‘Abandonment’ in the 2020 Expropriation Bill
I have said and written much about the Expropriation Bill of 2020, which will likely become the Expropriation Act of 2021 sometime this year. In this article I would like to focus on one particularly …
Category: Articles
Finding constitutional freedom of choice in the right to dignity
The justiciability of unenumerated constitutional rights is understandably controversial. Cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States many decades ago such as Griswold v Connecticut and Roe v Wade remain contentious to this …
Considering arguments against the constitutionality of the Riotous Assemblies Act and related matters
Author: Martin van Staden Date: 11 December 2019 The nature of constitutionalism lies in its checks and balances – limitations – on government power. Prior to the advent of constitutionalism, governments, in the form of …
Legal opinion on UCT vote to boycott Israeli institutions
Author: Adv Mark Oppenheimer Date: 28 March 2019 INTRODUCTION 1. The Consultant is the Free Market Foundation’s Rule of Law Project. The Free Market Foundation is an independent public benefit organisation founded in 1975 to …
African judges defend the Rule of Law
Author: Gary Moore Date: 24 July 2018 A 1992 Treaty established the Southern African Development Community (“SADC”) to promote growth and development. All subcontinental countries up to Tanzania and DRC are members. The Treaty declares that member states must observe human rights …
Violations of the Rule of Law undermine the Political Party Funding Bill
Author: Martin van Staden Date: 13 June 2018 The Political Party Funding Bill appears to be well on its way to becoming law in South Africa. Its intention to shed light on the identity of …
Expropriation without compensation would affect the Rule of Law
Author: Gary Moore Date: 09 May 2018 The Expropriation Act authorises government expropriation of private property for market-value compensation. The Constitution states that compensation for expropriation must reflect “equitable balance” between the public interest and …
Substantive equality cannot override formal equality
Author: Martin van Staden Date: 20 December 2017 It is now well-accepted in South African constitutional jurisprudence that the Constitution’s guarantee of equality in section 9 is not merely concerned with ‘formal’ equality (equality at …
Government’s embrace of parasitical SAA is unconstitutional
Author: Martin van Staden Date: 29 November 2017 South African Airways (SAA) is not a parastatal, it is parasitical. Society as envisioned by our Constitution has no place for parasites, especially if its continual humouring …
Parliament’s surrendering of power to bureaucrats jeopardises democracy
Author: Martin van Staden Date: 14 November 2017 Did you know that when you drive 140 in a 120 km/h zone, you are not ‘breaking the law’, at least not directly? The same applies when …