scholarly journals To talk or not to talk? From Telkom to Hellkom1: A critical reflection on the current telecommunication policy in South Africa from a social justice perspective

2008 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.R. Ponelis ◽  
J.J. Britz
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Telecommunication Policy

Drawing the Line between Dismissal for Alcoholism (Incapacity) and Dismissal for Drunkenness (Misconduct). Are the Boni Mores Compromised?

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 57-63
Author(s):  
Thandekile Phulu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Labour Practice ◽  
The Republic

In South Africa employees are protected by various pieces of legislation. Section 23 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 provides for a right to fair labour practice. In its preamble the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (hereafter referred to as the LRA) states that the purpose of the Act is to advance economic development, social justice, labour peace and democratisation of the workplace. The LRA also states that one of its objectives is to give effect to and regulate the fundamental rights conferred by section 27 of the Constitution. The Occupational Health and Safety Act as amended by the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act 181 of 1993 provides for the health and safety of persons at work and for the health and safety of persons in connection with the use of plant and machinery. The LRA provides for dismissal for incapacity and dismissals for misconduct. It also differentiates between the two. The LRA provides for both substantive and procedural fairness when dismissing an employee for incapacity and misconduct. This paper will examine the rationale behind differentiating between dismissal for drunkenness and dismissal for alcoholism.

Towards social justice in a new South Africa*

1997 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solomon R. Benatar
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
New South

Justice versus Social Justice in South Africa: Quo vadis?

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marelize Isabel Schoeman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Historical Discourse ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Underlying Basis ◽  
Quo Vadis

This article explores the concept of criminal justice as a formal process in which parties are judged and often adjudged from the paradigmatic perspective of legal guilt versus legal innocence. While this function of a criminal-justice system is important – and indeed necessary – in any ordered society, a society in transition such as South Africa must question the underlying basis of justice. This self-reflection must include an overview questioning whether the criminal-justice system and its rules are serving the community as originally intended or have become a self-serving function of state in which the final pursuit is outcome-driven as opposed to process-driven. The process of reflection must invariably find its genesis in the question: ‘What is justice?’ While this rhetorical phraseology has become trite through overuse, the author submits that the question remains of prime importance when considered contemporarily but viewed through the lens of historical discourse in African philosophy. In essence, the question remains unanswered. Momentum is added to this debate by the recent movement towards a more human rights and restorative approach to justice as well as the increased recognition of traditional legal approaches to criminal justice. This discussion is wide and in order to delimit its scope the author relies on a Socratically influenced method of knowledge-mining to determine the philosophical principles underpinning the justice versus social justice discourse. It is proposed that lessons learned from African philosophies about justice and social justice can be integrated into modern-day justice systems and contribute to an ordered yet socially oriented approach to justice itself.

Practitioner perspectives on learning for social change through non-formal global citizenship education

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor J Brown
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Global Citizenship ◽  
Small Individual ◽  
Global Citizenship Education ◽  
The Social

This article engages with debates about transformative learning and social change, exploring practitioner perspectives on non-formal education activities run by non-governmental organisations. The research looked at how global citizenship education practitioners met their organisation’s goals of change for social justice through educational activities. This education is sometimes criticised for promoting small individual changes in behaviour, which do not ultimately lead to the social justice to which it pertains to aim. Findings suggest that this non-formal education aims to provide information from different perspectives and generate critical reflection, often resulting in shifts in attitudes and behaviour. While the focus is often on small actions, non-formal spaces opened up by such education allow for networks to develop, which are key for more collective action and making links to social movements. Although this was rarely the focus of these organisations, it was these steps, often resulting from reflection as a group on personal actions, which carried potentially for social change.

scholarly journals Critical agency in the post-apartheid education system

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazir Carrim
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
South African ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Education System ◽  
The South ◽  
African Education ◽  
South African Education

This paper looks at critical agency in the South African education system. There has been a consistent linking of critical thinking with critical agency under apartheid, and that this was constructed by a ‘critical struggle’ (Touraine, 1985) against apartheid domination. However, this changed significantly in the post-apartheid moment, where compliance with the newly elected government is emphasised, and could be viewed in terms of ‘positive struggles’ (Touraine, 1986). These, however, limit critical agency in the post-apartheid formation. There is, nonetheless, evidence of critical agency being enacted in the post-apartheid education system. The importance of highlighting those forms of critical agency is crucial in order to enhance social justice in the post-apartheid educational system and society. This paper also links critical agency in the post-apartheid situation with the postcolonial and postmodern conditions because such conditions affect the possibilities of critical agency not only in South Africa but more generally.

scholarly journals Race, class and violent crime in South Africa: Dispelling the ‘Huntley thesis’

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin Silber ◽  
Nathan Geffen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Social ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
New Community ◽  
Basic Infrastructure

Brandon Huntley was granted asylum in Canada earlier this year based on the argument that whites are disproportionately affected by crime in South Africa. The decision was generally condemned, but it did receive support from various groups and individuals including Afriforum, the Freedom Front and James Myburgh (editor of Politicsweb). In this article we show the flaws in Huntley's argument by presenting evidence from several sources that demonstrate that black and poor people are disproportionately the victims of violent crime in South Africa. We are concerned that painting whites as the primary victims of South Africa's social ills is unproductive, ungenerous and potentially hampers the appropriate distribution of resources to alleviate crime. Furthermore, in order to move the debate on crime in South Africa into a more productive direction, we also describe the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) – a relatively new community based organisation that aims to mobilise communities around improving safety and security for all in South Africa, regardless of race or income. Campaigning for novel pragmatic and coordinated community and government responses to the broader lack of safety and security in the country, the SJC focuses on the introduction and development of basic infrastructure and services as a means of reducing crime.

scholarly journals "Our roots began in (South) Africa": Modelling law clinics to maximise social justice ends

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Donald Nicolson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Service ◽  
Legal Professionals ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
University Of Cape Town ◽  
The University

<p align="JUSTIFY">This article explores the ways in which law clinics can be organised to maximise their impact on social justice in South Africa. Such impact can be both direct in the form of the actual legal services offered to those in need or indirect in the form of encouraging law clinic students to commit to assisting those most in need of legal service after they graduate either through career choice or other forms of assistance. The article develops a decision-making matrix for clinic design around two dimensions, each with a number of variables. The first, "organizational" dimension relates to the way clinics are organised and run, and involves choices about whether: (1) clinics emphasise social justice or student learning; (2) student participation attracts academic credit or is extra-curricular; (3) participation is compulsory or optional; (4) clinics are managed and run by staff or students; and (5) there is one "omnibus" clinic structure covering all clinic activities or a "cluster" of discrete clinics conducting different activities. The second, "activities" dimensions involves choices about whether services are: (1) specialist or generalist; (2) exclusively legal or "<span lang="IT">holistic</span><span lang="EN">"; (3) provided only by students or qualified legal professionals; (4) located in community neighbourhoods or on campus; (5) provided by students working "in-house" in a university clinic or in external placements; (6) designed to benefit the wider community rather than just the individuals directly served; and (7) designed to remedy existing problems or educate the public on their legal rights and duties. </span></p><p align="JUSTIFY">While not intending to set out a blueprint for existing law clinics, the article argues that, if South African are motivated to enhance their impact on social justice and level of community engagement, they can learn much from the first law clinic to be established in South Africa, at the University of Cape Town, which was entirely student-run, optional and solely focused on ensuring access to justice rather than educating students. Drawing on his experience in adapting this model for use in Scotland, the author looks at the advantages of combining the volunteerist and student owned nature of this clinic with some formal teaching and staff involvement to maximize both the direct and indirect impact of clinics on social justice.</p>

scholarly journals Parallel Planning Mechanisms as a "Recipe for Disaster"

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 213
Author(s):  
Jeannie Van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Land Development ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Planning Law ◽  
Municipal Planning ◽  
Urban Planning And Development ◽  
The Republic

This note offers a critical reflection of the recent landmark decision in City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality v Gauteng Development Tribunal which lay to rest the negative consequences of employing the DFA procedures of the Development Facilitation Act 67 of 1995 (DFA) alongside those of the provincial Ordinances to establish townships (or to use DFA parlance, “land development areas”). The welcome and timely decision in City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality v Gauteng Development Tribunal has declared invalid chapters V and VI of the DFA. Moreover, it has formalised planning terminology in South Africa, delineated the boundaries of “municipal planning” and “urban planning and development” as listed in Schedules 4 and 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and, in the process, clarified the structure of planning law. This note examines the decision of the SCA and focus on the role it will clearly have in reforming some of the law relating to planning. It considers the facts of the case, uncertainties around terminology, the structure of planning in South Africa, the content of municipal planning, the role of the DFA and the consequences of the declaration of invalidity by the SCA.

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