#HistoryinPublications

Property Rights and Restitution and Compensation in Germany After 1945.

In this article, the author details the sequence of events and the decisions that were taken in Germany in addressing the issue of property rights, restitution and compensation after 1945.

Compensation for Expropriation: The Political and Economic Parameters.

There is a concern in certain quarters, also expressed within the ANC, that compensation for expropriation should be at market value. The reasons given include factors such as the necessity to create a stable environment for investment and the desirability of creating a secure system of property rights. In this context it is argued that the new government must be seen to be fair and make a clear-break with the racially discriminatory land policies of the past. The main thrust of this paper is that it would be a mistake to establish a system which defines rights to compensation as finite individual claims against State resources. Rather, it is posited that compensation for loss should be proportionate to past and present interests in the land.

Draft Property Clauses in a Proposed Bill of Rights.

This paper provides a brief discussion on some of the clauses in the proposed Draft Bill of Rights of 1990 that related to property and land rights. The author discusses the different proposals that were received from different political parties such as Inkatha Freedom Party, National Party, African National Congress as well as experts and the South African Law Commission on how the land and property clause may be drafted.

Women, Rape and Violence in South Africa

South Africa has the highest instance of rape when compared to other countries. Approximately 15 000 cases of rape are reported in South Africa each year. The papers offered here are preliminary studies that aim to highlight the inadequacy of the law in protecting woman against rape and battering, two of the most prevalent forms of violence against woman in South Africa. The articles explain in detail some of the strategies that have been initiated by countries around the world to combat violence against woman. These include countries like Malaysia, Bolivia, India and Pakistani. It is hoped that South Africa can also learn from some of these strategies in its approaches to dealing with violence against woman.

Structures for Women in Political Decision Making

This document, penned by Amy Biehl, articulates women's demands with respect to participation in political decision making in a future South Africa. It examines the comparative experiences in designing and implementing structures to promote increased women participation. She thus discusses various options to increase women participation, such as constitutional mechanisms, electoral rules, a women's ministry, political party structures etc. Amy Biehl was a Fulbright Student Intern at the Community Law Centre. A few months after writing this paper, Amy was tragically killed by a mob of youth in Gugulethu while driving three co-workers home.

A Charter for Social Justice: A contribution to the South African Bill of Rights debate

These proposals for including rights in a South African Constitution and brief arguments for their adoption are the product of the deliberations of a group of Western Cape lawyers. The primary objective or the exercise was to produce a statement of basic rights and freedoms lo be accorded to all South Africans, and respected, implemented and enforced by all three branches or govenment.

Religion, Education and Constitutional Law

This paper outlines the basic principles concerning the relationship between religion and the state, the role of religious bodies and the vexed issue of religious education in schools. It is a transcription of a lecture, delivered by Albie Sachs at the Institute for Comparative Religion in Southern Africa (UCT) in November 1992. It starts with a fascinating anecdote about how the format of CODESA was adapted to, for the first time accommodate multiple religions and how discomforting this was for the National Party government.

A Children's Rights Research and Advocacy Project Discussion Paper

This collection of essays is located in the reality that, in the words of Dullah Omar's preface, "children have assumed positions, that would be unbearable even by their elders, in prisons, courtrooms and workplaces". It discusses discrimination against children, violence against children, the position of children with disabilities and the earliest proposals for reforms to juvenile justice. It contains contributions by Dullah Omar, Brigitte Mabandla, Michelle Morris, Colleen Howell and Vuyo Mahlati.

Chieftancy, the Ethnic Question and the Democratisation Process in South Africa

This paper examines the institution of traditional leadership in South Africa. It details the abuse of chieftaincy as an instrument in exploitation in Africa and focuses on how chieftaincy played an crucial part in implementing the bantustan policy. Zola Skweyiya warns, though, against being blind and insensitive to the influence and authority of traditional leaders in South Africa. He discusses chieftaincy and local government and ultimately asks the question as to whether traditional leadership can be "moulded to entrench, stabilise and legitimise democracy, especially at local level". Zola Skweyiya went on to become a Minister of Public Administration (1994 - 1999), Minister of Social Development (1999-2009) and High Commissioner to Great Britain.

Affirmative action and black advancement in business

In this paper, written in 1992, Albie Sachs sketches the grossly uneven patterns of ownership and opportunity in business, created by apartheid. It includes an anecdote of the humiliation inflicted on Ismail Mahomed, who was to become Chief Justice, when he argued his first case in the Appellate Division. Albie Sachs discusses Nationalisation, Africanisation and quotas in business. He argues pointedly: “[I]t is not that we wish to Africanise the economy, we wish to South Africanise it”. He maintains strongly that non-racialism may not become the instrument for protecting racial advantage. He then proceeds to discusses the proposal made by the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce (NAFCOC) to demand the "3, 4, 5, 6..." targets for representation, equity, supply and management of JSE-listed companies. He concludes with suggesting seven criteria to govern the application of affirmative action. This paper was published under the auspices of the SA Constitution Study Centre, which was based at the Community Law Centre.

Community Voices on Policing in Transition

This paper deals with the transformation of the South African Police Services (SAPS) during the transition to democracy. It presents the views of 45 people who all had been involved in the struggle for democracy and were affected by the actions of SAPS. They were interviewed to give their views on the role of SAPS in the democratisation of South Africa and to canvass suggestions for the reform of the South African Police Services during the transitional period. The respondents saw SAPS as a central pillar of apartheid, fundamentally racist and created to maintain law and order in an oppressive state. It was not going to be easy to put it to the service to dismantle apartheid. However, the respondents offered many suggestions. Embedding SAPS in a legitimate state was a precondition but other suggestions were, such as offering extensive training for SAPS officers, reducing the power of independent police units, ensuring independent oversight, bringing in greater community liaison and many more.

Increased Awareness by Women of their Rights

The paper examines the promotion of women's rights and is located in the context of the ongoing negotiations in CODESA. Brigitte Mabandla focuses on the lack of awareness of women's rights. She discusses various features of the women's movement in South Africa as well as the challenges of engaging urban and rural women's groups on rights issues. She discusses the campaign for a women's charter including the question as to whether it should be part of the Bill of Rights.

Seeking Justice for the Children of South Africa

The preface for the book is written by Dullah Omar. He introduces the Centre's Children's Rights Project as a project that promotes the rights of children who suffered and still suffer as result of apartheid. The book contains a comprehensive overview of the abuses suffered by youth at risk or in trouble with the law at the hands of a cruel criminal justice system. Furthermore, it makes important recommendations for a more rights-based approach to dealing with children in conflict with the law. The various chapters, put together with the help of UWC Law students, discusses the powers of the police, pretrial detention, recommendations for diversion, children in court, legal representation for children, alternatives to punishment and rebuilding family life.

Rooting Democracy on African Soil

Zola Skweyiya presents a comprehensive vision for a future South Africa, broken down in sections dealing with African independence, the legacy of colonialism, the crisis of legitimacy in the South African political system. He also discusses the role of the state in development and critiques the economic policies of the De Klerk government. He advocates for higher levels of participation in the economy and proposes a "social system which consciously limits the gross disparities in income and wealth" . He warns against ignoring ethnicity in the quest towards national unity and reflects on the role of civil society in democratisation. Finally he presents proposals for post-apartheid constitution based on key values such as constitutionalism, women rights and separation of powers. Zola Skweyiya went on to become a Minister of Public Administration (1994 - 1999), Minister of Social Development (1999-2009) and High Commissioner to Great Britain.

Does a New South Africa Need Regions?

The future structure of the South African state was a major negotiation point during CODESA. Bantu Holomisa discusses the advantages and disadvantages of unitary and federal options for South Africa. He favours a unitary system that uses regions as an administrative structure and warns against experimenting with a system of federalism "which has not succeeded anywhere in Africa". He warns against regionalism based on ethnic division and favours objective criteria for the delineation of regional boundaries. At the time, Bantu Holomisa was the Head of the Transkei Government. He went on to become a Member of Parliament and co-founder and President of the United Democratic Movement (UDM).

Constitutional Structures: Fundamental Differences Between the Proposals of the South African Government and the African National Congress

Arthur Chaskalson compares various proposals made by the National Party government and the ANC during the negotiations towards the 1993 Constitution. He discusses government's proposals with respect to constitutional structures such as Parliament and the Presidency. He reflects on the bicameral system, presidential executive systems and parliamentary executive systems as options for a future South Africa. At the time, Arthur Chaskalson was Direction of the Legal Resources Centre and member of the ANC Constitutional Committee. He went on to become a Constitutional Court Judge and Chief Justice.

The Situation of Women in a Changing South Africa

In this paper, delivered to the United Nation’s Centre for the Development and Advancement of Women in Geneva, Brigitte Mabandla provides an overview of the state of women’s rights in South Africa in 1991. She explains how women are organised and discusses the launch of the ANC Women’s League and other organisations promoting women’s rights. She also explains how the ANC underwent a change internally, coming to terms with understanding race, class and gender struggles. She discusses the role of Universities (the University of the Western Cape in particular) in conceptualising gender oppression. Finally, she provides an overview of those provisions in the ANC's draft Bill of Rights (1991) that protect women’s rights, ranging from equal rights, affirmative action and the ‘right to a home’.

Women Decide on Their Future

The work plan for the gender programme which is entitled "Woman decide on their future" is a project that sought to formulate a concrete strategy that would form the theoretical backbone of the woman's movement in South Africa both during the constitutional negotiations and in the early years of the future democratic South Africa. In this note, Mrs Brigitte Mabandla discusses the reasons behind the inception of the project, the different stakeholders involved in the project and where it was launched, as well as the various stages of the work plan.

Inclusion of the social and economic rights in a Bill of Rights

In South Africa the inclusion of social and economic rights in a Bill of Rights is crucial to deal with apartheid inequalities.

Interview with Albie Sachs

Re: Socio-economic rights methods of enforcement

A Paper delivered at the conference organised by Compromiso de Justicia (Chile)

A Paper delivered at the conference organised by Compromiso de Justicia at Santiago, Chile.

Speech to the Conference of the South African Human Rights Movement

Speech to the Conference of the South African Human Rights Movement at Port Elizabeth.

Protecting human rights in a new South Africa

In this article, Albie Sachs provides a discussion of the five basic constitutional schemes that formed the basis proposals that were made for the new constitutional dispensation in South Africa. These constitutional schemes can be distinguished as follows, 1) Open apartheid, 2) Reformed apartheid, 3) Multiracial apartheid, 4) democratic apartheid, 5) Anti apartheid. in his discussion, the author unpacks what each constitutional scheme entails and outlines the advantages and difficulties associated with each of the schemes.

A Paper delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association (Chicago)

A Paper which formed the basis of an address to the Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association (Litigation Section) at Chicago

The Future Constitutional Position of White South Africans: Some Further Ideas

A paper, written by Albie Sachs under the auspices of the South Africa Constitutional Studies Centre in London, shortly before he joined the Community Law Centre. He discusses the emotive issue of the future position of White South Africans in a democratic South Africa. 'Freedom', he argues, means to be permitted to do what was formerly unjustly forbidden. He discusses how the new Constitution of South Africa has to be for all South Africans, former oppressors and oppressed alike.

Discussion Paper on Prepression

This paper has been prepared to provide a basis for discussion in a seminar consisting of lawyers and members of organisations within the oppressed community at large. This Paper was delivered at Nadel Conference on 21 May 1988