City in the dwang with top court over tender handling
A MAJOR municipality has been warned that if it doesn’t improve the way it deals with tenders the courts may step in and award the tender to the company that should have won if proper procedures had been followed. The Supreme Court of Appeal also warned this week that...
‘Problem parents’ banned from school
LIKE most readers I can still clearly remember some aspects of going to school as a child – horror lest one’s parents come to class and ‘make a fuss’, for example. And, though it was slightly less long ago, I can also remember some of the difficulties of being a...
Jail for cops who killed man then claimed he died in car accident
AT last, eight years later, the courts are finally done with the three cops who shot and killed a farmer in the Eastern Cape. Their appeal against conviction and sentence was rejected last week, and two of them – the third, Mlungisi Papu has since died – will now...
Highest court scathing of useless municipal officials
SO bad were services in the Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality that the provincial authorities used their extraordinary powers under the Constitution to dissolve the municipality in September this year and appoint an administrator to sort things out. Since...
Arrested, detained, convicted over ‘trivial’ car hooting altercation
HOW does a trivial dispute between neighbours over hooting at the gate become a matter for police arrest, overnight detention in cells, a trial and conviction? – A high court judge who had to hear the matter on appeal has speculated that it must have been because of...
Cheeky poachers ask court for help
NOT easy keeping poachers at bay, even the small-scale ones. Every day in our area of the south east Free State we see people, on horse-back or on foot, armed with sticks and with parties of dogs, setting off into the mountains. Hours later they come back carrying...
‘Rapacious’ lawyer slammed by court
AN ATTORNEY who stepped into a multi-million rand road accident injury case at the last minute and claimed a quarter of his client’s entire award has been reported to the law society by a high court judge who slammed the lawyer’s ‘rapacious conduct’. Johannesburg...
Legal Vengeance For Infidelity Comes at a Huge Cost
SUING the lover of your spouse or ex-spouse for damages can be dangerous. It’s very, very expensive if you lose; it can be equally costly even if you win. And that’s just the money. The personal and social costs in embarrassment and pain to all involved – sometimes...
What kind of justice is this?
A WOMAN is attacked, raped twice and left with broken bones and her life in tatters. For this the rapist is given a completely suspended sentence plus a trivial fine for attempted murder. Welcome to the real world of South African justice: the rural magistrates court....
Oscar should be grateful for justice department’s tardiness
WHEN Oscar Pistorius says his nightly ‘thank you’ prayers there’s one that might have escaped his attention: He should be devoutly and eternally grateful for the tardiness of the Department of Justice and its Minister. If it wasn’t for their slackness, Pistorius could...