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Resistance from the grass root Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA v Premier of KwaZulu-Natal and Others (2009) Does the Slums Act violate the Constitution and make an already vulnerable group more vulnerable? The Constitution is on our side. Background In 2007, the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) introduced the ‘Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums …

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The people’s opinion matters Doctors for Life International v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others (2006) Can Parliament make laws without consulting the public? Or can the Constitutional Court interfere in parliamentary processes? The Constitutional Assembly, in framing our Constitution, was not content only with the right to vote as an expression of the …

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Marriage Equality Minister of Home Affairs and Another v Fourie and Another (2005) Do same-sex couples have the constitutional right to get married? We just want that little white piece of paper. Background Marié Fourie and Cecelia Bonthuys, who had been living together in an exclusive relationship since 1994, claimed that they had been unfairly …

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Equality and Customary Law Bhe and Others v Khayelitsha Magistrate and Others 2004 Are African customary laws related to inheritance inconsistent with the constitutional guarantee of equality? Background Nonkululeko Letta Bhe and her two children, Anelisa and Nontupheko, were financially dependent on Vuyo Elius Mgolombane who had passed away without a will. Bhe and the …

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Ubuntu and Social Grants Khosa and Others v Minister of Social Development (2004) Are non-citizens entitled to social grants issued by the government? Background Louis Khosa, Eliasse Mucambo Mulhovo, and Sania Ndlovu were Mozambican citizens living in South Africa as permanent residents. They fled Mozambique in order to escape the civil war in the 1980s. …

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Sex Work and the Bill of Rights S v Jordan and Others (2002) Should sex work be legal in a constitutional democracy? Background Ellen Jordan, Louisa Johanna Francina Broodryk, and Christine Louise Jacobs, were brothel owners and sex workers respectively. They were arrested as a result of a police raid at their brothel, and convicted …

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Speaking Truth to Power Minister of Health and Others v Treatment Action Campaign and Others (2002) What is the role of the Constitutional Court in saving babies from contracting HIV/AIDS? Can the Constitutional Court order the government to change its policy, especially when millions of lives are at stake? Background When President Mbeki assumed the …

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A Duty to Protect Women Carmichele v Minister of Safety and Security and Minister of Justice (2001) What is the state’s duty in protecting the bodily integrity, dignity, and freedom of women? Background On the morning of 6 August 1995, Alix Jean Carmichele was viciously attacked by Francois Coetzee with a pick handle. Prior to …

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Dying for a House The Government of the Republic of South Africa v Grootboom (2000) What is the state’s obligation to care for the homeless? Background Irene Grootboom was part of a desperately poor community in the Wallacedene informal settlement consisting of 390 adults and 510 children. Following their eviction from their Wallacedene area – …

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Everybody Counts August and Another v Electoral Commission (1999) Do prisoners have the right to vote under the new Constitution? Background In the first democratic elections held in 1994, all prisoners could vote. This was because the Interim Constitution provided for universal adult suffrage and did not expressly disqualify anyone. It did, however, provide for …

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