Thus is the story of "Johanna Smit", sentenced in 1997 to 20 years for the murder of her abusive husband. Johanna met her second husband "Thinus" through a magazine advertisement. Within four months of meeting for the first time, they…
The "in-between" space adolescent girls have in South African society places them in a uniquely vulnerable position. Possessing neither the innocent appeal of children nor the life experience of adults, they frequently fall between the cracks in the criminal justice…
"God made men and women equal and Smith and Wesson makes damn sure it stays that way". A clear warning – even a call to arms – this slogan appeared on posters pasted up in Yeoville during the early 1990's…
Last week Solomon Mhlongo was sentenced to an effective 23 years in prison for the murder of his common-law wife Elizabeth and five-year old daughter Tlaleng. Two years earlier he emptied a magazine of bullets into Elizabeth and Tlaleng, stopped…
The opinions Judge Willis expressed in the case of Beverly Whitehead versus Woolworths have earned him column inches of notoriety. But his judicial musings on the proper place and nature of women are not new; indications of his conservativism were…
Since the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) started operating three years ago in April 1997 over 2100 people have died as a result of police action or in police custody. Despite the high number of these deaths however there appears to…