ISSN: 2521-5442
Affiliations: None
Source: Journal of Ocean law and Governance in Africa (iilwandle zethu), 2018, p. 1 – 51
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ISSN: 2521-5442
Affiliations: None
Source: Journal of Ocean law and Governance in Africa (iilwandle zethu), 2018, p. 52 – 77
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ISSN: 2521-5442
Affiliations: None
Source: Journal of Ocean law and Governance in Africa (iilwandle zethu), 2018, p. 78 – 105
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ISSN: 2616-8499
Affiliations:
Source: South African Journal of Environmental Law and Policy 2018, p. 5 – 44
The international community sees cities taking the global development agenda forward in the coming years. The recently adopted Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include a distinct goal dedicated to cities, SDG 11, complemented by the subsequent release of the United Nations’ New Urban Agenda (2016). While these global policy developments and urbanisation itself are celebrated for their potential to help make cities more prosperous, many cities of the world have been described as being ‘grossly unprepared for the multidimensional challenges associated with urbanisation.’ Scholars from disciplines such as urban geography, planning, public administration, political theory and sociology continue to grapple with this complexity in the global north and south. For decades, cities in South Africa have also been growing unsustainably. In response to some of these challenges, the national government adopted the White Paper on Local Government (1998) and subsequently a number of national local government laws and policies. The premise is that the South African government is committed in its entirety to the pursuit of safe, sustainable, resilient and inclusive cities and that this promise translates into a complex range of responsibilities for the national, provincial and local authorities as well as the three branches of government. These responsibilities are not clearly defined, and even if they were, legally relevant conflict is bound to arise at some point for the courts to resolve. This article questions the role of the courts in South Africa in deciding matters that intersect with issues of urban safety, sustainability, resilience and/or inclusivity. The analysis is done with reference to a selection of recent judgments where the courts had to pronounce on municipal governing authority, urban development, municipal service delivery and the notion of accountable and responsive local government.
ISSN: 2616-8499
Affiliations:
Source: South African Journal of Environmental Law and Policy 2018, p. 45 – 86
This analysis explains how an incident of attempted slaughter of two camels for religious purposes set off a chain of events and judgments that has the potential significantly to enlighten our understanding of the position of animal welfare-related law in South Africa, and the overlap between animal welfare and environmental law. Three judgments are recounted and then commented upon – in the High Court, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court. It is explained that a number of misunderstandings of the legal position, by legal authorities and courts, have prevented the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals – a juristic person mandated to take legal steps to prevent animals from being cruelly treated – from employing the full range of legal tools that ought to be available to it, including the right to prosecute privately when the National Prosecuting Authority declines to prosecute. The Constitutional Court has ultimately decided that the NSPCA does have this right; but it is explained that the judgment does not show as much understanding of the legal position as would have been desirable. In particular, it appears that the nexus between animal welfare law and environmental law has not been well understood; and it is suggested that the National Environmental Management Act of 1998 provides for a right of private prosecution that could, and should, be employed in circumstances such as these.