...

Immigrants are not reporting crimes or seeking assistance from law enforcement as they fear extortion or deportation 2 December 2022 | By Kimberly Mutandiro Organisations working with immigrants say they have had numerous complaints of police extorting bribes and stealing from African immigrants. They say undocumented immigrants are too afraid to report such crimes; they are even too afraid to report any crime. ...

The short answer Unfortunately, if the deceased has living siblings, you will not inherit. The whole question Dear Athalie My girlfriend, our child and I have been evicted from my late aunt's house by her younger sister who claims that the house belongs to her and her remaining siblings. But my aunt told us that when she passed everything she owned must go...

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...

Security company wants report to be redacted if it is to be released By Elna Schütz Judgment has been reserved in an application for access to a report investigating claims of torture at the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein. The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) made a request for the information to the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) in 2014, following media...

Watchdog to present annual report on Thursday following findings of statistical manipulation  By Daneel Knoetze The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) presents its annual report to Parliament on Thursday. The meeting will be overshadowed by revelations that IPID has a long track record of closing and completing cases prematurely to clear cases from the workload and inflate performance statistics. This week, following an exposé by...

But bill has been waiting for the president to sign it into law since at least April By Linda Daniels Aphiwe Nomandla is a second year computer science student at the University of the Western Cape. To date, the cost of prescribed textbooks for his course ranged from R799 to R3,985. He said most students could not afford to buy the required...

Survivors of rape need better support within the criminal justice system, say civil society organisations By Mary-Anne Gontsana “We need a sexual offences court in Khayelitsha immediately,” Nombulelo Sithilanga of Thuthuzela Care Centre told a panel discussion at the Isivivana Centre last month. According to Crime Stats SA, 444 sexual offences cases, including 367 cases of rape, were opened at the three main...