Browsing by Author "Fick, Sarah"

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    A critical examination of the legal ambiguities surrounding labour tenants in terms of the Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act
    (University of the Western Cape, 2024) Gabriel, Bronwyn Amor; Fick, Sarah
    The history of South Africa includes the recognition of labour tenants with the numerous enactment of legislation.9 The Land Reform (Labour Tenant) Act (LTA) was enacted to redress the past injustices suffered by labour tenants.10 However since the enactment it only had one amendment, which did not address the pertinent issue namely the definition of a labour tenant. Loosely defined a labour tenant is a person who has land, grazing and tenure rights on the land of another, subject to working on such land.11 The courts have explored various approached to interpret this definition and have caused inconsistency.12 If a claimant falls short of the definition he or she is disqualified from all benefits deriving from the LTA.13 Therefore placing this issue in the hands of the courts is an injustice to labour tenants. This mini dissertation will explore whether the LTA is affording enough protection to labour tenants with its implementation and interpretation of its provisions. The LTA will further be compared to previous legislation that governed labour tenants on farms and the Land Tenure Security Bill14 proposed by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR). Studies of the landmark case law will be discussed to determine which interpretation of the definition of a labourtenant affords more protection.
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    Feeding inequality: access to equal education, feeder zones and former ‘model c’ schools
    (University of the Western Cape, 2023) Draga, Lisa Natalie; Fick, Sarah
    South Africa’s basic education system remains deeply unequal, fuelled in part by the inequitable access of black and poor children to good public schools that are overwhelmingly concentrated in more affluent ‘whiter areas’. South Africa’s current legislative and policy framework has resulted in schools (those in Gauteng not included) being permitted to determine their own feeder zone criteria for admission purposes. The use of geographical proximity as a criterion in the admission policies and practices of schools belies South Africa’s history of segregation and its continued manifestation. It is inevitably black children who are disproportionately and adversely affected by the use of feeder zones. This study provides contextual background concerning the group areas and Bantu Education legacy that still endure. An account of some of the historical events that underpinned and informed the passing of the South African Schools Act, and which have ultimately led to much contestation in the sphere of school governance, including in the application of feeder zones in school admissions is provided. An analysis of the jurisprudence relating to the policy making functions of school governing bodies is also undertaken with a view to determining its implications for school zoning. This study endeavours to give legal meaning and content to the concept of ‘equitable access’ to public schooling in the South African context. The legal and policy framework relevant to feeder zones is engaged with and its impact on equitable access to schooling assessed. This study provides a narrative on the way the KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Western Cape provincial education departments have addressed the inequalities arising from the application of feeder zones to date.
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    Horizontality and housing rights protection against private evictions from a European and South African perspective
    (Brill Academic Publishers, 2022) Fick, Sarah; Vols, Michel
    In the recent decision of fjm v. the United Kingdom, the ECtHR made a decision on the required protection against private evictions that threatens to water-down the protection of housing rights offered by the echr. This article sets out to determine the effect of the fjm judgment on the protection provided by Article 8, especially in matters concerning private evictions. The analysis of the case includes a discussion on whether the decision of the ECtHR was correct, considering both its previous decisions, as well as the sa Constitutional Court’s findings in similar matters. It analyses the recent European and South African case law with the help of a number of concepts developed in legal theory. These concepts concern vertical and horizontal relations between actors involved in housing law cases, as well as direct and indirect effect of human and constitutional rights.