South Africa: Civil Law

A private hospital patient's leg amputation following an untreated ruptured aneurysm led to complex medical negligence litigation involving multiple defendants. When the plaintiff's legal team delayed suing a key physician based on a strategic decision to pursue vicarious liability, the court had to determine whether the claim had prescribed under South Africa's three-year limitation period.

When a student urgently asks a court to let them continue attending classes while challenging an academic exclusion, the legal question is not simply whether the consequences for the student are serious.

The Deputy Judge President ("DJP") of the Johannesburg High Court should again be commended for transparency in publishing a bulletin on 26 July 2024 of lead times for the set down of matters for hearing.

While the Constitution is the supreme law of South Africa, the common law is the basis and its principles are still used by courts when interpreting and developing law.

The ideals behind the enforcement of affirmative action in the workplace in South Africa, post-1994, are sound and understandable; however, there have been many challenges to overcome to ensure that the empowerment of the previously disadvantaged does not defeat the Constitutional right to equality.

Webber Wentzel recently successfully appealed a matter in which the trial took a very active role in the trial.