Dear Valued Stakeholder The Nelson Mandela Foundation and Breathe Films, with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation invite you to the launch of the ‘Mining Bodies’ exhibition, which will be followed by a panel discussion.  Panellists: Dr Asanda Benya - Sociology Dept UCT, Specialist in mining and activist Mr  Nikisi Lesufi - Minerals Council’s Senior Executive: Health, Environment and Legacies Mr David van Wyk...

The Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa invites you to a public conversation between Dr Ruth Nekura, PhD. (Public Law) and Sibongile Ndashe, ISLA For the fourth instalment of ISLA Conversations, Sibongile Ndashe will be in conversation with Dr Ruth Nekura about legal strategies to defend women who face defamation and criminal sanctions for pub­lic disclosure for sexual violence. From...

Alien vegetation has a “severe impact” on biodiversity says SANBI By Madison Yauger One in seven of the thousands of plants and animals assessed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute in its latest four-year study is threatened with extinction. In its report, released on 3 October, SANBI found that well over 3,000 of the 23,312 indigenous species assessed have the potential to...

Eviction of Kenneth Blaine escalates ideological battle between local government and Reclaim the City By Steve Kretzmann Lawyers representing the City of Cape Town have threatened legal action against activist organisation Reclaim The City unless it agrees, in writing, to not impede the City’s attempts to evict 80-year-old Kenneth Blaine from the council-owned house in Woodstock he has been living in for...

Long queues, no toilets: the closure of the old paypoints leaves pensioners in the lurch By Madison Yauger Every month an elderly woman called Nanna (surname withheld) pays R70 to have a taxi drive her around the mountain from Genadendal to Caledon before standing in a queue for upwards of two hours to collect her South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) social...

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...