‘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...
Heard the one about the Nigerian bouncer? …
ALL those jokes about Nigerian drug dealers and shysters? – don’t translate them into an anti-Nigerian workplace or business policy or you could find yourself in big trouble. Nigerian doctor Anderson Anyikwa was barred from an upmarket restaurant during 2010 by a...
A destructive dinosaur: law that allows spouses to sue for adultery
SEX and the law aren’t easy companions – I almost said ‘bedfellows’. Our highest courts have often spoken about the private nature of sex and how prying infringes human dignity. But what do you do when someone forces the law itself to pry? That’s the situation in...
Last Tango for these brothers
BROTHERLY back-stabbing has an ancient history. But it’s also right up to date. Just ask Port Elizabeth doctor, Bongani Nqini. Maybe he has a thing about banks, maybe he just likes ready cash, but during November last year, Dr Nqini had about R1-million in cash, with...
SpyTapes: Court slams NDPP, chides Zuma’s legal team
FIVE judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal have laid it on the line: the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions has behaved in the SpyTapes fiasco in a manner that is not worthy of the office. The court added, “Such conduct undermines the esteem in which the...
Officials let Smithfield down
NO-ONE at the Platteland Preview festival in Smithfield this year will easily forget the opening night. Church bells ringing across the veld, marimba players regaling us with great jazz outside a fabulous venue, new and old friends, good food and drink. And then the...
Police abduction from Lesotho – a novel idea?
AT least some of the novels I haven’t yet written are set in the border areas between the Free State and Lesotho. One shouldn’t give away too much of a pending plot, but there’s plenty of scope round here for illicit diamond dealing, gun running and other kinds of...