Sanef has welcomed a pledge to scrap a clause in the weather Bill that could see the censoring of the media’s reporting of weather and air pollution.
Pressure on government to stem the slaughter of rhinos is mounting in the run-up to public hearings on poaching to be hosted in Parliament this month.
The government wants to use state resources across all departments to fight crime.
Sotyu proclaimed that the Scorpions would be dissolved because the ANC had decided to do so, despite public hearings into the issue.
Justice and Constitutional Development Deputy Minister Johnny de Lange has effectively put his hand up for a cabinet role in a Zuma government.
The public hearings on suspended National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli’s fitness to hold office are an ”inquisitorial” as opposed to an ”accusatorial” process, inquiry head Frene Ginwala said on Wednesday. ”I want to emphasise that this process is not a judicial one,” said Ginwala in an opening statement.
The inquiry into the suspension of National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli, which starts on Wednesday, will see several high-profile witnesses testify, including Reverend Frank Chikane and Scorpions boss Gerrie Nel. President Thabo Mbeki suspended Pikoli as the head of the NPA on September 24.
The Presidency and Justice Ministry on Friday claimed to have no knowledge of Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy’s attempts to resign. They also claimed to know nothing about President Thabo Mbeki’s reported refusal to accept the resignation letter. ”There’s no such thing,” said Presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga.
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/ 19 February 2008
The disbanding of the Scorpions is still only a ”proposal” and will go to Parliament and include public participation, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said in Cape Town on Tuesday. The unit will also stay on the high-profile cases on which it is currently working, he told a media briefing on the future of the criminal justice system.
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/ 21 September 2007
Lawmakers in crime-ridden South Africa approved a Bill on Thursday making it harder for rapists to argue for reduced sentences. The Criminal Law Sentencing Amendment Bill bars judges and magistrates from considering a rape victim’s sexual history or an apparent lack of physical injury to justify lessening minimum jail terms.
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/ 16 September 2007
There was a constitutional need for a single judiciary in South Africa, Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke said in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said Moseneke made these comments at a two-day Magistrate’s Conference.