The Role of Error in Objecto in South African Criminal Law

2016 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-63
Author(s):  
Kelly Phelps
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Individual Autonomy ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Subjective Approach ◽  
Logical Conclusion ◽  
A Charge

State v Pistorius provides an opportunity to consider error in objecto in the context of the broader approach to dolus in South African criminal law. For the last 60 years South Africa has taken a consistently subjective approach to assessing intention, evidenced through the courts’ rejection of versari, the presumption of intent and transferred malice. This upholds individual autonomy and assigns blame on a principled basis, thus it has achieved recognition from the Constitutional Court. By recognising foresight/knowledge of unlawfulness as a component of dolus, De Blom took subjectivity to its logical conclusion in 1977. Consequently, error in objecto likely only applies to dolus directus, is heavily influenced by the now defunct doctrine of transferred malice and has not become an entrenched principle in our law. It must thus yield to the basic principles of criminal law, including subjectivity and the putative defences flowing from De Blom. This was the manner in which it was correctly applied in State v Pistorius, although the reasoning was not evident in the judgment. Reviewing error in objecto in the broader scheme of dolus therefore shows that it is inaccurate to claim that the victim’s identity is always irrelevant to a charge of murder.

The Resilient Constitution

2021 ◽  
pp. 277-309
Author(s):  
David Dyzenhaus ◽  
Alma Diamond
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Extreme Pressure ◽  
The Face ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
The One

This chapter evaluates the so called 'transitional constitution' of South Africa and the 'permanent constitution' of Colombia. Through a comparative approach, it contends that constitutions are better understood in terms of their resilience rather than either being transitional or permanent, and that a 'resilient constitution' is the one capable of springing back even after being subjected to extreme pressure, as long as leaders maintain their commitment to governing within the limits of the law. In this sense, the differences between the Colombian transitional justice and the South African case do not stem primarily from the 'permanence' of its Constitution, but rather from the difficulties and tensions inherent to any transitional justice process, because it derives from some of the very rights it is designed to promote. The chapter then details how the jurisprudence of the Colombian Constitutional Court on transitional matters can be understood as having moved from an understanding of the Constitution as permanent, to one of resilience that does not represent a new power grabbed by the Court. Rather than that, it signals an understanding of the role of the Court in maintaining a constitutional order even in the face of existential threats to it.

ROLE OF LIBRARIANS IN TEACHING INFORMATION LITERACY IN ZIMBABWEAN AND SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinashe Mugwisi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Information Skills ◽  
The University

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the Internet have to a large extent influenced the way information is made available, published and accessed. More information is being produced too frequently and information users now require certain skills to sift through this multitude in order to identify what is appropriate for their purposes. Computer and information skills have become a necessity for all academic programmes. As libraries subscribe to databases and other peer-reviewed content (print and electronic), it is important that users are also made aware of such sources and their importance. The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching of information literacy (IL) in universities in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and the role played by librarians in creating information literate graduates. This was done by examining whether such IL programmes were prioritised, their content and how frequently they were reviewed. An electronic questionnaire was distributed to 12 university libraries in Zimbabwe and 21 in South Africa. A total of 25 questionnaires were returned. The findings revealed that IL was being taught in universities library and non-library staff, was compulsory and contributed to the term mark in some institutions. The study also revealed that 44 per cent of the total respondents indicated that the libraries were collaborating with departments and faculty in implementing IL programmes in universities. The study recommends that IL should be an integral part of the university programmes in order to promote the use of databases and to guide students on ethical issues of information use.

scholarly journals Truth and reconciliation in South Africa: Hindu experiences and concerns

2004 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
P.G.J. Meiring
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
The South ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Hindu Community ◽  
The Way

The author who served on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), focuses on the Hindu experience in South Africa during the apartheid years. At a special TRC Hearing for Faith Communities (East London, 17-19 November 1997) two submissions by local Hindu leaders were tabled. Taking his cues from those submissions, the author discusses four issues: the way the Hindu community suffered during these years, the way in which some members of the Hindu community supported the system of apartheid, the role of Hindus in the struggle against apartheid, and finally the contribution of the Hindu community towards reconciliation in South Africa. In conclusion some notes on how Hindus and Christians may work together in th

The Constitutional Court of South Africa: Thoughts on its 25-Year-Long Legacy of Judicial Activism

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-33
Author(s):  
Lucky Mathebe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
Democratic Accountability ◽  
Constitutional Democracy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Crime And Punishment ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Marginalised Groups

After almost 25 years of what could justifiably be called transformative change in South Africa, a truism is that the country’s new legal order, established by the Constitution in 1993 and 1996, provides the critical foundation of peace and security upon which its freedom has been built. The Constitutional Court was one of the most important of the new democratic institutions in the shaping of the country’s position as a constitutional democracy, upholding the values for which millions of people, black and white, had fought. This article is a brief reflection on the role of the Court in establishing the meaning of this democracy and giving it effect. The main goal of the article is to understand how the Court’s new jurisprudence works in particular contexts, how its work is related to crime and punishment, and what it means for the rights of marginalised groups in society. Using the examples of the Court’s decision in Makwanyane on the death penalty, and the Court’s decision on the findings of the Public Protector’s report on Nkandla, the article finds that the Court’s new jurisprudence takes quite a different view of legal developments in South Africa, insofar as the jurisprudence entrusts broad discretion to the Court and emphasises the need for sustained leadership of the Court to advance the battle for fundamental human rights, the rule of law, and democratic accountability.

Ethnicity and Voting Patterns in South Africa

1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Lever
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Categorical Data ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Party Choice ◽  
Political Choices ◽  
Electoral Behaviour ◽  
Log Linear ◽  
Published Research

There is some controversy concerning the role of ethnicity in South African electoral behaviour. Since the society is segmented on ethnic lines it is to be expected that ethnicity would play a crucial role in affecting political choices. Some writers have gone so far as to suggest that ethnicity is the only significant factor affecting voting preferences. The controversy arose at a time when Goodman's method of log-linear analysis for hierarchical models had not yet been developed. This method provides the most powerful tool available for the multivariate analysis of categorical data. A re-analysis of previously published research using Goodman's method shows that ethnicity is not the only significant factor having a bearing on voting preferences. The first four-way table of voting preferences in South Africa is presented. The order of importance of the variables affecting party choice is: (1) ethnicity (2) socio-economic status (3) age of the voter. The recursive model suggested by the analysis explains approximately 98 per cent of the data.

Conserving inequality: How private conservation and property developers ‘fix’ spatial injustice in South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110663
Author(s):  
Lerato Thakholi ◽  
Bram Büscher
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Structural Inequality ◽  
Conservation Property ◽  
Private Profit ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Housing Estates ◽  
Property Developers

In 2016, South Africa launched its National Biodiversity Economy Strategy. This strategy aims to facilitate the development of a ‘wildlife economy’ as a solution to unemployment, loss of biodiversity and rural development. Central to the strategy is the role of private conservation actors, who keenly posit their commercial model as the best way to achieve these objectives. This stands in sharp contrast to recent critiques that suggest that private conservation reinforces structural inequality by denying access to land and perpetuating unjust labour conditions. Using ethnographic data from the South African Lowveld region that includes the Kruger National Park, the paper takes these points further by arguing that a rapidly growing alliance between private conservation and property developers actively conserve inequality by maintaining and even extending spatial injustice in the region. Two popular recent manifestations of this alliance in particular, share block systems that distribute ownership of access to real estate in private reserves and wildlife housing estates, have established new conservation-property linkages that entrench capitalist socioecological fixes. Not only do these initiatives lead to further engrained spatial injustice, we conclude that this conservation-property alliance at the centre of the ‘wildlife economy’ also willingly sacrifices environmental sustainability on the altar of white conservation imaginations and private profit.

scholarly journals The essential role of physiotherapists in providing rehabilitation services to people living with HIV in South Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Cobbing ◽  
V. Chetty ◽  
J. Hanass-Hancock ◽  
J. Jelsma ◽  
H. Myezwa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Highly Active ◽  
Hiv Epidemic ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Living With Hiv ◽  
Education Courses

Despite increased access to highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) in South Africa, there remains a high risk of people living with HIV (PLHIV) developing a wide range of disabilities. Physiotherapists are trained to rehabilitate individuals with the disabilities related to HIV. Not only can South African physiotherapists play a significant role in improving the lives of PLHIV, but by responding proactively to the HIV epidemic they can reinforce the relevance and value of the profession in this country at a time when many newly qualified therapists are unable to secure employment. This paper offers recommendations that may help to fuel this response. These ideas include enhancing HIV curricula at a tertiary level, designing and attending continuing education courses on HIV and researching Southern African rehabilitation interventions for HIV at all levels of practice. furthermore, it is vital that physiotherapists are at the forefront of directing multi-disciplinary responses to the rehabilitation of PLHIV in order to influence stakeholders who are responsible for health policy formulation. it is hoped that this paper stimulates discussion and further ideas amongst physiotherapists and other health professionals in order to improve the quality and access to care available to PLHIV in South Africa.

The Development and Establishment of Technology in South Africa

1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-31
Author(s):  
N.P. du Preez ◽  
P. van Eldik ◽  
M. Möhr ◽  
H.H. van der Watt
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Literature Survey ◽  
Manufacturing Efficiency ◽  
Perceived Importance ◽  
High Level ◽  
Detailed Questionnaire

In a two-part analysis (see pp 17–26 for Part 1), the authors discuss the key results of a South African project conducted during 1996 which focused on the factors relating to the development and establishment of technology in a country. The study investigated through a detailed questionnaire survey and a literature survey the various factors that promote the development and establishment of technology by comparing their perceived importance with the actual role they currently play in South Africa. This paper, Part 2, concentrates on the role of industry. The study showed that the availability of high-level technological people dominated the top (at 90%) of the list of factors relating to individual organizations and the role they play in the development of technology. Other prominent factors were the existence of a corporate technology strategy (88.4%), the need to improve manufacturing efficiency and processes (88.4%), the ability of top management to understand new technologies (87.9%), and the availability of funds for research and development (86.2%). The survey clearly indicated that South African organizations were not performing well with respect to these and other factors evaluated. All of them have been rated below 50%, indicating the seriousness of the problem. The corresponding recommendations made are of importance to younger countries with developing economies.

scholarly journals A Quarter Century of Democracy and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leepo Johannes Modise
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
History Of ◽  
Measuring Tool ◽  
The Church

This paper focuses on the role of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) in the South African society during the past 25 years of its services to God, one another and the world. Firstly, the paper provides a brief history of URCSA within 25 years of its existence. Secondly, the societal situation in democratic South Africa is highlighted in light of Article 4 of the Belhar Confession and the Church Order as a measuring tool for the role of the church. Thirdly, the thermometer-thermostat metaphor is applied in evaluating the role of URCSA in democratic South Africa. Furthermore, the 20 years of URCSA and democracy in South Africa are assessed in terms of Gutierrez’s threefold analysis of liberation. In conclusion, the paper proposes how URCSA can rise above the thermometer approach to the thermostat approach within the next 25 years of four general synods.

scholarly journals Independent board of directors and corporate sustainability: A South African and Nigerian perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-68
Author(s):  
Collins Ngwakwe ◽  
Fortune Ganda ◽  
Oladele John Akinyomi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Independent Directors ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Sustainability Disclosure

This paper examined the stance of independent directors on corporate sustainable development initiative in South Africa and Nigeria. This has become apposite considering the role of independent directors in corporate strategic decisions and performance. It is believed that independent boards strive to direct corporate decisions to protect the investors and thus improve financial performance. Given that sustainability initiative is currently occupying a vital strategic position in protecting firms against inherent and imminent climate change and financial risks, the paper undertakes a survey of South African and Nigerian companies to ascertain the role of independent directors on corporate sustainable development initiatives. Using a mix method of primary and secondary data analysis, the paper finds that independent boards in both countries of study understand the importance of sustainability; however a pragmatic stance on sustainability is more visible in South Africa where independent boards are members of and/or participate in nominating corporate sustainability committees. The paper suggests the need for improved detailed disclosure on sustainability in the Nigerian corporate annual reports; the Nigerian Stock Exchange may boost this initiative by establishing a social and environmental reporting index supported by an annual survey of company sustainability disclosure. It also suggests the need to include sustainability awareness and interest in the metrics that are used in the appointment of independent boards in Nigerian companies

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