Latest news with #high court
The Herald
01-08-2025
- Politics
- The Herald
ConCourt dismisses MK Party's case on Mchunu, Madlanga commission
The president's counsel, Kate Hofmeyr SC, said this case did not involve constitutional obligations of the president but was about whether he had exercised his constitutional powers. It was a 'stock standard' challenge to the conduct of the president, which belonged in the high court, she said, adding that the constitution is clear that when it came to conduct of the president, the ConCourt was an appeal court — it should not be the first and last court to hear and decide. Earlier on Wednesday Zuma's counsel, Dali Mpofu SC, was questioned by several judges on which constitutional obligation the president had failed to fulfil in this case. He said the president had failed to uphold and defend the constitution. This, coupled with his failure to fulfil other obligations, brought it within the court's exclusive jurisdiction, he argued. Mpofu was pressed by some of the justices as to exactly which other obligations the president had failed on. He said when the president was given powers, such as the power to assign acting functions, they went hand in hand with obligations. So when the president assigned the police minister's powers to Cachalia, he had an obligation to ensure these powers were assigned lawfully. On direct access, Hofmeyr said 'many cases involve matters of grave constitutional significance', but the constitutional scheme directed that they begin in the high court. The ConCourt had spoken in earlier judgments of its crippling workload, she said. 'If this court can be the court that every litigant comes to when it alleges there has been some irregular exercise of power by the president, all the other cases that legitimately must be here get shifted down the roll.' This had implications for the administration of justice, she added. Unless the ConCourt 'sets its limits in this case, we would say the administration of justice more broadly may be imperilled', said Hofmeyr. TimesLIVE
The Herald
23-07-2025
- The Herald
‘Only a sperm donor' claim fails for dad trying to dodge maintenance
A Johannesburg man's attempt to avoid a claim for maintenance to support his twin children by asserting he had merely agreed to be a sperm donor for a lover has been rebuffed by the high court. The lawyer, who is a senior counsel, had an on-off extramarital affair from 2002 with a woman with whom he had twins, a boy and a girl, in October 2021. He is their biological father, though they were conceived by her undergoing artificial fertilisation. The married man also has one child with his wife and two older children. Last year the mother of the twins went to maintenance court and asked for an increase in the allowance he paid towards the children's care because her work contract was not renewed. He responded by filing a case in the high court, saying he had a 'gamete donor agreement' with her for use of his sperm to become pregnant during fertility treatment. A maintenance claim, he said, was 'contrary to their agreement' and he must 'protect his rights'. He asked the court for a declaratory order that he not be considered as the children's father or a person holding parental responsibilities and rights for them as envisaged by the Children's Act. He said he had agreed to assist her because of his care and affection for her 'to allow her to fulfil her dearest wish'. He did not want and could not afford another child and his condition was clearly expressed to her, which she accepted and on which basis he donated his sperm, he said.
