Category Archives: Blog Posts

Postscript to my article on the Al Bashir Judgment

The original post can be read here: The Bashir Judgment raises the red flag for the Rule of Law and the Judiciary Since the finalisation of this note, two significant developments have ensued. First, President Zuma took the Chief Justice up on his invitation to meet and, in an unprecedented move, on 27 August 2015 a… Read More »

Human Rights Day

This day, Human Rights Day, I struggle to find my own words in the wake of all that has transpired recently in our country. So, I turn to our Constitution and the powerful words in its Preamble: “We, the people of South Africa, Recognise the injustices of our past; Honour those who suffered for justice… Read More »

International Women’s Day

So today is International Women’s Day and I have been doing a bit of thinking on this score. Firstly let me say that I understand feminism to mean, as Merriam Webster defines it, “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities” – rather than an extreme bra-burning notion that some people… Read More »

Molusi and Others v Voges N.O. and Others (CCT96/15) [2016] ZACC 6 (1 March 2016)

Update re yesterday’s Constitutional Court judgment: ” The constitutional imperatives in section 26(3), given effect to by ESTA, must be borne in mind. That sub-provision demonstrates special constitutional regard for a person’s place of abode. As this Court said in PE Municipality, the sub-provision— ‘acknowledges that a home is more than just a shelter from… Read More »

Statement on the Constitution and lawful protest | Faculty of Law

Statement on the Constitution and lawful protest | Faculty of Law law.uct.ac.za “We further acknowledge that many of the concerns highlighted by the student movements over the last year are of national significance, particularly the issues relating to designated groups having access to opportunities to study and work at institutions of higher learning and to… Read More »

Transformative Constitutionalism

I’m busy preparing for my lecture on transformative constitutionalism and these poignant words of our late great former Chief Justice, Pius Langa, seemed apt given the current socio-political climate: “Social transformation is indispensable to our society. In South Africa – it is synonymous with reconciliation. If there is no reconciliation between the people and groups… Read More »

Rhodes Must Fall

I don’t quite know where to begin. But somehow I have to get the words out because they are bubbling up inside me and, I suspect, inside many others. I feel that, somewhat ironically, in this cyber-era there is perhaps more self-censoring (than there was pre-Facebook and Twitter etc) because there is so often a… Read More »