It is impossible to ignore recent examples of truly woeful judgments emanating from the Constitutional Court. Two recent judgments dealing with equality law illustrate this point.
The appointment of Justice Mandisa Maya as Chief Justice of South Africa has been widely lauded by observers from across the political spectrum. Unlike her two predecessors (Moegoeng Moegoeng and Raymond Zondo), her appointment was uncontroversial, and the enthusiasm and goodwill she enjoys will stand her in good stead as she tackles the many challenges facing the Constitutional Court and the judiciary more broadly. (more…)
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21 August 2024
Concerted effort needed from legal profession to fix ‘incompetent’ Legal Practice Council
Two recent high court judgments, as well as revelations about the politicisation of its disciplinary processes, suggest the Legal Practice […]
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31 July 2024
Sharp rise in number of people shot dead by KZN cops is cause for serious concern
Police officers whose lives are endangered have the right to respond appropriately to protect themselves. But this does not justify […]
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12 July 2024
Fix the JSC rather than banning John Hlophe from serving on it
What the MK party did when it nominated Dr John Hlophe as its representative on the Judicial Service Commission was […]
Quote of the week
Early in 2016, a racist outburst by a white woman in KwaZulu-Natal, Penny Sparrow, ridiculing Black beachgoers as ‘monkeys’, and announcing that thenceforth she would ‘address the [B]lacks of South Africa as monkeys’, published in her online profile, was quickly disseminated countrywide. It convulsed South Africa in shame and acrid anger. The [Constitutional] Court was not unaffected. Previous members of the Constitutional Court took comfort in reflecting, with evident satisfaction, on the absence of racially loaded and racially defined splits. Dramatically, these now fractured the Court.
"Rainbows and Realities: Justice Johan Froneman in the Explosive Terrain of Linguistic and Cultural Rights" - Constitutional Court Review