The Wild Coast and Shell
In mid-August the Constitutional Court set aside the exploration right that would have allowed seismic work linked to Shell and Impact Africa off the Wild Coast. The original decision was badly flawed — poor consultation with the communities who live with the ocean, and a failure to think about climate and environment. It is the first climate case to be finally decided by that Court. The lesson for every court is older than climate law: if you did not speak to the people who live with the decision, you did not consult.
The SRD grant at the SCA
On 25 August the Supreme Court of Appeal heard the State’s appeal against a Pretoria High Court order of Judge Leonard Twala that struck down parts of the Social Relief of Distress grant rules. Treasury said expanding the grant as ordered could cost up to R139 billion a year. The judges asked a simple human question: what about the person who cannot afford a cellphone to apply online? Judgment is reserved. Sections 27 and 9 of the Constitution are the provisions in play. Magistrates will keep seeing the people who fall through the electronic cracks — in debt court, in eviction court, in maintenance court.
Delay and public trust
A May report by Freedom Under Law said the Constitutional Court now receives close to 400 applications a year, more than three times the 2010 load, and that the wait from hearing to judgment has more than doubled in a decade. Public confidence is one pool. A delay in any court is spent against every court.
Five small things you can do this quarter
1. Send JASA a calm note about your court — vacancies, broken machines, security scares, judgments sitting too long.
2. Leave a colleague’s reserved case and a live Commission complaint off the group chat.
3. Keep Van Rooyen (2002) and section 165 in the top drawer.
4. If families in your district wait on death certificates, ask the local imam, pastor or traditional leader to tell JASA what the wait looks like.
5. When the Phase 2 Bill is published, read the definition of “court”. If Magistrates’ Courts are missing, write to us the same day.
“This alliance is not merely an organisation. It is a covenant — a pact binding judicial officers with everyone who needs a
court that still has a human face.”
— Mr Karikan, February 2026