Some judgments, set precedents are hardly sober
WHENEVER I read of a crazy judgment handed down by our legal experts, I begin to doubt the validity of the ageold adage, “as sober as a judge”. I shall refer to two recent cases.
A judge in Limpopo, quoting African law, pronounces in favour of an indigent woman who is claiming compensation from the Road Accident Fund (RAF) for the death of her son, the sole breadwinner. Obviously, we are in sympathy with the woman, who lost her son in a motor accident.
What troubles me is the precedent set by the judgment. Dozens of people, most of them breadwinners, are killed on our roads daily. Are their next-ofkin also entitled to compensation from the RAF? Since when is African law the basis of South African jurisprudence? I suppose this is an instance of a post-colonial/decolonised judgment.
The next case is that of the ruling by retired Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe in the tragedy of the Usindiso Building fire that killed more than 70 people.
The honourable justice has lambasted certain individuals in the City of Johannesburg for neglecting their duties, such as providing potable water to the residents. She has even suggested that a plaque be created to memorialise the people who died in the inferno. At whose expense, judge?
Justice Khampepe may have her heart in the right place, but her judgment defies logic. How does one hold a few individuals responsible for a city that has been hijacked by illegal immigrants and criminals who profit from renting the derelict buildings?
I relocated to Johannesburg from
Durban 33 years ago, by which time Hillbrow had been hijacked by Nigerian drug lords. I visited it soon after arriving in Johannesburg.
No single individual can govern a city, or country that is infested with foreign nationals. If anyone is to be blamed, it is our government, and more especially, our Department of Home Affairs and security forces who have allowed the city to deteriorate.
This isn’t just about Johannesburg.
I visit Durban, my birthplace, a few times a year. The entire South Beach area, including the notorious Gillespie Street, is invaded by foreign nationals. No sane person would walk or drive in the precinct.
No, Justice Khampepe, you cannot hold one or two people responsible for the massive slums that South African cities have turned into in the past 30 years or so.