For a long time the rights of disabled persons have been ignored worldwide. A major obstacle faced by disabled persons is discrimination in the workplace. Due to the development of a social approach to disability and the efforts of the Disability Rights Movement, legislation has been passed throughout the world to improve this dire situation. The thesis considers the efficacy of some of these statutes. It is concluded that stigma and negative stereotypes remain a constant hurdle in overcoming discrimination. The forthcoming UN Disability Convention is demonstrative of the recognition of the importance of the needs and rights of disabled people. The convention proposes some innovative measures to overcome stigma and stereotyping. Mental health problems constitute one of the leading causes of disability. The thesis explores how people with mental health problems fit within the concept of people with disabilities and whether they are included in anti-discrimination legislation and affirmative action measures. Special attention is given to statutory definitions of disability, the different forms of discrimination and the concept of reasonable accommodation. A comparative approach is taken to analyse how South Africa's disability law measures up against that of Britain and Australia in terms of its substantive provisions and enforcement thereof. In considering the South African position American and Canadian jurisprudence is consulted in order to aid in interpretation. It is concluded that although South Africa has a comparatively good legislative framework, it is held back by an overly restrictive and medically focused definition of disability. As a result many individuals with mental health difficulties, desirous of obtaining and retaining employment may be excluded from protection against discrimination in the workplace. It is argued that it will be necessary either to amend the Employment Equity Act or for the courts to adhere strictly to the concept of substantive equality in order to ensure that the rights and dignity of people with mental health difficulties are adequately protected.

Abstract Many historians would like to discover a time of relative freedom, security and independence for women of the past. The Germanic era, from 400-1000 AD, was a time of stability, and security due to limitations the law placed upon the mundwald and the legal ability of women to possess property. The system of compensations that the Germans initiated in an effort to stop the blood feuds between Germanic families, served as a deterrent to men that might physically or sexually abuse women. The majority of the sources used in this work were the Germanic Codes generally dated from 498-1024 AD. Ancient Roman and Germanic sources provide background information about the individual tribes. Secondary sources provide a contrast to the ideas of this thesis, and information.

Text in English / The substitution of the dominant Western jurisprudence for South Africa’s indigenous normative values during colonial and apartheid times has resulted in a perverted conception of law that presents Western jurisprudence as synonymous with law. In the era of the constitutional recognition of African law where the application of the democratic principle demands that the newly re-enfranchised African communities deserve to be regulated by their own indigenous values, the resilience of this legal culture has become problematic. To reverse this situation legal and constitutional interpreters must rethink and reshape their contributions to the achievement of the post-apartheid version of African law envisioned by the South African Constitution. The application of African law in a free and liberated environment must reflect its own social, political and legal cosmology in which its institutions operate within their own indigenous frame of reference. A study of the anatomy of African jurisprudence as a means of gaining insight into the indigenous worldview which was characterised by the culture of communal living and the ethos of inclusiveness to counter the prevailing hegemony of autonomous individualism, has become urgent. To achieve this such pillars of African jurisprudence as the philosophy of ubuntu must be exhumed in order for African law’s rehabilitation under the Constitution to be undertaken on the basis of its authentic articulation uncontaminated by colonial and apartheid distortions. The task of developing the African law of the 21st century to the extent required by the Constitution is a challenge of enormous proportions which demands an appreciation of the historical and political environment in which African law lost its primacy as the original legal system of South Africa after Roman-Dutch law was imposed on the South Africa population. The revival of African law becomes more urgent when one considers that when Africans lost control of their legal system they had not abdicated sovereignty voluntarily to the newcomers. The validity of the imposition of Western jurisprudence is vitiated by the colonial use of such imperial acts as colonisation, conquest, and annexation as the basis on which the regime of Roman-Dutch law was imposed on South Africa. Ever since, African law has been subordinated and denigrated through colonial and apartheid policies which relegated it, via the repugnancy clause, to a sub-system of Roman-Dutch law with whose standards it was forced to comply. The repugnancy clause left African law a distorted system no longer recognisable to its own constituency. The advent of the new dispensation introduced a constitutional framework for re-capacitating South Africa’s post-apartheid state institutions to recentre African law as envisioned by the Constitution. This framework has become the basis on which legislative and judicial efforts could rehabilitate the indigenous value system in the application of African law. The courts of the new South Africa have striven to find the synergy between indigenous values and the Bill of Rights in order to forge areas of compatibility between African culture and human rights. An analysis of this phase in the development of African law, as evidenced by the present study, reveals successes and failures on the part of the courts in their efforts to rehabilitate African law in line with both its value system and the Bill of Rights. These findings lead to the conclusion that whilst South Africa’s legislative and judicial institutions have not yet achieved the envisioned version of African law, there is an adequate constitutional framework through which they could still do so. This study, therefore, recommends that the above institutions, especially the courts, should adopt a theory of re-indigenisation that would guide them as they proceed from the indigenous version of African law which is the basis on which to apply the Bill of Rights. The application of such a theory would ensure that the distorted ‘official’ version of African law which was imposed by colonial and apartheid state institutions is progressively discredited and isolated from the body of South African law and gives way to the version inspired by the Constitution. / Constitutional, International & Indigenous Law / LL.D.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Marriage is regarded as one of the most important and universal cultural symbols of belonging, and incorporates a range of privileges that can be acquired in no other way. It is where relationships of desire, politics and economics are fused into personal and public rituals of socially sanctioned connection and inclusion. Yet it draws new boundaries of social inclusion and exclusion or stigmatisation. In this thesis I use narrative inquiry to investigate how seventeen Capetonian queer couples in committed relationships perceive and experience same-sex marriage, and ask whether the Civil Union Act has given them a greater sense of belonging. Sexuality is deeply politicised through gendered disciplinary regimes that impinge on people’s emotional and intimate lives. Sexual politics in South Africa today emerge from a complex history of the sycretisation of widely varying cultural and political discourses, beliefs and practices wrought through colonialism and post-colonial recuperation. The formal protection of lgbti-q identities in the post-apartheid South African Constitution is the outcome of strategic struggles for lgbti-q recognition as human rights. However, formal rights do not necessarily lead to social inclusion as they may not reflect extant cultural values, hence I use the thicker concept of ‘belonging’ as developed by Yuval-Davis to analyse everyday inclusion—a concept which enables me to understand ‘privatised’ and affective dimensions of citizenship shaped by contexts of care and interpersonal intimacy. Worldwide, marriage has long been a central institution in how societies regulate their social and physical reproduction; but marriage also confers privileges which can be accessed in no other way. As in the West, marriage equality was a key aim for lgbti-q struggles in South Africa. But feminists have critiqued marriage as an institution of gendered hierarchy and a site of profound oppression for women. It is at the centre of the private|public dichotomy, and symbolic of women’s differentiated citizenship through, inter alia, the ideology of ‘women as property’. Hence same-sex marriage is deeply politicised in how it upholds or challenges heteropatriarchy. By looking at how a diverse range of same-sex couples in committed relationships perceive and experience same-sex marriage in South Africa, I unravel the ambiguities and contradictions of marriage as a project of belonging for lesbians and gays. Marriage as a sexual politics of belonging is about how lesbian and gay citizens experience equality and dignity in their everyday lives—recognition of them as citizen-subjects, protection of their intimate relationships as well as their struggles for belonging. I engage with the complex outcomes of colonial conquest and post-colonial recuperation on African sexual identities, before turning to an understanding of queer citizenship. I show how belonging is a much thicker concept than citizenship because it accesses our affective relationships. I proceed to use Nira Yuval-Davis’s framework for analysing belonging. She divides belonging into two streams: facets of belonging relating to identities, social locations and political and ethical values; and a politics of belonging. Struggles for belonging are waged around boundaries of inclusions and exclusions, and only become visible when belonging is contested. Projects for belonging are complex and multi-layered negotiations around the boundaries of belonging. Using narrative inquiry, I present the stories of seventeen couples and six key informants to fashion a narrative about same-sex marriage as a project of belonging. I asked them about coming out, and how they met their partners. They also told me about their relationships with children and significant others. We talked about their perceptions and experiences of same-sex marriage, and their views of the Constitution and Civil Union Act. I also asked about their sense of safety as queers and what they thought needed to be done to help queers belong (more). The participants’ most significant sense of belonging derived from having their rights protected in the Constitution. Their sense of entitlement to be who they are, was the outcome of powerful struggles for recognition. The various couples had been in committed relationships for between 8 and 52 years. Some had made use of the immigration status of same-sex partners to be together, which meant they were instantly thrown into ‘marriage’-like situations. Some didn’t want to get married, but 10 couples were married. Except for two couples, all the couples who got married did it primarily for the tangible benefits associated with marriage: through marriage they established formal kinship relationships linked to property and commitment to care. They were generally not interested in the cultural trappings of ‘weddings’, and had modest and quiet ceremonies. All the married couples affirmed that the Act had given them a greater sense of belonging. While all the participants valued formal recognition through the Constitution, the lack of substantive equality needed to be addressed to ensure future belonging for lgbti-q. I concluded that same-sex marriages are powerful social institutions, capable of either upholding heteropatriarchies through homonormative performances, but also capable of subversions. A foundational challenge comes through disrupting the ‘women as property’ exchange embedded in most marital traditions. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die huwelik word beskou as een van die belangrikste en algemeenste kulturele simbole van samesyn, en behels ’n reeks voordele wat op geen ander manier toeganklik is nie. Die huwelik is die kern waar begeerte, politiek en ekonomie verenig in persoonlike en openbare instellings van gemeenskaplike aanvaarding en verbinding. Terselfdertyd teken dit ook nuwe grense van sosiale insluiting, uitsluiting of stigmatisering. In hierdie tesis ondersoek ek wat sewentien Kaapse queer paartjies in vaste verhoudings dink van gay huwelike en hoe hulle dit ondervind, en ek vra of die Civil Union Act hulle meer samesyn (belonging) laat voel. Seksualiteit is uiters polities omdat dissiplinêre sisteme mense se emosionele en intieme lewes reguleer. Seksuele politiek in die huidige Suid-Afrika spruit uit ’n gekompliseerde geskiedenis van ’n samevloeiing van verkillende kulturele en politiese diskoerse, gelowe en praktyke van kolonialisme en post-kolonialistiese herstel. Die formele beskerming van lgbti-q identiteite in die post-apartheid Grondwet van Suid-Afrika, is die uitkomste van strategiese stryde vir lgbti-q herkenning as menseregte. Nogtans het formele regte nie noodwendig gelei tot sosiale insluiting omdat hulle nie die bestaande kulturele waardes weerspieël nie, daarom gebruik ek die konsep van ‘samesyn’ soos ontwikkel deur Yuval-Davis om alledaagse insluiting te ontleed—’n konsep wat my in staat stel om die ‘private’ en emosionele dimensies van burgerskap, die kontekste van sorg en interpersoonlike intimiteit, te verstaan. Wêreldswyd is die huwelik ’n kerninstelling in die regulering van sosiale en fisiese voortplanting in gemeenskappe. Maar die huwelik verleen ook voorregte wat op geen ander manier verkrygbaar is nie. Soos in die Weste, is huweliks-gelykheid ’n sleutelpunt in stryde vir lgbti-q erkenning in Suid-Afrika. Maar feministe het kritiek gelewer teen die huwelik omdat hulle glo dis ’n terrein vir die instelling van geslagshiërargie en diepgaande onderdrukking van vroue. Dit is die spilpunt waarom die verdeling tussen privaat | openbaar draai, en is simbolies van vroue se gedifferensieerde burgerskap deur, onder andere, die ideologie van ‘vroue as besittings’. Dus is gay huwelike polities ingewortel in hoe hulle heteropatriargie onderskraag of aanvat. Deur te kyk hoe etlike Suid-Afrikaanse paartjies van dieselfde geslag hulle toegewyde verhoudings beskou en ondervind, ontrafel ek die raaisels en dubbelsinnighede van gay huwelike as ’n projek van samesyn vir lesbiërs en gays. Die huwelik as seksuele politiek van samesyn is hoe lesbiese en gay burgers in die alledaagse lewe hulle gelykheid en menswaardigheid beleef—dat hulle as burgers erken word, en dat hulle intieme verhoudings sowel as hulle stryde vir samesyn gekoester word. Ek ontrafel die kompleksiteit van Afrikane se seksualiteite deur die gevolge van koloniale verowering en post-koloniale herwinning aan te pak, voor ek na queer burgerskap kyk. Ek bewys dat samesyn ’n meer betekenisvolle begrip is as burgerskap omdat dit ook ons emosionele verhoudings kan aanspreek. Ek gebruik Nira Yuval-Davis se raamwerk vir die ontleding van samesyn. Sy deel dit in twee strome: fasette van samesyn verbonde aan identiteite, sosiale stand en politieke en etiese waardes; en die politiek van samesyn. Stryde oor samesyn word rondom grense van insluiting en uitsluiting gevoer, en word slegs sigbaar wanneer samesyn bevraagteken word. Projekte vir samesyn is ingewikkeld met veelvoudige onderhandelings rondom grense van in— of uitsluiting. Ek gebruik verhaalontleding om die stories van sewentien paartjies en ses sleutelinformante te omskep in ’n vertelling omtrent gay huwelike as ’n projek van samesyn. Ek het hulle gevra oor hoe hulle “uit die kas geklim” het, en hoe hulle hulle minnaars ontmoet het. Hulle het my ook vertel van hulle verhoudings met hulle kinders en belangrike mense in hulle lewens. Ons het gepraat oor hulle sienswyses oor, en ondervindings van, gay huwelike, en hulle sienings oor die Grondwet en Civil Union Act. Ek het ook uitgevra omtrent hoe veilig hulle voel as queers, en wat hulle dink gedoen moet word sodat queers (meer) samesyn kan ondervind. Die deelnemers se grootse gevoel van samesyn was as gevolg van hulle regte wat gekoester word deur die Grondwet. Hulle gevoel van geregtigheid om te wees wie hulle is, het gespruit uit ’n kragtige stryd vir erkenning. Die verskillende paartjies was tussen 8 en 52 jaar lank in vaste verhoudings. Party het gebruik gemaak van die immigrasie wetgewing vir gay minnaars om saam te bly, wat beteken het dat hulle hulle summier in ‘huwelik’-soortige verhoudings bevind het. Party wou nie trou nie, maar 10 paartjies het getrou. Behalwe twee paartjies, het al die paartjies gesê hulle het hoofsaaklik getrou om die tasbare voordele van huwelike te geniet: deur huwelike kon hulle formele verwantskappe skep met besittings en verpligtings tot sorg. Hulle was oor die algemeen nie geïnteresseerd in die kulturele vertoon van troues nie, en het beskeie en stil seremonies gehou. Al die getroude paartjies het gesê dat die Civil Union Act hulle ’n groter gevoel van samesyn gebring het. Alhoewel al die deelnemers die amptelike erkenning van die Grondwet waardeer het, het hulle gesê dat die gebrekkigheid aan substantiewe gelykheid aangespreek moet word om toekomstige samesyn vir gays te verseker. Ek het tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat gay huwelike kragtige gemeenskaplike instellings is wat heteropatriargieë kan onderskraag deur homonormatiewe gedrag, maar dat hulle ook ondermynend kan wees. ’n Fundamentele uitdaging is die moontlike ontwrigting van ‘vroue as besittings’ onderhandelings wat in meeste huwelikstradisies vasgelê is.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In recent years the issue of relocation has been much discussed and litigated. The complexity of the issues inherent in relocation disputes and the relative lack of research in the area points to the need for a more comprehensive, coherent and empirically sound approach than exists at present. The major considerations involved in relocation disputes, using the best interests of the child standard as a reference point throughout, in terms of the available research and issues that require empirical attention, are presented. These include the relationship of the best interests of the child standard in considering the common motivations for relocation, significant psychological factors, cultural, gender and personal biases, the recent collaboration between the psychological and legal professions and the process of psychological assessment. A number of South African court decisions are reviewed to provide an overview of how the law tends to approach these issues. A number of important research areas are described and several factors are identified that is essential for the evaluator to consider when evaluating a relocation dispute. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Oor die afgelope aantal jare het die kwessie van verhuising gereeld onder die soeklig gekom en is dit in howe oor en weer beredeneer. Die kompleksiteit van die kwessies inherent aan verhuisingdispute en die relatiewe gebrek aan navorsing oor die saak, vereis In meer omvattende, koherente en empiries verantwoordbare benadering as wat daar vandag bestaan. Belangrike oorwegings wat ter sake is in verhuisingskwessies en deur gebruik te maak van die beste belange van die kind standaard as In deurlopende verwysingspunt in terme van die beskikbare navorsing en kwessies wat empiriese ondersoek vereis, word bespreek. Dit sluit in die verhouding van die beste belange van die kind standaard in die oorweging van die algemene motiverings vir verhuising, betekenisvolle sielkundige faktore, kultuur, geslag en persoonlike vooroordele; die onlangse samewerking tussen die sielkunde en die reg, asook die proses van sielkundige assessering. In Aantal Suid-Afrikaanse hofuitsprake word bespreek om In oorsig te gee van hoe die reg geneig is om hierdie saak te benader. In Aantal belangrike navorsingsareas word beskryf en verskeie faktore word geïdentifiseer wat van wesenlike belang is om te oorweeg by die evaluering van In verhuisingsdispuut.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An outcome of this thesis, done on farms in South-Africa in the Swartland area, is that the labour structure in agriculture is still predominantly paternalistic and that paternalism and empowerment coexist. This co-existence causes tension between farmers and farm workers as it disrupts the relationship where farmers traditionally had the authority and farm workers were subordinate, but in the modern farm setting have a measure of independence. A qualitative approach was used to investigate how farmers and farm workers perceived their relationship in the past and how they experience it presently. Individual interviews were held with each farmer and focus group discussions with workers on farms. The study discusses how farmers and farm workers maintain paternalism on farms, in the context of the reduced support of the state to white commercial farmers as well as the expansion and formalisation of labour and tenure legislation of workers' rights. The state acted as ‘patron’ to the farmers in the apartheid era, but the state’s patronage to farmers came to an end with the political transition. Farmers feel frustrated and miss the support they enjoyed previously. Legislation which challenges the power and authority of farmers has been extended to farms and provides a framework for the relationship between farmers and farm workers and establishes a context in which this relationship occurs. This has brought about that the power and authority of the “paternalistic” farmers have been exposed and challenged. These changes in farmers’ and farmworkers’ relationship with the state create uncertainties, changes and adjustments in the relationship between farmers and farm workers on farms. Farmers still take control of farms, regardless of any legislation. The farm workers also still tend to define their position as depending on the farmer’s goodwill in conjunction with formal legislation. However, although the workers are still dependent on the farmer, they are also aware of their rights in the new democratic era and they claim these rights. The “old paternalistic relationship” together with the propagation of new legislation causes tensions as well as disruptions in the relationship between famers and farm workers. But, forged in unequal relationships of dependency and loyalty, farmers and farm workers keep commercial agriculture going. The information collected is intended to shed light on the complex relationships between farmers and farm workers on farms. Hopefully this research on several farms in the Western Cape, in the Swartland environment, can contribute to a better understanding of the complex relationship between farmers and farm workers. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie, wat gedoen is op plase in Suid-Afrika in die Swartland-omgewing, toon dat die arbeidsopset in die landbou oorwegend paternalisties is en dat paternalisme en bemagtiging op plase saam bestaan. Hierdie saambestaan veroorsaak spanning tussen die boere en plaaswerkers en lei tot ontwrigting in die verhouding waar boere tradisioneel die outoriteit gehad het en die plaaswerkers ondergeskik was, maar nou in die moderne plaasopset onafhanklik is. ’n Kwalitatiewe benadering is gebruik om ondersoek in te stel na hoe boere en plaaswerkers die verhoudings met mekaar in die verlede ervaar het en ook hoe hulle dit tans in die moderne plaasopset ervaar. Daar is individuele onderhoude met die boere gevoer en fokusgroepe met die plaaswerkers in hulle eie natuurlike omgewings gedoen. Die studie beredeneer hoe beide boere en plaaswerkers paternalisme op plase in stand hou, ongeag die verminderde ondersteuning van die staat aan wit kommersiële boere, asook die uitbreiding en formalisering van arbeids- en verblyfregwetgewing om plaaswerkers se regte te beskerm. Die staat het in die apartheidsjare as “beskermheer” teenoor die boere opgetree, maar daardie begunstiging van die staat aan die boere het met die politieke oorgang verval. Boere voel gefrustreerd en mis die ondersteuning wat hulle vroeër ontvang het. Wetgewing wat na plase uitgebrei is, verskaf nou sekere raamwerke waarbinne boere en werkers moet optree en stel ook sekere eise wat die konteks bepaal. Dit het veroorsaak dat die mag en outoriteit van die “paternalistiese boere” tot ’n mate blootgelê en uitgedaag word. Dit veroorsaak verskeie onsekerhede, veranderinge en aanpassings in die verhouding tussen boere en plaaswerkers op plase. Boere neem nog altyd die beheer op plase ongeag wetgewing wat hulle beperk. Die werkers is ook steeds geneig om hulle posisie te definieer as afhanklik van die boer se welwillendheid, naas die formele wetgewing. Maar, alhoewel die plaaswerkers nog altyd afhanklik van die boer is, is hulle tog as gevolg van wetgewing bewus van hulle regte en maak hulle ook aanspraak daarop. Die “ou paternalistiese verhouding” en die uitbreiding van formele wette wat boere beperk, veroorsaak dat spanning en ontwrigting in die verhoudings tussen boere en plaaswerkers ontstaan. Maar, gesmee in ongelyke verhoudings van afhanklikheid en lojaliteit hou boere en plaaswerkers die kommersiële landbou aan die gang. Die inligting wat versamel is beoog om lig te werp op die komplekse verhoudings tussen boere en plaaswerkers op plase. Hopelik sal hierdie navorsing op enkele plase in die Wes-Kaap, in die Swartland-omgewing, kan bydra tot ʼn beter begrip van die komplekse verhouding tussen boere en plaaswerkers.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: One of the biggest revolutions in the United States, equal to the political revolution by which that country came into being, concerns a change in people's concept of God. In this context, freedom of religion came to playa fundamental role in society. In the United States religious freedom means that that country's central power should be completely neutral towards religion. This view is criticised as being the result of just another philosophical presupposition, called "secular individualism:" According to this view, state and church (or religion) are rigidly separated. Religion is viewed as an "irrational power", and should be limited to private life only. The South African Constitution did not follow this route. The state is not expected to be secular. It may even create circumstances conducive to the promotion of religion, although it should remain neutral towards specific religions. In South Africa religious freedom entails the acknowledgement of a group right, an important aspect of democracy, as long as the exercise of this right contributes towards tolerance and cultural openness. The premise is that the exercise of collective group values can play an important role to inspire people towards embracing human rights (which lie at the heart of the Constitution) as a core value of their social morality. I also deal with the problem of the limitation of this group right. Religious freedom further entails that the courts should not embark on judging in the theological and doctrinal conflicts of religious groups. However, churches cannot withdraw themselves from the ambit of the courts' authority, although this authority never allows for a decision about the internal dogmatic affairs of churches, It only applies to its administrative legal acts, particularly concerning the position of its paid officials. I further deal with the church as a legal entity, and confront the problem of the South African jurisprudence that treats the church as a mere voluntary organisation. The thesis is that the church is a legal entity sui generis. In other word, the church's legal status emanates from within, and is not bestowed upon it. From a legal point of view; the church should primarily be judged on the basis of its own ecclesiastical statutes. Thereafter I discuss the labour law position of ministers, referring to a number of labour court cases in which ministers were involved. The conclusion is that a minister is not an employee in the ordinary, legal sense of the word, but rather an independent contractor or atypical worker. The nature of his work is such that his divine calling not only encompasses his working life, but his whole life, in the service of God as his employer. As such, the minister's position is fundamentally different from that of an ordinary employee. I take the position that this view is the best way of expressing the church's uniqueness, constitutionally guaranteed, as well as the theological dimension of the church as a unique communal body. Against the minister's possible vulnerability towards exploitation and possible loss of his or her livelihood, he or she enjoys a constitutional as well as an administrative law guarantee. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Een van die grootste revolusies in die VSA soortgelyk aan die politieke revolusie waardeur Amerika tot stand gekom het, raak mense se Godsopvatting. In dié konteks speel die begrip godsdiensvryheid 'n fundamentele rol. In die VSA beteken godsdiensvryheid dat dié land se sentrale gesag heeltemal neutraal is teenoor godsdiens. Die kritiek hierop is dat so 'n opvatting voortkom uit 'n spesifieke filosofiese voorveronderstelling, naamlik "sekulêre individualisme". Hierin word staat en kerk (of godsdiens) rigied van mekaar geskei en die invloed van godsdiens as 'n "irrasionele mag" slegs tot die privaatlewe beperk. In Suid-Afrika volg die Grondwet nie dieselfde weg nie. Van die staat word nie verwag om sekulêr te wees nie. Dit mag selfs omstandighede skep om godsdiens te bevorder, alhoewel dit neutraal teenoor spesifieke godsdienste moet wees. Binne die Suid-Afrikaanse opset beteken godsdiensvryheid dus erkenning aan 'n groepsreg, wat 'n vername aspek van demokrasie is, solank die beoefening van dié groepsreg bydra tot toleransie en kulturele openheid. Die premisse is dat die beoefeninq van kollektiewe groepswaardes 'n belangrike rol kan speel om mense te inspireer om ook menseregte (die hart van die Grondwet) as 'n kernwaarde van hulle sosiale moraliteit te aanvaar. Die probleem is of beperkings op hierdie groepsreg ooit geoorloof sou wees. Godsdiensvryheid beteken verder dat die howe nie tot die beoordeling van die dogmatiese en teologiese twispunte van godsdienstige groepe mag toetree nie. Die kerk kan homself egter nie aan die gesag van die howe onttrek nie, alhoewel dié gesag nooit vir 'n beslissing oor die interne dogmatiese sake van die kerk geld nie, maar net vir sy administratief-regtelike handelinge - in die besonder waar dit die diensposisie van die kerk se betaalde ampsdraers aangaan. Ek handel verder oor die kerk as regspersoon en konfronteer die probleem dat die Suid-Afrikaanse regspraak die kerk bloot as 'n vrywillige organisasie sien. Die tese is dat die kerk 'n regspersoonlikheid sui generis is. Dus kom die kerklike regspersoonlikheid eintlik vanuit die kerk self voort. Regsvrae binne die kerk moet dus primêr aan die hand van sy eie statuut of Kerkorde beoordeel word. In die lig van die voorafgaande bespreek ek vervolgens die arbeidsregtelike posisie van die predikant na aanleiding van verskeie arbeidshofsake, en bevind dat hy of sy nie in 'n kontraktuele diensverhouding staan nie, maar eerder 'n onafhanklike kontrakteur of 'n a-tipiese werker is. Die aard van die predikant se werk as Godsgeroepene omvat nie net die arbeidslewe nie, maar die hele lewe wat hy of sy onder die beheer van sy of haar Werkgewer stel. Dit maak dat die predikant se posisie fundamenteel van dié van 'n gewone werknemer verskil. Ek handhaaf die posisie dat dié standpunt die beste gestalte gee aan die uniekheid van die kerk wat deur middel van grondwetlike godsdiensregte gewaarborg word, asook die teologiese dimensie van die kerk as 'n unieke samelewingsverband. In die aangesig van moontlike uitbuiting is die predikant se lewensonderhoud of "traktement" egter gewaarborg in soverre hy of sy 'n grondwetlike sowel as 'n administratief-regtelike aanspraak op 'n billike bedeling binne die kerk het.

Indigenous communities have developed a wealth of knowledge, which plays a crucial role in providing leads for the use of genetic resources and bioprospecting. However, such knowledge is under increasing threat due to the misappropriation of the biological resources and associated traditional knowledge of indigenous communities, through both bioprospecting, as well as the inappropriate exercise of intellectual property rights. The internationally agreed Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) attempts to provide a bulwark against biopiracy and although it assists indigenous communities to regain some control, the CBD has proven inadequate in the protection of the traditional knowledge of indigenous communities. The subsequent Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (Nagoya Protocol) attempts to address some of these limitations but unfortunately has its own shortcomings, as it was largely concluded on the basis of a compromise between developed and developing countries. This dissertation will undertake a critical analysis of the provisions of the CBD and Nagoya Protocol, with a view to establishing the level of protection these instruments afford indigenous communities. It will be shown that notwithstanding the drawbacks of both the CBD and Nagoya Protocol, they nevertheless represent major achievements in the journey to protect the genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge of indigenous communities. It is in this context that this dissertation will analyse South Africa’s Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) regime in relation to the protection it affords indigenous communities and in the light of the implementation challenges that such legislation presents. A particular focus will be on whether South Africa’s ABS legislation complies with the country’s international obligations relating to the protection of indigenous communities and whether South Africa’s approach to the protection of the genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge of indigenous communities, in the context of bioprospecting, is adequate or whether there exists potential for its enhancement. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of Prince George's Community College faculty knowledge of the legal issues, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, and recent court decisions, related to the provision of classroom accommodations for students with disabilities at the postsecondary level. The focus of the study was to determine if a difference existed between the knowledge of full-time and part-time faculty. Part-time faculty comprise over 50 % of the instructional staffs at most community colleges and are considered an integral part of their institutions, yet they are offered little opportunity for professional development. The variables of gender, department affiliation, teaching at more than one institution, number of years of teaching experience, number of students taught with a disability, and number of individuals known with a disability also were reviewed. Data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to 158 faculty members at the college. Twenty-nine packets were returned as undeliverable. Of the 129 deliverable packets, 57 were returned for a response rate of 44.2%. Results from the analysis of data indicated that faculty have very limited knowledge of the legal issues concerning students with disabilities. Only 26.9% of respondents scored at an acceptable level of knowledge. Additional analysis suggested no relationship existed between faculty knowledge and gender, faculty status (full-time and part-time), department affiliation, teaching at more than one institution, number of years of teaching experience, or number of individuals known with a disability. A relationship was found at the p < .05 level of significant between faculty knowledge and number of students taught with a disability. Faculty who scored in the acceptable range had a mean score of 24 or more students taught with a disability. Faculty scoring in the unacceptable range had a mean score of 11 students taught with a disability.

This study examined perceptions of student legal issues confronting metropolitan institutions of higher education. The data for the study were collected using a modified version of Bishop's (1993) legal survey. The sample for the study consisted of 44 chief student affairs officers and 44 chief legal affairs officers employed with the 44 institutions affiliated with the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities. Frequency counts and percentage distributions were employed to analyze the data. Chief student affairs officers and chief legal affairs officers have very different perception as to the most likely student legal issues to be litigated in the next ten years. Chief student affairs officers found few student legal issues highly likely to be litigated in the next 10 years. Affirmative action, sex/age discrimination, fraternities and sororities, and disabled students were the only student legal issues at least 20 percent of chief student affairs officers believed to be highly likely of litigation in the next ten years. Chief legal affairs officers believed many student legal issues would be litigated in the next 10 years. At least 20 percent of the chief legal affairs officers believed admission criteria, affirmative action, reverse discrimination, sex/age discrimination, athletic tort liability, Title IX, defaulting student loans, defamation, negligence, academic dismissals, academic dishonesty, cyberspace issues, and disabled students to be highly likely of litigation in the next ten years. Chief student affairs officers and chief legal affairs officers prepare very similarly for future student legal issues they may confront in the future. There is a large amount of crossover between professional conferences of chief student affairs officers and chief legal affairs officers. Student affairs and legal affairs officers will attend professional conferences of both groups in order to stay abreast of student legal issues. It appears chief student affairs officers are not prepared to confront many of the student legal issues highly likely to be litigated in the next ten years.