17 December 2009. CALS Report on 'Meaningful Engagement' Workshop released.
Recent court rulings have been emphasising the requirement that the state “meaningfully engage” with poor people in the provision of housing alternatives when an eviction is sought. Against this litigation background, CALS organised and hosted a workshop on meaningful engagement on 27 July 2009. The event was funded by the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) and attended by lawyers, community leaders, academics and NGO representatives. A report was drafted by Kate Tissington from CALS and Lauren Royston, an independent urban land tenure and housing policy expert, and finalised in December 2009. The report was compiled from the written inputs provided and from the workshop discussion, providing synthesis, key themes and the main conclusions of the workshop as well as some further issues that require research and debate.
Read Workshop Report on Meaningful Engagement here.
Inputs by Steve Kahanowitz, Moray Hathorn, Becky Himlin, Lauren Royston, Stuart Wilson, S'bu Zikode and Mzwanele Zulu.
BASIC SERVICES
10 October 2009. Joseph electricity rights judgment handed down by the Constitutional Court.
An important win for tenants facing electricity disconnection by the City of Johannesburg without notice was made when Justice Skweyiya of the Constitutional Court handed down their favourable judgment in Leon Joseph and Others v City of Johannesburg and Others. Read more on the Joseph case here.
Read judgment here.
Read CALS press release here.
9 October 2009. Mazibuko water rights judgment handed down by the Constitutional Court.
Disappointing judgment handed down by Justice O'Regan in Mazibuko and Others v City of Johannesburg and Others, dismissing the applicants' Consitutional Court appeal over the City of Johannesburg's free basic water policy and the installation of prepayment meters in Phiri, Soweto. Read more on the Mazibuko case here.
Read judgment here.
28 September 2009. Water Budget Monitoring Education Tool.
On 28 September 2009, CALS and Mvula Trust held a workshop for civil society and community-based organisations presenting their recently developed Water Budget Monitoring Education Tool. CALS and Mvula Trust's research has found that in order to hold municipal government accountable for service delivery, it is important for civil society to understand the budgeting process and elements of public finance, including relevant legislation that governs these processes. The tool is designed to be used by CSOs in the broader training of civil society in the pursuit of enhanced public accountability and better service delivery. While the tool focuses on water, it can be applied to other basic services, including electricity and sanitation.
26 August 2009. Phiri water rights case heads to the Constitutional Court on 2 and 3 September 2009
The Mazibuko appeal against the SCA judgment of 25 March 2009 will be heard in the Constitutional Court, where the applicants will argue that prepayment water meters in Phiri, Soweto should be declared unlawful, and that the City’s Free Basic Water policy is insufficient to meet the basic needs of poor Phiri households. Read press release here.
See more on the Mazibuko case here.
7 August 2009. First and Second Respondents' written submissions to the Constitutional Court in the Mazibuko appeal filed. Contact kate.tissington@wits.ac.za for copies of these heads of argument.
24 July 2009. Applicants' written submissions to the Constitutional Court in the Mazibuko appeal. See here.
3 June 2009. Applicants' latest submissions to the Constitutional Court in the Mazibuko appeal.
Applicants' answering affidavit in leave to cross appeal and replying affidavit in leave to appeal here. Annexures here.
22 May 2009. Constitutional Court directions, Mazibuko appeal set down in the Constitutional Court on 2-3 September 2009. See here.
30 April 2009. Application for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court in electricty rights case.
On 18 August 2009, the Constitutional Court appeal will be heard against the judgment handed down Judge Jajbhay in the South Gauteng High Court on 3 April 2009 in Darries and Others v City of Johannesburg and Others. See here for more.
25 March 2009. Supreme Court of Appeal judgment in the appeal against the Johannesburg High Court's decision in Mazibuko and Others v City of Johannesburg and Others.
Read full SCA judgment here.
CALS media statement on the judgment here.
See other related court documents here.
9 February 2009. CALS submission to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) relating to access to water and sanitation in South Africa.
See submission here.
5 February 2009. City of Johannesburg v Mazibuko appeal case to be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal from 23 to 25 February 2009. See the Appellants' and Respondents' heads of argument here.
25 November 2008. CALS, COHRE and NCHR researchers release report on water services fault lines in South Africa.
The research report, entitled Water Services Fault Lines: An Assessment of South Africa's Water and Sanitation Provision across 15 Municipalities (ISBN: 978-0-620-42880-4), identifies key fault lines in water and sanitation policy and implementation, drawn from interviews with 15 municipalities across South Africa.
Download full report.
Read executive summary here.
Read media release here.
HOUSING AND EVICTIONS
14 October 2009. Constitutional Court (CC) declares Slums Act unconstitutional in an important win for Abahlali baseMjondolo and shackdwellers throughout SA.
The CC, in a judgment written by Moseneke DCJ (with all the judges except Yacoob J concurring), found that section 16 of the Slums Act is unconstitutional and invalid. This section makes it compulsory for municipalities to institute proceedings for eviction of unlawful occupiers where the owner or person in charge of the land fails to do so within the time prescribed by the MEC. Without section 16, the Act is inoperable. Moseneke found that these powers were "overbroad and irrational" and that the Act is incapable of an interpretation that promotes the ostensible objectives of eliminating and preventing slums and providing adequate housing. Similar legislation will now not be passed in other provinces. See here for more on the case.
Read CALS press release here.
Read CC judgment here.
Read CC media summary here.
10 June 2009. Judgment handed down by the Constitutional Court in Residents of Joe Slovo Community v Thubelisha Homes and Others. See here for more.
14 May 2009. Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA and Sibusiso Zikode v The Premier of the Province KwaZulu-Natal and Others challenge to the KwaZulu-Natal Elimination and Prevention of Re-emergence of Slums Act No 6 of 2007 ('Slums Act') was heard in the Constitutional Court. Judgment was reserved. See here for more.
12 September 2008. Judgment handed down in Blue Moonlight Properties 39 Pty (Ltd) v The Occupiers of Saratoga Avenue and the City of Johannesburg. Judge Masipa of the Johannesburg High Court handed down a favourable judgment in an application by 88 desperately poor men, women and children for an order requiring the City of Johannesburg to say what it will do to provide them with housing if they are evicted from their homes by a private property developer.
Read the press release here.
Read the judgment here.
Op-ed piece in Business Day by Stuart Wilson here.
19 February 2008. Media statement. The Constitutional Court has overturned a Supreme Court of Appeal decision to grant an eviction order in circumstances where the City of Johannesburg failed to meaningfully engage with the occupiers. Read the press release here.
Read the Constitutional Court judgment here.
ACCESS TO JUSTICE
2 July 2009. Op-ed by Jackie Dugard and Kate Tissington in Business Day, "Why Cape Legal twist looks like a demolition of justice for poor", on the sacking of legal firm Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes (STBB) by the City of Cape Town for taking on a case for Abahlali baseMjondolo. See op-ed here.
Read Cape Times article "Storm erupts after axing of legal firm" here.
Pierre de Vos' blog Constitutionally Speaking, "The rule of law and 'conflicts of interest'" here.
31 March 2009. CALS intervenes in an urgent application suppporting that the Judicial Services Council (JSC) hearings on the Constitutional Court’s complaint against Judge Hlophe be open to the public.
CALS' notice of motion here.
Founding affidavit here.
CALS' submission to the JSC recommending that the Hlophe hearings be made public. 22 July 2008.
GENDER
25 November 2009. CALS releases African Gender and Development Index: South African Report (November 2006), comissioned by the Centre for Gender and Development of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Read the AGDI South African Report here.
8 June 2009. CALS, assisted by the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre, recently published a booklet on the Sexual Offences Act, a summary of the Criminal Law Sexual Offences Amendment Act 32 of 2007. The booklet is available in English, Sesotho, Xhosa and Zulu.
29 April 2008. Media statement. Johannesburg, South Africa.
TLAC and CALS to challenge sentencing practices in relation to rape accused in Vilikazi case.
Case on mandatory sentencing for rape to be heard in Supreme Court of Appeal on 5 May 2008. TLAC and CALS are acting as amici curiae in the case. Read the press release here.
15 February 2008. New submission on the Draft Domestic Partnership Bill.
A new submission on the Draft Domestic Partnership Bill (2008) was handed to the Department of Home Affairs on 15 February 2008. As a member of The Alliance for the Legal Recognition of Domestic Partnerships CALS was involved in the formulation of the submission. Read here.
EDUCATION
12 January 2009. School Fees Exemption Calculator. Exemptions are standard at all state or government schools. This tool allows you to work out exactly what you can get as an exemption discount on school fees if you apply for exemption for your child or children. See calculator here.
2 December 2008. Chased out of school: Parents need to know their rights and responsibilities in the school environment. Parents need to read the South African Schools Act (84 of 1996) and understand the regulations so that they can demand their rights at their child's school, especially around school fees. Read CALS' media release here.
Education Law: Access the full set of South African Education Law documents, including the South African Schools Act, The Regulations relating to the Exemption of Parents from Payment of School Fees in Public Schools, and Acts on Higher, Adult and Further Education and Training
here.
Education: Your Rights and Responsibilities. A brief guide to
In loco parentis and what it means for parents and educators in the South Africa education system. See
here.
Please visit
Parent 24 to access an education law expert online.
Download our School Fees: Your Rights Booklets (now available in Afrikaans, English, Sesotho and IsiZulu.