At a point in most people’s lives, they find themselves submitting job applications to different potential employers. Some applications might return with a “we regret to inform you that your application was not successful”, while other applications might be met with no response.

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.

The Constitutional Court had to decide on whether certain sections in legislation relating to the criminalisation of the use of cannabis are invalid and unconstitutional.