Thomas Johnson - The Blog

Columnist William Saunderson-Meyer writes about the impending hate-speech legislation: “Social engineers are setting great store in the long-delayed anti-hate legislation, which the cabinet announced will imminently be put before Parliament. They also take encouragement from the recent harsh sentencing for racist abuse, using existing crimen injuria legislation, against the infamous Vicki Momberg. Historically, crimen injuria – the unlawful, intentional and serious impairment of the dignity of a person – rarely drew anything more onerous than a suspended sentence, especially for a verbal offence.” The best, complete definition of crimen injuria I found is on Wikipedia : “Crimen injuria is a crime under South African common law, defined to be the act of 'unlawfully, intentionally and seriously impairing the dignity of another'. Although difficult to precisely define, the crime is used in the prosecution of certain instances of road rage, stalking, racially offensive la...

A big news story this week is lobby group AfriForum (AFF) is going to privately prosecute EFF leader Julius Malema for corruption after the National Prosecutions Authority (NPA) declined to do so. The NPA's spokesman  Luvuyo Mfaku said :  " AfriForum is very disingenuous in rushing to make an announcement to the public, while we are still considering the matter. The NPA will not be pressured by AfriForum – they will not dictate to us either. If there are prospects of a successful prosecution, then we will prosecute. If there [aren't] then we will not prosecute."   But they're only saying this because they're scarred of AFF prosecutor and the NPA's former top prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who left the NPA because of concerns about its credibility and impartiality. Another story is the NPA will now prosecute Duduzane Zuma , former president Jacob Zuma’s son, for culpable homicide after Duduzane's Porsche collided with the taxi in which Phumzile Dube...

In previous posts I related my attempts to get the circumstances of my mother's death last year at Groote Schuur Hospital investigated. This week the National Prosecutions Authority's (NPA) office in Cape Town, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), finally, almost nine months to the day after my mother died on 7 July 2017, declined to prosecute doctors at Groote Schuur Hospital for culpable homicide, assault and violation of health laws.  Without following medical and health legislative protocols or contacting the family for our consent, doctors removed her life-saving breathing tube, which led to respiratory and heart failure. She also died of heart complications of diagnosed but discontinued treatment of anaemia.  Note medical guidelines and health legislation regarding the care of patients and withholding and withdrawing treatment are strict, and the law about the lack of informed consent , which I reminded the prosecutor must be considered, is very clear....

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille recently  wrote  in her Daily Maverick column of her administration’s efforts to prevent a Life Esidimeni-type situation in the province.   But she also  tweeted , provoking accusations of insensitivity, “What did [Esidimeni families] do before these tragic deaths to raise the alarm about their loved ones starving + living in profound neglect?"  But Section 27, representing the families, said testimony at the inquiry answered her question. But raise the alarm to whom – disinterested health department officials and premier? Her tweet especially, suggests there are  functioning  complaint processes and mechanisms within the public health service and if patients and families only used them, it would have prevented or mitigated the tragedy.  Or at the very least, families should have brought to the various health institutions’, MECs and premiers’ attention problems  before  it...