Notes from the law reports — useful, and slightly cheering
• S v Van Rooyen 2002 (5) SA 246 (CC); [2002] ZACC 8 is twenty-four years old and still the case to cite when someone says that magistrates are not judicial officers. They are.
• G.J v C.J [2026] ZAGPJHC 785; [2026] 3 All SA 623 (GJ) (17 July 2026) — a Randburg protection order survived appeal because the High Court read the messages as a climate, not as single weather events.
• I.P.V.N v N.V.N [2026] ZAGPPHC 691 (4 June 2026) — the Pretoria High Court recalculated a maintenance order and reminded the court a quo that the child's needs, not the parent's opening offer, set the floor.
• National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals v Minister of Justice [2016] ZACC 46 turns ten in December.
• President of the RSA v SARFU 1999 (4) SA 147 (CC) remains the recusal test. S v Makwanyane 1995 (3) SA 391 (CC) remains the dignity case.
• Children's Courts Rules of South Africa, 2026 — GN R7179 in GG 54219 of 27 February 2026, commenced 27 March 2026 — now sit beside the Children's Act on the Monday blotter.
• Living heritage on the blotter also includes section 6 and section 211 of the Constitution — language and customary law as working tools, not Heritage Month decoration.
Heritage Day on the blotter — many cultures, one potjie, a door that still opens. The file is lighter when the Republic sits down together.
A note from Neelan Karikan. A senior who still remembers how to open a door has already taught the only lesson that lasts: authority that cannot be approached is not authority we should want.