The Sunday Times reported that the ANC has bowed to pressure from traditional leaders that allowed citizens the right to refuse to be subject to the jurisdiction of traditional courts. The difficulty seems to be that optional participation would nullify the existence of these courts.
I confess that I cannot see how one can have two parallel legal systems operating in our country. By way of example: we have eleven official languages of which, practically speaking two or three are used. Law is a hell of a lot more difficult to master than a language and yet we might well commit to parallel systems.
The RAF receives a monthly income of 3.2 billion whilst claims to the value of 4.3 billion are settled monthly. And then there is talk of reducing taxes on fuel? Really?
The proposed new legislation will allow both parties, in an accident, to claim damages on a no-fault basis. Whether this is fair or not is debatable but, even if one were to reduce the sums, in theory one would virtually double the number of claims.
There is a blithe talk about a move away from common law delictual principles to Social Security principles in which the need of the person injured, as opposed to loss, is taken into consideration. Sure, our current system is wasteful, but I have little doubt that it will be difficult to reconcile the needs of a captain of industry with that of a subsistence farmer.
Labour law and collective agreements
Why should a minority union not acquire organisational rights from an employer where the majority union has a pre-existing collective agreement with the employer, setting a threshold of representativeness for admission to a departmental bargaining counsel, which the minority union does not meet? This CCT case deals with a dispute between POPCRU and breakaway union SACOSWU. For labour lawyers only: Reference
B-BBEE violations are problematical for whistleblowers, as companies leverage off their ratings for work; if your company cheats all in that company are better off. Many employees occupy positions within self-regulating systems imposed by such companies, but feel powerless to report company lip service to BEE as it may well jeopardise all positions. What to do? Take a look at this website: Reference
Agree to agree
Our common law holds agreements to negotiate as being void for vagueness. Yet, argues McKenzie (a candidate attorney), on the back of a Constitutional Court comment that the time may have come for this approach to be replaced to one, more embracive of our constitutional values, by the importation of an agreement to negotiate in good faith.
Agreements to Negotiate: A Contemporary Analysis 2017 Stell LR 308 – ask me for a copy
