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Centre For Applied Legal Studies

latest news & developments
After being diagnosed with HIV at 33, retired Constitutional Court justice Edwin Cameron never thought he’d make it to 40. He’s now 73 and part of a generation that is growing older thanks to antiretrovirals and, he says, the activism that made sure it was available in South Africa. Photo: Stefan Els
AIDS
Video

HIV made him expect to die at 40. At 73, Edwin Cameron asks: Who’s planning for our ageing survivors?

At 33, the retired Constitutional Court justice thought he had, maybe, seven years left. His story traces the arc from certain death because of Aids to a chronic, manageable…

  • Tanya Pampalone
  • Mia Malan
14 min read
Influence: Several political parties have voiced concern about overreach and lack of accountability in the judiciary. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy/M&G
CALS

Discriminatory rape law to be challenged in the Constitutional Court

By centring consent in the definition of rape, the law makes the survivor’s state of mind the battleground instead of focusing on the perpetrator’s actions, including their use…

  • Sheena Swemmer
6 min read
The high court in Johannesburg has ruled against JDG Trading. Illustration: Lisa Nelson
BLACK SASH

Loan company exploited social grant beneficiaries, high court rules

The Johannesburg high court found the company’s product was at odds with the National Credit Act

  • Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti
3 min read
A just energy transition cannot only be good for corporations. It must include workers, the unemployed and young people.
350AFRICA ORG

Battle for energy justice: Why we must win social ownership

Electricity must be treated as a public good and a fundamental human right

  • Ferron Pedro
5 min read
Cecil John Rhodes epitomised the consolidation and expansion of white supremacy, corporate interests and state power.
AFRICAN REGIONAL INDABA

Put an end to four centuries of corporate plundering of Africa

Companies must be held accountable for their depredations before the next scramble for the continent under the guise of a green transition

  • Christopher Gevers
8 min read
In the wake of a rise in reported cases of sexual violence in schools, including the allegedly rape of a seven-year-old girl, civil society and government leaders are calling for urgent and systemic reform of how schools protect pupils. (Getty)
CENTRE FOR APPLIED LEGAL STUDIES

We need to rethink ‘intention’ in rape legislation

The inclusion of intention in the definition of rape reintroduces the requirement that there should be physical evidence that the victim was overpowered

  • Mbuyiselo Botha
  • Busisiwe Deyi
8 min read
“In 2000, South Africa was in a honeymoon phase with its judicial branch … We had Mandela. We had Chaskalson. Nothing could go wrong.”
ARTHUR CHASKALSON

Preserving the rule of law in times of political crisis

This is an edited version of the Inaugural Arthur Chaskalson Memorial Lecture delivered at the Equal Education Law Centre

  • Tembeka Ngcukaitobi
41 min read
. (David Harrison)
CENTRE FOR APPLIED LEGAL STUDIES

Why new laws on violence against women are doomed to fail

More legislation will not protect women when the police cannot, researchers say, following the proclamation of amendments to gender-based violence laws

  • Emsie Ferreira
8 min read
ACCEDE

Water worries for Musina-Makhado special economic zone

More than 20 organisations, concerned individuals sign an open letter to Ministers Barbara Creecy and Ebrahim Patel calling for integrated assessment of coal-based mega-project

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
Steadfast: The Xolobeni residents have, for more than a decade and with deadly consequences for them, fought off an Australian company wanting to mine their land. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
CENTRE FOR APPLIED LEGAL STUDIES

High court gives Australian mining company a big SLAP(P)

The judge ruled that corporations should not be allowed to use the legal system against citizens and activists

  • Sheree Bega
8 min read
Gatvol: Citizens march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria protesting against corruption in government. (Delwyn Verasamy)
BANKS

Unethical businesses will face people’s protest

Companies must behave like model democratic citizens if they are to earn and retain society’s social licence to operate

  • William Gumede
5 min read
A view of the targeted area for the Xolobeni Mineral Sands project on the Wild Coast.
CAPE TOWN

Corporate bullying in fight over Xolobeni mining

Activists argue that the Australian company suing them is using the courts to silence criticism and so abusing the legal system. The law should change to stop these types of suits

  • Musawenkosi Cabe
9 min read
Steadfast: The Xolobeni residents have, for more than a decade and with deadly consequences for them, fought off an Australian company wanting to mine their land. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
AUSTRALIAN MINING COMPANY

Lawyers push for Slapp suit regulation in SA as Australian miner sues environmental activists

An Australian mining company is suing three attorneys and activists for defamation. But the defendant’s attorneys argue that this a strategic lawsuit against public participation

  • Tshegofatso Mathe
5 min read
Close proximity: Prisoners sleep crammed together in some cells at the Johannesburg Correctional Centre
CENTRE FOR APPLIED LEGAL STUDIES

Covid-19 is a grave threat in prisons

Inspectorate finds serious overcrowding at ‘Sun City’ centre, putting inmates at risk of Covid-19

  • Thanduxolo Jika
6 min read
Rather than marching on the JSE to ask companies to contribute money to fighting gender-based violence, it would arguably be better to hold companies to account for how they fail to address these issues internally. (David Harrison/M&G)
ABUSE

Use the workplace to stop socially embedded violence

The judicial system alone and appealing to miscreants has not stopped attacks on women

  • Seán Mfundza Muller
9 min read