HSF Briefs

This brief will consider the pertinent question: What are the issues that the Constitutional Court will have to decide at the hearing of the Electoral Commission of South Africa v Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Others?

The Southern African Development Community is made up of sixteen countries and all countries on the continent with territory below five degrees south. The fifteen other countries are linked to South Africa in many ways and constitute our ‘near abroad’. South Africans should know more about them than they often do, and the purpose of this brief series is to set the current state of development in its various aspects: demographic, economic, political and social. This brief focuses on the region’s rates of education and it labour market.

The Southern African Development Community is made up of sixteen countries and all countries on the continent with territory below five degrees south. The fifteen other countries are linked to South Africa in many ways and constitute our ‘near abroad’. South Africans should know more about them than they often do, and the purpose of this brief series is to set the current state of development in its various aspects: demographic, economic, political and social. This brief focusses on the region’s economy – in particular, its growth, structure, income distribution and levels of happiness among its population.

The Southern African Development Community is made up of sixteen countries and all countries on the continent with territory below five degrees south. The fifteen other countries are linked to South Africa in many ways and constitute our ‘near abroad’. South Africans should know more about them than they often do, and the purpose of this brief series is to set the current state of development in its various aspects: demographic, economic, political and social. This brief focusses on the region’s population dynamics, namely the evolution of population size and its age structure, as determined by fertility, mortality and migration.

In the past week and a half, South African news has been overtaken by reports of violent riots and looting which started in protest to the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma. The effect of the looting is evident on small and big businesses as well as the economy, increasing unemployment and making it difficult for businesses to recover from their losses. However, there are ripple effects which are not as clear. These include those on the health sector, and by extension the vaccine roll out.

This brief explores the review case currently in the Constitutional Court on language policy at the University of South Africa. This case touches on issues of transformation at tertiary level as it affects university culture and representation.

Provinces' medicolegal claims liability is largely caused by negligence and intentional wrongdoing by the State Attorney when defending these claims. This brief examines the measures that have been adopted to counteract the problems in the Offices of the State Attorney.

Provincial health departments face numerous claims for damages for medical negligence. The common law provides that payments must be made in one lump sum, but this impacts on health departments' capacity to provide healthcare for others. This brief considers how the courts have begun developing the common law to provide for payments in kind and periodic payments.