LexiSA Case Watch
Real SA judgments, explained twice
Every post here is a real, newsworthy South African judgment — never a hypothetical. Each one is broken down twice: the legal principle for lawyers and law students, and the plain-language takeaway for anyone affected by it. Sourced from SAFLII and South African news reporting, with a source link on every post so you can verify it yourself.
Constitutional Court ends Shell's Wild Coast oil search — for good
Sustaining the Wild Coast NPC and Others v Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy and Others; Natural Justice and Another v Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy and Others — Constitutional Court
Shell and Impact Africa held an exploration right to run seismic surveys for oil and gas off the Wild Coast. The High Court set that right aside for inadequate consultation with affected coastal communities and inadequate consideration of environmental and climate impacts. The Supreme Court of Appeal agreed the decision was flawed but suspended the effect of setting it aside, pending yet another renewal application by Shell. The Constitutional Court has now overturned that suspension: the exploration right and its renewals stay set aside, full stop.
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A president just persuaded a court to press pause on his own impeachment hearing
Ramaphosa v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others — Western Cape Division, High Court (full bench)
President Cyril Ramaphosa asked the court to stop Parliament's impeachment committee from holding public hearings under National Assembly Rule 129M until his separate review of the section 89 independent panel report — the panel chaired by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, which found he had a case to answer over roughly US$580,000 stolen from his Phala Phala farm in February 2020 — has been decided. A full bench of Judges André le Grange, Matthew Francis and Diane Davis split 2-1. The majority, written by Francis J, held that Ramaphosa had made out a case for interim relief and interdicted Speaker Thoko Didiza and committee chairperson Makashule Gana from proceeding with public hearings pending the review, which is set down for 2 to 4 September 2026. Costs were deferred.
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ConCourt to Cape Town: where you build housing is a constitutional question
Adonisi and Others v Minister for Transport and Public Works, Western Cape and Others; Minister of Human Settlements and Another v Minister for Transport and Public Works, Western Cape and Others — Constitutional Court
The Western Cape Provincial Government sold the vacant Tafelberg site in Sea Point — one of the best-located pieces of publicly owned land in Cape Town — to the Phyllis Jowell Jewish Day School for R135 million, rather than releasing it for affordable housing. A nurse, Thozama Adonisi, backed by Reclaim the City and Ndifuna Ukwazi, challenged the sale. The Western Cape High Court set it aside in 2020; the Supreme Court of Appeal reversed that in 2024. The Constitutional Court, in a unanimous judgment by Mhlantla J, has now restored the outcome: the disposal was unlawful, the Province failed to meaningfully engage the public before selling, and both the Province and the City breached their constitutional housing obligations in the Cape Town CBD and Sea Point.
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WeBuyCars fined and ordered to refund customers over Consumer Protection Act breaches
National Consumer Tribunal ruling against WeBuyCars — National Consumer Tribunal
Following roughly three years of consumer complaints about warranty and sale-term failures, the National Consumer Tribunal — a statutory body, not a court — found that WeBuyCars' terms and conditions breached multiple provisions of the Consumer Protection Act. It ordered a R2.5 million administrative fine, R3.4 million in customer refunds, a revision of its terms and conditions, and a consumer-awareness campaign.
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Constitutional Court rewrites parental leave — not just for birth mothers anymore
Van Wyk and Others v Minister of Employment and Labour — Constitutional Court
Werner van Wyk's employer would only grant four months' parental leave to birthing mothers, not fathers. The Constitutional Court confirmed a High Court finding that the BCEA's leave scheme is unconstitutional because it excludes non-birthing, adoptive and commissioning parents from equal leave on the basis of sex and family structure.
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Equality Court finds Julius Malema's rally remarks were hate speech
South African Human Rights Commission and Another v Malema and Another — Equality Court, Western Cape Division
The SAHRC and a private complainant brought EFF leader Julius Malema and the EFF before the Equality Court over 2022 rally remarks made near an incident involving Brackenfell High School, including a statement that 'revolutionaries must not be scared to kill.' The court found the remarks amounted to hate speech under section 10 of the Equality Act.
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Depression diagnosis isn't an automatic shield against a performance dismissal
Abels v University of Stellenbosch and Others — Labour Court, Cape Town
A university administrator dismissed for poor performance argued his depression diagnosis should have protected him from dismissal. The Labour Court upheld a CCMA finding that the university had followed a fair incapacity process — a performance improvement plan, support and medical leave — and that the employee had not shown his condition directly caused the performance failures.
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Blind SA's second copyright win: courts can rewrite a law when Parliament stalls
Blind SA v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others — Constitutional Court
In Blind SA I (2022), the Copyright Act was found unconstitutional for failing to let accessible-format copies (Braille, audio, large print) be made for disabled people. This follow-up judgment addressed the remedy while Parliament's Copyright Amendment Bill remains unpassed, reading a new s19D into the Act.
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A prisoner studying IT overturned an 18-year-old nationwide computer ban
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and Others v Ntuli — Constitutional Court
Mbalenhle Ntuli, an inmate studying computer science, was blocked by a 2007 departmental policy from keeping a personal computer in his cell. The Constitutional Court upheld lower-court findings that the blanket, no-exceptions ban unjustifiably limited the right to further education under section 29(1)(b) of the Constitution.
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Evicting people isn't just about shelter — the SCA says livelihood matters too
City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and Others v Occupiers of Portion 9 of the Farm Randjesfontein — Supreme Court of Appeal
The City of Johannesburg appealed a High Court order requiring it to provide temporary emergency accommodation for a group of waste-picker occupiers, in a location that would let them continue their waste-collection work. The SCA dismissed the City's appeal.
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Life sentences for a couple and a hitman who killed a rape complainant before she could testify
S v Bhala, Kheswa and Ntsalaz — Western Cape High Court
A wife, her husband (an awaiting-trial prisoner facing a rape charge), and a fellow inmate conspired to murder the husband's rape accuser the day before she was due to testify. WhatsApp messages linked all three to the plan, and the hired inmate carried out the killing after his release. All three received life sentences for murder, plus firearms and ammunition offences.
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A signed lobola letter was enough to prove a customary marriage — even without full payment
N.V.M v D.S.R — Northern Cape Division, High Court
A woman sought a declarator that a valid customary marriage existed, relying on a signed lobola letter (12 cattle, with a partial R5,000 payment) and her integration into her partner's family. He denied the marriage, claiming the payment related to an unrelated cleansing ritual and that the letter was forged. The court found in her favour.
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SCA settles who gets a vote when a company is in business rescue
Mashwayi Projects (Pty) Ltd and Others v Wescoal Mining (Pty) Ltd and Others — Supreme Court of Appeal
The dispute was whether post-commencement creditors — those who extend credit to a company after it enters business rescue — have voting rights on the business rescue plan under Chapter 6 of the Companies Act. The SCA overturned the Gauteng High Court and held there is no basis to limit plan voting rights to pre-commencement creditors only.
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A law firm cited seven cases invented by ChatGPT — the court didn't let it slide
Mavundla v MEC: Department of Co-Operative Government and Traditional Affairs KwaZulu-Natal and Others — High Court (KwaZulu-Natal Division, Pietermaritzburg)
In an application before the Pietermaritzburg High Court, the legal team on one side relied on nine case authorities in written argument — at least seven of which turned out to be entirely fictitious, complete with invented facts, legal principles, and even non-existent judges. The court tested one of the phantom citations by putting the same case name to ChatGPT, which confidently 'confirmed' the fake case and elaborated on its made-up findings.
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