Search

In South Africa, the Office of the Public Protector (OPP) is one of the institutions constitutionally established to defend the constitution and the rule of law by holding public officials accountable. Methodologically, relying on a literature review research approach where existing pertinent literature in the subject area was retrieved broadly from the Google Scholar search engine, reviewed, and applied in order to examine and analyse the significant role of the OPP in fostering the protection of the democratic system of government, to this end, it showed that the OPP became constitutionally and legislatively provided to meet and deliver these objectives of constitutional democracy and the rule of law. The OPP was to stand up for the rights of the public by fighting rouge elements when they showed up in government. This article looks at various laws utilised to establish the office pre-1994 colonial, apartheid, and post-1994 democratic South Africa. The influential jurisprudence of Sweden was used to explain the origin and how South Africa adopted it even during and after apartheid up to democratic South Africa to support and strengthen democratic values by serving as a check on the executive and legislature to curb abuse of powers by the people who are in positions of authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is a modern and evolving technological environment whereby advancements such as artificial intelligence (AI) affect people's livelihoods and jobs. The 4IR is anticipated to have an impact on numerous employment relationships in the South African retail industry by substituting workers with new technologies and systems, forcing retail companies to retrench retail sector workers. In light of this concern, methodologically, this article used a literature review research approach to critically examine the protection offered by the Labour Relations Act (LRA), Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA), Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act (UICA), and Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), to determine what protective mechanisms these legislation offer to safeguard the rights of South African retail sector workers who will lose their jobs due to the introduction of new technologies in the workplace. The findings were that the LRA and the BCEA offer severance pay as the sole financial protection designed exclusively to mitigate the effect that lawful retrenchments have on affected employees, whereas the UIA provides a UIF benefit only to retrenched workers who were registered by their employers to the UIF and who had contributed appropriately to the UIF, to the exclusion of employees whose employers did not register them to the UIF. This means that the UIF and severance package provide compensatory benefits to only a certain portion of employees. Consequently, these benefits are insufficient to safeguard the rights of retrenched South African retail sector workers who may become permanently unemployed in the era of 4IR. As a result, it was proposed to implement measures such as reskilling the workforce before retrenchment considerations to increase their chances of obtaining employment in the 4IR era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All over the world, home loans and mortgages are part and parcel of the products and services being offered by the financial institutions-such as banks and homeowner mortgage institutions to their numerous customers. Prior, during and post home loan transactions, they owe their customers the duty to ensure full disclosure of all the terms and conditions in the mortgage agreements without withholding any information. This paper examines any act contrary to uberrimae fidei-utmost good faith in the transactions. Uberrimae fidei requires the highest standard of good faith on both the lender and borrower to disclose all material facts that could influence the decisions of the other party in seeking and granting home loans and mortgages. Failure might result in severe consequences by exploring both the civil and criminal responsibilities and liabilities of the party who acted mala fide-in bad faith. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the protection offered by the laws to ensure level playing field prior, during and after mortgage lending transactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, progressive laws, policies and institutions established since 1996 seek to proliferate the representation of black African women in the private sector. However, the sector remains stagnant in giving opportunities to black African women to attain and occupy managerial and leadership positions. Black African women are not yet accepted as an integral of part of decision-making in the private sector contrary to the public sector that has somewhat progressed to place black African women in key decision-making positions in government. Consequently, black African women in the private sector predominately dominate the unskilled labour positions. The underrepresentation of black African women essentially denies them of economic participation and equality in the workplace. It is against the backdrop of this underrepresentation that this article analyses salient transformative legislative interventions that have been put in place to foster ample representation of black African women into managerial positions in the private sector. However, the concern is that the current legislative framework in South Africa does not explicitly make it mandatory for the private sector to achieve a specific target of black African women representation at the top management positions. The article showcases that the glass ceiling in the private sector is real and is nurtured by the organizational culture, policies and strategies which promote exclusion. Therefore, effective implementation and enforcement of laws and policies fostering mainstreaming of black African women into top managerial positions will help in breaking down the glass-ceiling. This will become realizable with the cooperation of all stake holders and role players where there is deliberate effort to empower and enhance the skill and capacity of women through quality training and education that will drive and deliver robust career development.

To restore dignity to the previously denied and neglected majority black South Africans, one of the salient provisions of the Constitution, pieces of legislation, and policies that seek to ensure the provision and delivery of ample housing to the poor and the indigent is the right to access adequate housing with constitutional and strategic legislative and policy obligations to ensure that the state provides, fulfils, and delivers houses to the poor, the needy, the vulnerable, and the indigent without fail. Methodologically, employing a literature review approach, this study examined and employed relevant publications, case laws, constitutional provisions, and policies related to the right to access adequate housing. The goal was to determine the level at which the duty to protect, provide, and deliver adequate housing to poor individuals, as stipulated by the entities and institutions responsible for executing this constitutional mandate, has been fulfilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to look at the impact and effect of corruption in the local municipalities in South Africa by indicating that corruption is rampant and being perpetrated with impunity despite anti-corruption laws for holding corrupt people accountable. It highlights the severe impact of corruption on the basic municipal services, the socio-economic conditions of the people, and the society at large. The literature review method was employed to systematically examined and tackled the issues at hand. The findings of the study highlighted that widespread corruption across various sectors hindered the provision of essential services to those in need, including the poor and vulnerable individuals who should have been the primary beneficiaries. The paper showed that due to corruption and maladministration, most of the local municipalities have been rendered bankrupt. The paper strongly stressed the need for consequences and holding perpetrators accountable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses constitutional, legislative and policy frameworks strategically introduced post-apartheid era to foster land expropriation reforms that would restore dignity, equity, equality and justice to the forcefully dispossessed Black South Africans from their land during the pre-colonial and apartheid regimes. More importantly, even though the colonial and apartheid settlers metamorphosised into rulers expropriated land without compensation, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 has brough about various interventions that seek to ensure that the land that was forcefully taken should be returned to the right owners. This proposition has continued to generate fierce debates in the country. While some pundits have asserted that the Black majority now in charge of governance, should use postapartheid laws to expropriate land without compensation, there have been stiff resistant from the white minority who are both the owners of vast land and at the same time exercising right of possession and occupation respectively. It is against these competing interests that this paper postulates that in order to restore the dignity of the dispossessed and forcefully removed Black South Africans from their rightful land, there is need to look at the constitutional imperatives as well as equity and justice based on the post-apartheid frameworks that are available to ensure that the past apartheid land dispossession and injustices are redressed, and the wrongs committed are remedied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Essentially, this paper reiterates the constitutional obligation to ensure that there is ample access to adequate housing in South Africa. The paper contends that in order to provide and deliver this constitutional right to the poor and the needy in South Africa, government has established various institutions to accomplish this objective. However, the paper notes that despite this, officials responsible to perform and deliver have dismally failed to ensure unhindered delivery. It is against the backdrop of these persistent failures that the enforcement mechanisms of the Constitution and legislation compelling performance and delivery is being usually invoked by the victims. The paper accentuates broad accountability enforcement culminating unto access and delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being applauded as a great technological breakthrough of the current century, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and its operations keep attracting condemnations because of the failure by most countries to regulate and hold AI accountable. This assertion is made against the backdrop that mostly, AI perform functions and activities just like human beings, as such, AI is prone to make mistakes which might even negatively impact human beings and violate human rights. Mistake calls for accountability. This paper accentuates that even if there are no clear provisions in some country's statute books, there are existing international and European Union legal instruments for regulating and holding AI accountable should it erred. Methodologically, using literature review research approach, this paper highlights and discusses selected but salient international and European legal instruments which have direct and indirect impacts on AI, especially pertaining to regulation, liability and accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-1994 democratic South Africa continues to introduce and roll out substantive transformative housing policies deliberately to foster inclusive nation-building by redressing the past apartheid housing segregation, discrimination and injustices. Interestingly, the parliament of South Africa has taken a giant step by ensuring that most of the progressive post-1994 transformative policies have been fully legislated and hence enforceable. Methodologically, the paper utilised literature review research approach by intensively relying on contemporary germane scholarly works, case law and statutes, etc. mainly generated and retrieved from the Google Scholar search engine. The information retrieved was heavily reviewed, interpreted and used to address the problem of South Africa's well-structured policies which have not effectively translated into implementation and delivery because of poor management, resulting in a gap between policy and action. Tied to this is that the reality physically on the ground shows that pre-apartheid anti-nationbuilding continues to be the modus operandi where majority blacks still live in the squalor, informal settlements, townships and shacks. There is still no substantive diversity in the housing sector; hence, the post-1994 ideal of nationbuilding still is a mirage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had devastating effects globally. No one was spared including the homeless people who had no permanent housing or shelter but had to observe various restriction interventions introduced by the government to curb the spread of the virus. Methodologically, this paper used literature review research approach by sourcing relevant scholarly works in the subject area; reviewed and applied them to showcase and address the plight of the homeless people during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. The overall objective was to establish whether the homeless were offered adequate assistance or not, considering that the pandemic outbreak exacerbated their vulnerability. The paper found that it is the responsibility of the government, especially the local government, to provide protection for this group but did not meet expectations. Hence, the homeless were negatively affected by the virus due to insufficient care. The paper also found that various local governments in South Africa deployed and utilised anti-homeless by-laws to criminalise homelessness and even deprived some of the homeless the right to shelter by either evicting them where they sought refuge or on the land where they built shacks. The paper found that the court was the last hope of this vulnerable group that used judicial pronouncements to protect them from being left destitute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various national, domestic, and international legal instruments provide for the significance of ensuring that, prior, during, and after any proposed or completed project, a thorough EIA must be carried out, to establish the extent of the impact and the effect of such a developmental project would have on the environment. To accomplish this, the role of Environmental Assessment Practitioners (EAP) became more imperative. This paper looks at the various roles of these practitioners, their professional advice based on their assessments, whether a project should get the go-ahead to continue or not, stating and indicating the imminent risks to the environment, how to mitigate them, and if need be how to abate the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper postulates that a child is a human being whose rights are guaranteed under the law, and as such, the rights must be respected and promoted. Parents have moral and legal duties and obligations to provide their children with love and care, most importantly, to ensure their children's best interest. Under the law, the inherent rights of a child are not negotiable; hence they must be maintained by both parents depending on their financial circumstances. This responsibility needs to be discharged with love and care. However, it is unfortunate that some parents are not committed to discharging this responsibility without force; hence the Maintenance Act of 1998 was enacted to assist the system in managing and enforcing compliance by the parents toward their children. Consequently, the duty to support a child does not discriminate against an illegitimate child when maintenance issues are being processed. All children are eligible to be maintained regardless of their parent's marital status during birth. The courts must enforce compliance through maintenance orders to ensure that children are well taken care of until they are self-sufficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Constitutional Court of South Africa has recently held that there must be a legal protection for the personal cultivation, possession and use of cannabis in the private setting in South Africa. This presupposes that the use of cannabis is decriminalised but at the same time regulated because it was meant to be utilised only in a private setting. However, the socio-economic aspects such as the commercial cultivation, trading and sale of cannabis for purposes of earning income to improve livelihoods and alleviate poverty were overlooked. These aspects are so significant because commercialisation of cannabis would generate taxes and revenues, create employment opportunities and alleviate poverty. Therefore, this paper argued that there should be a commercial cultivation and trade in cannabis for socio-economic benefits. It explained further that the decriminalisation and legal protection granted the personal cultivation, possession and use of cannabis should also be extended and allowed for vast and massive cultivation, trade and sale of cannabis, which will, in turn, foster socio-economic benefits to the people, society and the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing global concern in the perpetration of environmental crimes such as pollution and degradation at an international level by States have triggered massive promulgation of international law instruments to make ample provisions for the protection of the environment and at the same time to impose stringent sanctions to those who harm the environment. The obligation to protect or not to harm the environment has been conceptualized; "the duty to care for the environment" and the International environmental law have made States to also be the bearers of this obligation hence they ought to exercise careness in their daily activities in order to avoid causing harm to the environments in the territory of another State. An act of State done in breach of this obligation is faced with penal consequences which may take civil or criminal form. This paper therefore looks at the salient international instruments or laws that impose liability to States or international organizations who cause environmental harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, the Constitution established the Office of the Public Protector to promote and protect the rights and interests of vulnerable members of the public against unlawful government conducts. In discharging this constitutional duty, the holder of the office must be above board, impartial, and function without fear, favour or prejudice. However, if the holder of the office fails to act in accordance with the rule of law, there would and should be consequences. This paper examined the consequences of an erring Public Protector in discharging the duty of the office using a literature review approach, searching and generating contemporary scholarly works in the subject area from the google search engine and jurisprudence from courts. The paper found that the courts shall impose punitive monetary sanctions and the Parliament might institute processes to remove the erring public protector for infractions and indiscretions. This study attempted to plug this legislative lacuna by proposing to Parliament and the National Assembly mechanisms that can be used to ensure that, not only the PP but other incumbent leaders of Chapter 9 institutions may be held to account for their actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the implementation of transformative child maintenance interventions in South Africa specifically addressing maintenance issues and the significant role the judiciary is playing in the interpretation and delivery of judgements in maintenance related matters. The paper accentuates that parents have an obligation to provide for their children and the obligation is continuous until the child attained adulthood and self-dependency even if the relationship between the parents is no longer in existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a widely used international environmental tool utilised to assess the possible and expected adverse impact that might occur as a result of a proposed developmental project. Consequently, environmental regulations have to be fully complied with, to ensure that the environment is duly protected irrespective of the potential benefit of any proposed project. Consequently, environmental degradation can be minimised or prevented outright. This paper accentuated that it is pertinent that those tasked with responsibility to conserve the environment do so and ensure that all impending developmental projects pass the litmus test of EIA. If, before or during the course of the assessment, there is the likelihood of environmental degradation, those who are responsible for conducting EIA should raise concerns and be pragmatic by coming up with alternative measures to prevent environmental degradation in the event such a development is given a go-ahead. At times, EIA is perceived as an obstacle to achieving development because of the length of the due process that must be followed and completed to the end, which often results in delays. However, it enables competent authorities to make informed decisions about giving proposed projects the go-ahead after such an assessment is conducted. The environmental impact assessment of any area earmarked for a developmental project continues up to the last stage, where Environmental Authorisation is determined, which leads to the issuance of approval or disapproval. Therefore, the paper sought to encourage the need to enforce the EIA processes as a prerequisite for developmental projects prior, during and after the projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is ravaging the whole world, but the poor vulnerable developing countries are the hardest hit even though they are not primarily responsible for the massive greenhouse gases emissions causing global warming and climate change. This is tantamount to climate injustice as they are being impacted severely and have limited capacity to mitigate or adapt to the changing climate. Consequently, there is a need to share the burdens of climate change equally and equitably without discrimination. This paper submits that the developed industrialized rich countries are primarily responsible for climate change due to their massive emissions of greenhouse gases because of their industrial activities. Of note, most of the equipment and machineries used for production and other activities in these countries, utilized fossil fuel and emit greenhouse gases in the process. As such, justice demands that they have to be responsible for providing adaptation and mitigation measures to the developed countries through the mechanisms provided and set out in all international law instruments and agreements reached at the various Conferences of the Parties (COPs). A proportion of the monies and revenue received from the activities resulting in the emission of greenhouse gases are to be allocated to developing countries for adaptation and mitigation of climate change for them to be able to have clean environment, wellbeing, and sustainable livelihood. More importantly, it is imperative to transit to zero emissions globally this can be made possible using renewable energy as an alternative to fossil fuel. The international communities should therefore improve their strategies and effectiveness regarding the implementation of all the treaty agreements on zero-emission to attain climate justice for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper seeks to create a theoretical link between land reform and development as a means to alleviate poverty in South Africa, particularly in rural areas. The then apartheid regime used unjust laws to violently dispossess the indigenous black South African landowners of their land and distributed the land to the whites who utilised them for different socio-economic purposes including farming. Methodologically this paper used a literature review (qualitative) research approach to assess the extent to which the redistributed land to the blacks have been put to use for productive purposes to alleviate poverty, create jobs and combat hunger in South Africa. The democratic dispensation which started in 1994-ushered in a black majority government, black South Africans are now clamouring for the return of all the land that was illegally acquired by the white South Africans during the apartheid regimes. To this end, previously dispossessed blacks were given back some of their lands for productive usage. Some of the findings include the following: various land reforms laws, policies, measures, strategies have dismally failed due to corruption, nepotism, charisma and patronage. In conclusion, the paper points out that land reforms were embarked upon to eradicate the land injustices and inequalities of apartheid and to alleviate poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South African land systems were brutally and cruelly administered by the colonial and apartheid rulers pre1994 democratic dispensation. The rulers used the law to forcefully remove black South Africans from their land and they arbitrarily took over except for the non-arable and remote areas earmarked for the majority black. Post-1994, the South African government joined various international organisations as a member of the United Nations. International Conventions and treaties that promote restitution of land back to the people who were violently removed from their land by the rulers became imperative and as such,they were promptly ratified and adopted by South Africa. These international law instruments in conjunction with transformative laws and policies that have been put in place have been very helpful in the quest of ensuring that the black majority reclaim their land. To this end, salient provisions are being used to redress the past land injustices and redistribute land back to the rightful owners. However, the extent to which redistributed land are being used for productive purposes by the current beneficiaries leaves much to be desired. The paper examines various international law instruments and South African laws and policies in place to redress the past land injustices, their impacts, and challenges being faced by the beneficiaries to work the land productively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1994, South Africa was detached from the brutal apartheid regime which forcefully removed and dispossessed majority blacks from their arable land and allotted them non-arable and unproductive land. Post 1994, South Africa introduced various transformative interventions to redress the past apartheid land removal and injustices to give back and redistribute land back to the black majority. Against the backdrop of this, South Africa has continuously been using the freedom gained to join and belong to various international and regional financial institutions to seek financial assistance to work the resituated and redistributed land for development, economic growth and poverty alleviation. International institutions are known for supporting countries in their quest for development in order to enhance their economic growth, improved standard of living and eradication of hunger and starvation. To this end, this paper looks at the significant roles of these institutions in providing needed assistant to South Africa to ensure that redistributed land is developed and used for broad productive and beneficial purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The doctrine of separation of powers is recognized by most civilized democratic countries. It was first presented in the Magna Carta. The doctrine dictates that power is divided into three branches of the government namely the executive, legislature, and the judiciary. For the doctrine to be implemented effectively and efficiently, there is a principle of checks and balances wherein each branch has power to exercise oversight on the others to check arbitrariness. The essence of checks and balances is to curtain and curtail any abuse of power by any of the branches. The courts have the power to interpret and apply the law and can even declare any provision of the Constitution or legislation invalid and unconstitutional. The courts wield enormous power to the extent that they have the power to review conduct of the other branches and spheres of the state and declare any of their action or conduct inconsistent with the Constitution. However, while exercising their judicial review powers, the courts too have limits or boundaries. The court cannot usurp the power of any of the other two organs of government. The only time a court might intervene in other branch is when the organ of the state has acted contrary to the Constitution. This paper accentuates that the majority judgement in the case of "Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National assembly 2018 (2) SA 571 (CC) (EFF2)" seemed to have encroached into the domain of the legislative arm of the government by not observing the limits of the judiciary in the exercise of judicial powers and therefore violated the doctrine of separation of powers. Against this backdrop, this paper concurs with the minority judgement in the case of EFF2 which held that the judiciary overarched by usurping the power and performing the functions constitutionally reserved for the parliament-the legislature. It concludes that the judiciary overreached and went beyond exercising checks and balances permitted by the Constitution in that the judiciary used its judicial power to dictate to the parliament to exercise its powers in a certain way. Whereas the Constitution reserved this power to the parliament to make its own rules in order to govern its processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a serious problem of the right to access to adequate housing in South Africa particularly by the indigents and the vulnerable in the society. This paper examined the efficacy and efficiency of the transformative interventions that have been progressively introduced to realize the right to access to adequate housing in South Africa. Methodologically, secondary data such as the Constitution, legislation, case law and relevant scholarly literature were broadly consulted, utilized and applied to explore these interventions in addressing the inherent problem of lack of access to adequate housing constitutionally mandated in South Africa. This approach is in line with the qualitative research method. The study found that those who have been saddled with the responsibility to provide and deliver adequate housing to the needy have dismally failed and most of them escaped accountability hence culture of impunity thrived broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undoubtedly, corruption is endemic in South Africa and it is ravaging all spheres of government, sectors of the economy, and the society at large. The news of corruption is aired frequently in the media showing suspects and trials of accused persons. Public officials, elected and unelected politicians and private sector managers and executives have been suspected, accused, or tried for corruption. Corruption is affecting both private and public sectors in South Africa. The core problem is that public officials saddled with providing and rendering quality basic services engage in endemic corruption and as such, good governance, accountability and transparency are held hostage by corruption. Corruption, which is promoted by maladministration cripples the rule of law in South Africa. While there have been many works on the implementation of domestic anti-corruption laws to root out corruption, there is a paucity of research work on how to invoke and use international anti-corruption laws and instruments that have been duly ratified by South Africa to root out corruption. Methodologically, this paper utilises a literature review approach of international and national sources to reveal various corrupt and maladministration activities, highlight and discuss pieces of transformative interventions that have been introduced by the government to root out and tackle corruption. It also showcases case laws that have been decided that punished corrupt officials. The paper found that there should be concerted and deliberate efforts by all role players and stakeholders in the government, private sector and the society at large to ensure that corruption legislation and in particular, international anti-corruption laws and instruments are effectively and efficiently implemented for purposes of tackling corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oppressive Apartheid government policy and laws of the past deliberately entrenched inequality, forced segregation and denied the majority of black Africans unfettered right of access to various socio-economic rights, goods and services, particularly housing. However, after the apartheid government was defeated in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) became the new ruling government in South Africa and in a bid to redress the past injustices, particularly the imbalances in social, socio- and economic amenities where the majority blacks were excluded, the new government enacted the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. It provides that all citizens are equal before the law and have the same rights, privileges and benefits for the mere fact of being citizens of the Republic of South Africa. Despite this, it is disheartening that most citizens, particularly the poor, indigent and the vulnerable still do not have access to adequate housing guaranteed in the Constitution. This article highlights poor quality housing delivery by the government as the major barrier to the realisation and fulfilment of access to adequate housing. It accentuates that this barrier is intensified because of the endemic corruption by the executive arm of government that have been bestowed with the responsibility to provide adequate housing for all. As part of the solution, the article examines comparative law and international law on the right to access to adequate housing using salient jurisprudence from the courts’ decisions to clarify and ascertain the content of adequate housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cannabis is one of the widely used psychoactive substances in the world. It is used for different reasons ranging from recreational, personal, religious, cultural, medical and social reasons. While some countries still criminalise the use of cannabis, others have decriminalised it. South Africa is one the countries that recently decriminalised it where the Court pronounced legal protection for the personal cultivation, possession and use of cannabis. Even though the Court has given legal protection for the use of cannabis, this paper posits that it was not a blanket protection as there are still some limitations imposed on the use, possession and cultivation of cannabis. In addition, trading of cannabis is still prohibited. The paper looks at the prohibitions imposed by the laws during and after colonial and apartheid regimes, and also looks at the benefits of cannabis in contrast to their negative effects. The Court allowed the cultivation and consumption of cannabis in a private setting but not in the public space. Over and above, in order to remove all restrictions, the paper proactively makes suggestions for the amendment of legislation governing the cultivation and use of cannabis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the transformative interventions for educators in ensuring the right of access to quality education in South Africa. It highlights the right of access to education as provided in section 29 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996. It examines the effect of poor education to the black majority and qualifications of educators during the apartheid period and how this has impacted poor black schools and learners where education was woefully inadequate. It argues that poor performance in black schools emanates from incapacity of educators in providing quality education. Although there was a radical transition in educational laws and programs from apartheid to post- apartheid, till date there are still challenges in the implementation of these policies and laws. The transformative interventions have been suffering major setbacks because the legacy of apartheid and also poor educational facilities and lack of human capacity in poor black schools. This is because even after the demised of the apartheid, South Africa is remains the world's most economically unequal country. The article recommends that government, as a matter of urgency, needs to improve and strengthen educators and teachers' capacity in order to empower them to deliver high standard and quality pedagogy in black schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The achievement of gender equality in all spheres of society is one of the aspirations of the South African government post 1994. The achievement of gender equality has been supported by the adoption of array of legislative prescripts that bars all persons to discriminate unfairly against women on the grounds of gender, sex, pregnancy, religion etc. Notwithstanding these legislative prescripts, the South African private has failed to adhere to these principles of equality due to existing glass- ceilings that bars black African women from participating fully in the South African economy. It is demonstrated in this article that the key sectors of the South African economy are hesitant to employ black African women in managerial positions. As such there is a striking perceptible under-representation of black African women in managerial and decision-making positions in private companies. It is argued that without multi-pronged strategies, the South African private sector would continue not to reflect the demographics of South Africa and ultimately the economic growth would be at a snail's pace. The reduction of poverty in South Africa and economic growth is largely depended on the change of attitude of the private sector. The article accentuates that private sector should improve on its corporate social investment by identifying, developing and capacitating black African women through quality training and education that will position them to become astute managers in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing countries, particularly in Africa are on a constant bid to discover and find ways to improve the living standards of their citizens, particularly those that are living in the rural remote areas. Co-operative societies and banks are one of the many forms of business that are being formed to empowereveryone in the society especially women and the youth in order to increase steady economic growth and alleviate poverty. In South Africa, co-operatives have been given full recognition by the state as a lucrative form of business to assist Historically Disadvantaged People to participate in the new economy, hence the introduction of the Co-operatives Act of 2005 and recently the Co-operative Banks Act of 2007. This article examines the impact ofco-operatives in South Africa and the contribution they are making towards economic growth and poverty alleviation.Ithighlights the problemof registration challenges that potential co-operative banks face in meeting requirements for the establishment of a cooperative bank. More importantly, it draws useful lessons from the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh for the purposes of improving and strengthening operations and sustainability of co-operatives in South Africa. Bangladesh is chosen against the backdrop that it has similar socio-economic challenges with South Africa in terms of chronic and extreme poverty, particularly in the rural areas and amongst women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the Pension Act 24 of 1956 (the Act) is to provide for the registration, incorporation, regulation and dissolution of pension funds and for matters incidental thereto. Amongst these incidental matters are the retirement fund and death benefits. However, the Act does not make mention of the disability benefits in its context. Against this background, this paper examines the importance of the disability benefits by retirement funds in the South African context. The paper further provides for a broader conceptualized definition of disability and argues for the provision of a medical evidence to substantiate disability. Towards this end, this paper examines the determinations which specifically dealt with disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]