Public comments on the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill [pdf] were due at the end of January. A coalition of some of SA’s best comedians and satirists has taken a stand against the bill and filed submissions arguing that its hate speech provisions are unconstitutional. Among them are Pieter-Dirk Uys, John Vlismas, Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro), Kagiso Lediga, Conrad Koch (and Chester Missing), Nik Rabinowitz, Tumi Morake, Joey Rasdien, Nina Hastie, David Kau, Casper de Vries, Celeste Ntuli, Mark Banks, Jason Goliath, John Barker, Christopher Steenkamp and the creators of the satirical programme ZA News. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Category: South Africa (Page 3 of 6)
I acted for Primedia Broadcasting and the South African Editors’ Forum in the appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal (along with Right2Know and Open Democracy Advice Centre) concerning the now infamous signal jamming and broadcast ban that occurred during last year’s State of the Nation (SONA) address in Parliament. The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled in the plaintiffs’ favour on 29 September 2016 ( [2016] ZASCA 142). Continue reading
The most important case of 2015 for the media in South Africa (even though it didn’t involve the media directly) was City of Cape Town v Sanral, as a result of which, once court documents are filed in court, we can now generally regard them as public documents. Continue reading
LAST year was in some respects an annus horribilis for our young democracy. It began with the State of the Nation controversy in February, when members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were removed forcibly from Parliament for persisting in asking when President Jacob Zuma would pay back the state funds spent on upgrading his homestead at Nkandla. Continue reading
This month marks the 38th anniversary of the clampdown on the press and the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa. The day is known as Black Wednesday and is also commemorated as National Press Freedom Day.
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The ANC has dropped a welcome bombshell, saying the law has a chilling effect on free speech. One of the most significant events in the recent South African history of free speech and media law happened last Saturday at a workshop on criminal defamation, arranged by the ANC’s legal research group. Continue reading
In recent weeks, following the Al-Bashir scandal, some of our most powerful politicians have made provocative statements highly critical of aspects of our judiciary. Continue reading
Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done. This is the essence of the principle of open justice. Put differently, the public has a right to have access to the courts, to observe how matters will be decided and to obtain court documents relating to those cases. Continue reading
Last week, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) handed down its decision ( [2015] ZASCA 58) in the appeal by the City of Cape Town against a Western Cape High Court decision which had dramatically undermined the principle of open justice. Continue reading
On 19 January 2015, the Constitutional Court of South Africa handed down judgment in the case of Democratic Alliance v African National Congress and Another ([2015] ZACC 1), a case concerning text text messages relating to President Jacob Zuma sent to over 1.5 million voters by the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the run up to the 2014 general elections. Continue reading
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