South Africa needs formal rules for class action suits. One of the problems class action litigants face is first being recognised by the court as a class. In this article written in The Conversation, Theo Broodryk of Stellenbosch University lays out a few ground rules for class action suits that would advance the cause of justice. 

If anything should put the fear of God into the West, it is the State of the Nation address given by Vladimir Putin earlier this week. He detailed a new generation of nuclear weaponry that is impervious to US or any other defence system. Putin prefaced his speech by saying Russia had been forced to revamp its military and offensive capability after the US and NATO had betrayed an agreement not to move an inch closer to the Russian border. The US now encircles Russia with military bases and holds hostile military exercises with earshot of Russia's borders. This is how Russia is responding, but this seems not to matter to the crazed neoconservatives in the US, who relish the idea of more wars and more military spending.

Land will become one of the major political issues in 2018 and beyond, with "expropriation without compensation" being the preferred route of redistribution for the ANC and EFF, among others. In this article Neels Blom lays the table with a look at what two different studies have shown in terms of land distribution by race, gender and nationality. On the face of it, whites have a disproportionate amount of agricultural land, but this ignores land that has already been transferred to blacks in prior years.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) employees were trained to forge signatures on documents and fabricate financial instruments on a routine basis to foreclose on homes they couldn't prove they owned. They also pushed struggling businesses into liquidation and then sold the assets for a profit - all to boost bonuses. One great grandmother nabbed the bank forging her signature to take out an insurance policy shje never asked for. This, by the way, has been going on in numerous cases in SA, with the courts turning a blind eye. It's time for bank whistleblowers to step forward.

Perhaps the best news in the cabinet reshuffle announced on Monday by President Cyril Ramaphosa is that Nhlanhla Nene is back at the finance ministry, and Pravin Gordhan gets to run public enterprises. Zwane is gone as mining minister, replaced by fiery trade unionist Gwede Mantashe. Most of those ministers with links to the Guptas are gone, except Gigaba - who has been moved from finance to his old portfolio of home affairs (where he famously imposed new visa rules, causing a slump in tourism and a loss of billions to the economy). You have to scratch your head at some of the appointments, which suggest there is still a Zuma gun pointed at Ramaphosa's head. City Press looks at the reshuffle.

There are now more people receiving social grants in SA than there are people with jobs. Narius Moloto, secretary general of trade union federation NACTU, says this is another form of political patronage used by the ANC to buy votes. He says SA is over-administered and suggests scrapping provinces to eliminate wasteful expenditure. Welfare is intended as a short-term intervention to assist the poor during times of great need - but in SA it is turning out to be a trough with no bottom.

Many words were used to describe the budget. They include “balanced”, “difficult but fair”, “understandable”, “conservative” (a major bank), “the price of the Zuma-years” (an analyst), “we had no option”, “balanced act under circumstances” (SACCI), “inevitable and enough to prevent a downgrade” (Raymond Parsons and PwC), “stabilise debt” (a journalist), “necessary bitter pill” (OUTA), “tough but hopeful” (the minister himself).No. It was far worse than that, says Dawie Roodt, chief economist at The Efficient Group.

The late Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, formerly Inkatha Freedom Party’s justice spokesman, was a Constitutional expert and an advocate for sweeping reform of our justice system. In this article he argued that the comraderie between competing lawyers prevents them from properly representing their clients. He also called for an end to the practice of using advocates as sit-in judges on exactly the same grounds - they are likely to go soft on their legal collegaues at the expense of justice. Sadly, Oriani-Ambrosini passed away in 2014 from a self-inflicted gun wound, his body wracked with cancer. He made an indelible impression on SA's Constitution and legal landscape. He called for an end to the split bar system of senior and junior counsel, one of the reasons why SA lawyers are among the most expensive in the world.

A summary of some of the key highights from Finance Minister Gigaba's Budget speech today.

Ian Brakspear of Durban has been fighting his case against Nedbank for the better part of a decade. It all started when the bank foreclosed on a R7m loan he says he neither asked for nor received. A bizarre court case in Durban found in favour of the bank. Now Brakspear's mother has taken the case to the Jersey courts in search of justice. The Bailiwick Express reports on the latest developments.

A possible increase in VAT, fuel levies and allowing income tax brackets to remain as they are - a way for government to increase revenue by not adjusting these brackets for inflation - are some of the things to expect in the upcoming budget. Also expect to hear if government will start selling off State-owned assets such as Telkom to generate further revenue. Treasury will also outline how it intends to fund free university education for the poor, according to this report from FNB's Economics Department.

Former CIA chief James Woolsey appeared on Fox News to push the narrative of how dastardly 'dem Russkies' are in their meddling with the sacred soul of America's democracy. He also let slip that the US has been doing exactly the same to other countries. Zerohedge looks at the scorecard.

Morgan Tsvangirai passed away this week in South Africa after a long struggle with cancer. He brought hope to the people of Zimbabwe and should rightly have been president of the country had Robert Mugabe not stolen the elections from him and his party, the Movement for Democratic Change. Writing in The Conversation, David B. Moore, Professor of Development Studies, University of Johannesburg, looks at the life of this iconic leader and the opposition movement he led.

It is with an overwhelming sense of joy and relief that SA can say goodbye to Jacob Zuma. His rule, at the helm of our country, in the highest office in the land — which all citizens should respect — has been a mockery of democracy and our Constitution. There is no other way to greet his departure than to say: "Good riddance."

It seems the knives are out for outgoing President Jacob Zuma. His own party will join the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in a vote of no confidence in their leader, according to Business Day. If all this goes as planned, and the chief justice is available for the swearing in, tomorrow will see the first day in office of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Jordan Peterson, a professor of psychology at Toronto University, has become something of a rock star for his evangelical approach to common sense. He first gained notoriety when he refused to abide by the University's edict that transgender people should be addressed by pronouns of their choosing, such as ‘zhe’ and ‘zher’ rather than ‘he’ or ‘she’. He went on Channel 4 to debate the issue and delivered a master class in common sense, rendering the combative interviewer speechless at one point. It's worth saving for posterity, if only to show how crazy these cultural wars have become. The Left needs to wake up to some of the nonsense being propagated in their name.

Zim was once the freest economy in the world, says Zimbabwean parliamentarian Eddie Cross. It happenbed between 2009 and 2013 when an opposition MP took over the finance ministry and lifted exchange controls and scrapped price controls that had been implemented by the previous government. All manner of economic restrictions were lifted, resulting in an economic flowering the likes of which had not been seen before or since. This all came to an end in 2013 when Zanu-PF regained absolute control of the government. But there is a lesson here for all Africa countries. If we in SA follow the Zimbabwean model (indeed, should Zim follow its own example), a new era of economic prosperity would eventuate.

Mining lawyer Hulme Scholes has brought an application before the Johannesburg High Court to have all three versions of the Mining Charter set aside on the grounds that they are unconstitutional. The government needs to replace the charters with law which will remove political interference from the policy process.

A scandal involving Bank of Baroda’s South Africa operations, a cabal of businessmen of Indian origin, and South African President Jacob Zuma, has undermined the reputation of India’s second largest bank and resulted in an unprecedented penalty by the South African Reserve Bank.

President Jacob Zuma could trigger a Constitutional crisis this week should he proceed with his plans to deliver the state of the nation (Sona) address to parliament. Opposition parties are united in their call for a postponement of Sona, while prosecutors and police prepare for a trial which may see Zuma face 783 charges of fraud, money laundering and racketeering.

Michael Komape drowned in a pit toilet outside Polokwane in 2014. Such a death could only occur to a rural African child in a school where neglect and indifference were standard. The family is suing the province's Department of Basic Education, seeking more than R2m in damages and a court order that will force the government to attend to the shocking state of sanitation in schools across the province.

Fourteen inmates of Johannesburg “Sun City” Medium B prison yesterday told the High Court that they were going up to 20 hours between the last meal of the day and breakfast. Fourteen inmates of Johannesburg “Sun City” Medium B prison yesterday told the High Court that they were going up to 20 hours between the last meal of the day and breakfast. The case cast an interesting light on conditions in the prison, with allegations that prison guards are dealing in drugs. 

Viceroy Research, which last year highlighted accounting irregularities at Steinhoff and brought it to its knees, has this time shone a light on Capitec Bank, calling it a “loan shark with massively understated defaults masquerading as a community finance provider”.

In his first major interview as leader of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa was at pains to emphasise that President Jacob Zuma’s early exit should not be a humiliating experience. But that is exactly what he deserves, says Mondi Makhanya, writing in City Press.

With unsecured lending approaching R18bn, it is only a matter of time before another corporate implosion occurs, according to Glen Jordan of IMB Financial Services.