The Constitutional Court referred to customary marriages entered into after the Customary Marriages Act came into effect, where a wife will be equal to her husband. The marriage will be automatically in community of property, giving the wife equal rights to own and control the property in the joint estate.

We often hear the word “defamation” and do not always understand what is meant with it. Generally, defamation relates to some form of negative remark published about someone. Before getting into the details of defamation, it is important to note that defamation can be difficult to prove. Defamation matters tend to turn into lengthy court procedures where courts have to decide whether defamation occurred or not, depending on the specific circumstances of a matter. Not every defamation matter is the same and different scenarios cannot always be compared with each other. Some matters can be easily determined, while others can be difficult. The below information sets out the basic aspects around defamation.  

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (“Constitution”) gives everyone basic rights of access to their basic needs. These rights are called human rights, and places an obligation on the Government to look after everyone’s social and economic needs, for example, access to housing, food, water, health care, social security and so on. These rights may not be violated by anyone.

One of the most valuable pieces of consumer legislation in South Africa is the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (“NCA”). The NCA protects a consumer who enters into a credit agreement with a credit provider, such as a bank. For example, a credit agreement can take the form of a credit card, overdraft, store card, personal loan and so on.

The Employment Equity Act (“EEA”) protects employees against discrimination in the workplace through promoting equal opportunities and fair treatment of employees. This means that an employer may not unfairly discriminate against an employee on certain grounds, for example, gender, sexual orientation and pregnancy. This is in line with the right to equality that is protected by the Constitution.

Human rights are the basic rights a person is born with. It is the general values of society that have been protected in the Bill of Rights contained in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (“Constitution”). The manner in which human rights are applied on a day-to-day basis will depend on the circumstances of each matter. This article will shed some light on the rights to dignity, basic education, freedom of speech and equality.

In May 2019, the High Court declared the exclusion of domestic workers from COIDA unconstitutional and invalid. The High Court then held that the declaration of invalidity will apply retrospectively so as to provide relief to other domestic workers who have been injured or died prior to the order being granted. However, the High Court’s judgment had to be confirmed by the Constitutional Court before it could come into effect.

On 19 July 2023, South African Sign Language (“SASL”) was formally recognised as an official language. This brought the total number of official languages in South Africa to 12. The official recognition of SASL is an active step towards upholding the human rights enshrined in the Constitution, particularly those of equality, human dignity, language and freedom of expression.

At its core, the case scrutinises the limits of free speech, particularly when that speech veers into the territory of hate speech, which is defined as any form of expression that incites violence, hatred, or discrimination against specific categories of people based on race, gender, sexual orientation and so on.