South Africa’s judiciary does not need an uncritical media that is over respectful of the courts, Chief Justice Pius Langa said in Durban on Sunday. He said the judiciary should ”jealously protect” the media and its right to free expression, but at the same time the media’s right was ”not totally unfettered and unrestricted”.
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African National Congress president Jacob Zuma’s last-ditch bid to prevent key documents from being used against him came to an end on Wednesday when the Constitutional Court reserved judgement. On Thursday, Zuma stayed away from the court building.
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The documents the state is seeking to obtain from Mauritius may never be used against African National Congress president Jacob Zuma, the Constitutional Court heard on Thursday. State advocate Wim Trengove said evidence gathered ”does not automatically become evidence before the court”.
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/ 17 January 2008
The African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday made an about turn on its earlier concerns over comments made by Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, issuing a statement confirming its confidence in the integrity of the courts. ”Having listened to Justice Moseneke’s account … the ANC accepts that no ill was intended,” an ANC statement said.
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/ 9 November 2007
Designing a code of conduct for a liberation struggle in exile was the most significant work of his career, Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs said on Thursday. ”To my mind that was the beginning of the constitutionality at the heart, at the core of the freedom struggle,” Sachs said in delivering the second annual Abdullah Omar Memorial Lecture.
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/ 21 October 2007
Several weeks ago the Constitutional Court ruled in a landmark case on religious and cultural expression in public schools. In 2004, Sunali Pillay, then a learner at Durban Girls’ High School, pierced her nose and inserted a small gold stud. The school objected to the stud on the basis that it contravened the school’s code of conduct.
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/ 19 October 2007
Human trafficking is an evil as terrible as the Atlantic slave trade of the past, Chief Justice Pius Langa said on Friday. ”It is an evil as terrible as the slave trade of the past and it requires a concerted response from civil society and the government,” he said at the International Association of Women Judges Conference in Boksburg.
Chief Justice Pius Langa steered clear on Tuesday of the controversy around Cape Judge President John Hlophe and suspended National Director of Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli. He told students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban that he knew there were many who wanted him to speak on President Thabo Mbeki’s decision to suspend Pikoli.
No impeachment proceedings will be instituted against Cape Judge President John Hlophe, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) said on Thursday. Chief Justice Pius Langa said although the JSC members were divided on whether there was sufficient evidence to justify proceedings that could lead to impeachment, it was generally agreed the proceedings should not be pursued.
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/ 20 September 2007
A string of senior advocates acting for state institutions opposed an application by Khutsong residents in the Constitutional Court on Thursday. Outside, police fired rubber bullets at residents protesting against their municipality, Merafong, being included in North West province.
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/ 20 September 2007
Police fired rubber bullets at Khutsong residents protesting outside the Constitutional Court on Thursday. More than 1 000 protesters scattered into the streets of Braamfontein in Johannesburg but some later regrouped again, protesting outside the court against their municipality being included in North West province.
After meting out a severe tongue-lashing over the behaviour of the state attorney and director general of justice’s offices on Thursday, the Constitutional Court said it wanted to issue an order making them accountable for their work. ”I have a deep intolerance for state officials who are paid to do their work and don’t do it,” said Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke.