28 May 2013

Legal

Whale watching? Watch out!

"Hello? Hello? Hellllooooo? Ah! Is that Tina? Listen, I want to go and watch some whales off Hermanus... is that OK with you..?"

Bureaucracy going overboard... According to University of Cape Town mathematician Doug Butterworth, at present, "any member of the public, engaged in, for example, whale watching, would be guilty of an offence unless they had received personal permission from the minister to do so."

Investors are a wary bunch... they don't like uncertainty and nor do they like strikes, wildcat (and violent) strikes in particular. Employers feel the same way, so Zuma is talking sense when he says that embarking on wildcat strikes is no way to advance interests of the poor.

Gotcha Gupta... Now let's see... the plane in question - you know, that one - landed at Waterkloof air base on 30 April. So it took the Indian High Commission almost a month to find out/declare that the Gupta's party plane was on "official business". One might have expected such information to have been at the commission's fingertips...

On to money matters, according to Quinton Mtyala and TJ Strydom, Oscar Pistorius is haemorrhaging money four months after he fired the fateful shots that killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp and sent his life into a tailspin.

Would you buy a used car from this man? You bet, because Henrie Geyser, our tame motoring editor, knows what he's talking about when he says you need to step carefully when buying a car. As a bonus, he also has a few motoring reviews for you of the latest models designed to make your credit card bleed.

Rod Baker, Content Director

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Weekly top stories

Whale watchers need permission to watch
The most glaring oddity of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson's proposed changes to SA's marine resources legislation is that it appears to make whale watching an offence - unless the watcher has her permission. Read more >>
Cash draining from Pistorius' account
[Quinton Mtyala and TJ Strydom]
A failed polygraph does not justify dismissal
[Lauren Coetzee & Jay Page]

Legal
Dlamini urges action on protection of vulnerable children
[Bhekisisa Mncube] Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini has urged all South Africans to come together to support National Child Protection Week by wearing a green ribbon, and to report cases of child abuse, neglect and exploitation to social workers and police officers. Read more >>

Court battle over lack of legal briefs
Black businesses and lawyers should "not be shy" to sue for anti-competitive practices when they are excluded from markets because of their race, said Simba Chitando in court papers on Tuesday (21 May). Read more >>

Panel discusses corporate governance and the Companies Act
The first in a series of round-table discussions regarding corporate governance and the Companies Act (Act No. 71 of 2008, as amended) were recently held by Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr's Thina Siwendu, a director who specialises in corporate governance. Read more >>


Commercial Law
Calls to leave inquiry to professionals
The long-awaited inquiry into the private health care industry will finally begin in the second half of the year, following the publication of the terms of reference by the competition commission. Read more >>

Court rules in favour of Redisa
Government's waste tyre recycling plan is back on track after a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling on Thursday (23 May). Read more >>

More churches join protest over tolls
[Jenna Etheridge] More churches have come out against the e-tolling of Gauteng's highways and the impact it will have on members and religious activities. Read more >>

More than 9,000 insurance claims disputed
The Office of the Ombudsman for Short-Term Insurance received 9‚123 complaints against insurers in 2012‚ an increase of 1.7% over 2011‚ according to the watchdog's latest annual report. Read more >>

Gupta's party plane on "official business"
Some wedding guests on board a privately chartered plane that landed at Waterkloof Air Force Base had official business in South Africa‚ the Indian High Commission said on Tuesday (21 May). Read more >>

FSB smacks Old Mutual's wrists
The Registrar of Long-term Insurance has initiated regulatory action against Old Mutual Life Assurance Company of South Africa for non-compliance with its Directive 159.A.i (LT & ST). Read more >>

Step carefully when buying a car
[Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] The Consumer Protection Act (CPA), which came into effect in April 2008, has far-reaching implications for vehicle buyers, particularly those interested in acquiring a used vehicle, yet there is still a lot of ignorance around with buyers being taken for a ride because they don't know their own rights. Read more >>

Whale watchers need permission to watch
The most glaring oddity of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson's proposed changes to SA's marine resources legislation is that it appears to make whale watching an offence - unless the watcher has her permission. Read more >>


Criminal Law
Cash draining from Pistorius' account
[Quinton Mtyala and TJ Strydom] Oscar Pistorius is haemorrhaging money four months after he fired the fateful shots that killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp and sent his life into a tailspin. Read more >>

Hundreds of SA Facebook profiles cloned
[NIivashni Nair] Hundreds of South African Facebook profiles have been cloned in the past five days and used to solicit money from the victims' contacts. Read more >>

Whistle-blowers' details go public
Hackers cracked into the website of South Africa's police and downloaded information that could leave whistle-blowers vulnerable, the police and a government data agency said Wednesday (22 May). Read more >>

A failed polygraph does not justify dismissal
[Lauren Coetzee & Jay Page] The Labour Court, in Mustek Ltd v Tsabadi NO & Others, was recently confronted with a dismissal based solely on polygraph test results. After traversing case law and studies on the use of polygraphs, the court confirmed that the results of polygraph tests alone are not enough to justify an employee's dismissal. Read more >>


Labour Law
Proposed amendments to labour legislation - where are we?
[Johan Botes and Wandile Sishi] Over the last few years the minister of labour has tabled numerous amendments to existing labour laws that will significantly adjust the landscape of employment law and the regulation of the employment relationship. Read more >>

Turmoil in SA leads to industrial relations paralysis
[Siobhan Viljoen] The current labour relations environment in South Africa is fraught with complexity on almost every front. As a result, employers are treading extremely carefully in response to basic industrial relations (IR) issues, particularly when those issues are associated with industrial action. Read more >>

Uncertainty over jobs losses at Becsa
[Mpho Sibanyoni] Mixed information is trickling out in relation to the number of people that BHP Billiton Energy Coal SA (Becsa) plans to retrench in South Africa. Read more >>


Law Practice
Cape Town wins winelands court battle
A South African court on Tuesday (21 May) froze plans to charge motorists using two roads from Cape Town to the country's scenic winelands. Read more >>


International

WikiLeaks releases transcript of critical US film
WASHINGTON, US: WikiLeaks has released what it says is an annotated transcript of a documentary that takes a critical look at the anti-secrecy group ahead of the US film's Friday premiere. Read more >>

More International


Government

Uniform pay for public service workers
The Public Administration Management Bill - which will set uniform standards for all three spheres of government - will allow Public Service and Administration Minister Lindiwe Sisulu to address "unjustifiable disparities" in the level of pay given to municipal employees relative to those in national and provincial government. Read more >>

More Government news


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