This day, Human Rights Day, I struggle to find my own words in the wake of all that has transpired recently in our country. So, I turn to our Constitution and the powerful words in its Preamble: “We, the people of South Africa, Recognise the injustices of our past; Honour those who suffered for justice […]
Author Archives: Lauren Kohn
These are heavy days. They really are. I am typically an eternal optimist, but in the wake of recent events, and being a new mom to a baby girl, I would be dishonest if I denied feeling some trepidation about raising her in this country. I do however still feel hope. And I think we […]
So I figured it was only a matter of time. Social media, you judgmental machine, you! There has been a visible outpouring of grief and empathy in the wake of the tragic Tokai teen murder. People from all walks of life – albeit predominantly white people, if we are honest here – and age groups […]
So today is International Women’s Day and I have been doing a bit of thinking on this score. Firstly let me say that I understand feminism to mean, as Merriam Webster defines it, “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities” – rather than an extreme bra-burning notion that some people […]
Thabo Mbeki’s latest attempt at historical revisionism falls horribly short of the legal mark. The former President published a letter on his Facebook page last week entitled, ‘Behind the narrative of the abuse of state power was a larger goal’. In revisiting – nearly a decade after the fact – his notorious decision to remove […]
Update re yesterday’s Constitutional Court judgment: ” The constitutional imperatives in section 26(3), given effect to by ESTA, must be borne in mind. That sub-provision demonstrates special constitutional regard for a person’s place of abode. As this Court said in PE Municipality, the sub-provision— ‘acknowledges that a home is more than just a shelter from […]
Statement on the Constitution and lawful protest | Faculty of Law law.uct.ac.za “We further acknowledge that many of the concerns highlighted by the student movements over the last year are of national significance, particularly the issues relating to designated groups having access to opportunities to study and work at institutions of higher learning and to […]
I’m busy preparing for my lecture on transformative constitutionalism and these poignant words of our late great former Chief Justice, Pius Langa, seemed apt given the current socio-political climate: “Social transformation is indispensable to our society. In South Africa – it is synonymous with reconciliation. If there is no reconciliation between the people and groups […]
I don’t quite know where to begin. But somehow I have to get the words out because they are bubbling up inside me and, I suspect, inside many others. I feel that, somewhat ironically, in this cyber-era there is perhaps more self-censoring (than there was pre-Facebook and Twitter etc) because there is so often a […]
On 8 February 2016, Former President Thabo Mbeki published a letter on his Facebook page in which he seeks, nearly a decade down the line, to justify his decision to suspend former NDPP, Vusi Pikoli – who intended to execute warrants against the late Jackie Selebi – on the basis of ‘national security’. Lauren Kohn […]
