2016: NOTE FROM THE EDITORS  

 

We are pleased to present the 2016 edition of Inkundla, a law review written and edited by students at the Oliver Schreiner School of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand. The aim of the journal is to encourage and facilitate scholarly legal writing amongst Wits law students.

The word ‘Inkundla’ refers to a traditional court where debates and eye-witness accounts of emerging social phenomena were hosted. Pursuant to the aspirations of the founding editors, we hope that this edition of the journal continues to fulfill the same function.

On a more personal level, we hope the journal will take you, the reader, on a journey through a variety of topics and opinions as interpreted and expressed by young legal minds.

We would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance received from various people. In particular, we would like to thank Ms Franziska Sucker of the School of Law and Mr Ernest Lee Mate, a founding editor, for their continued involvement and encouragement in our effort to produce this edition. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the School of Law for their support. Moreover, we would like to thank Norton Rose Fulbright, our first official sponsor outside of the Law School, for their financial assistance. We also thank Mariya Badeva-Bright for her assistance with the Inkundla website, and Taremeredzwa Takudzwa Chirewa, whose artwork appeared on the cover of the first edition of Inkundla and continues to feature on the back cover to commemorate that edition.

Furthermore, we are indebted to Melanie Salgueiro, for allowing us to use her beautiful water colour painting as the cover of this edition. It is our belief that the painting encapsulates the idea of a journey, in a specifically South African context, in the same way we hope the published articles will do.

Thank you to all those who sent us their work for publication. A special thanks to the authors of the selected essays.

In this edition, the authors travel with us through a range of topics. Lisa Arthur explores the concept of sustainable development and its application in South Africa. Luqmaan Hassan investigates the legal principles of affirmative action together with their limitations in the workplace. Charl Herman looks at the concept of a gender galaxy in South Africa while Kelvin Kajuna provides us with an insightful analogy between law and chess. Mxolisi Ngulube examines a dilemma in respect of the impartiality and independence of the office of the Public Protector and Ané Pienaar provides commentary on the case of Hattingh and Others v Juta 2013 (3) SA 275 (CC). Finally, Romy Wulfsohn takes a fresh look at the trolley problem in ethics and how this relates to law.

The editorial team endeavoured to select essays of a high standard. We hope that you will find these essays as insightful, engaging and thought-provoking as we do. 

 

Note on Contributions

We encourage all students to submit articles for consideration for the next edition of Inkundla. To do so, email us at witslawjournal@gmail.com, or visit www.inkundlajournal.org to engage with fellow writers and researchers.

The years of study given for the authors in this edition reflect that in which they were when they wrote their respective essays.