Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf): Open Journal Systems
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Charles Kimberlin (Bob) Brain (1931–2023): Naturalist, scientific leader, and family man
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Professionalism in South African Dental Practice
Full text linkA thriving healthcare system is built on professionalism, which influences the standard of patient treatment and promotes confidence among healthcare professionals. It is based on a holistic approach and includes a dynamic set of values and characteristics that are focused on the patient and the pursuit of excellence. Professionalism, which extends to include the entire field of dentistry, is fundamentally still anchored on the ethical provision of healthcare service
THE REJECTION OF ROE v WADE BY THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT AFTER FIVE DECADES – A SEISMIC DECISION
No full textThe recent dramatic about-turn of the United States Supreme Court (USSC) in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organisation (Dobbs) in May 2022 regarding the rights of women in the United States to an abortion has caused a major uproar. Overruling one of the most famous of all USSC cases, Roe v Wade (410 US 113 (1973) (Roe)), five decades after it was decided, has had major repercussions. To fully comprehend the impact that Roe had on the United States, it is opportune to give an overview of Roe, which was a dramatic judgment and became established law for 50 years. In revisiting Roe, it is difficult to understand why such a clear and well-reasoned majority judgment has been overruled.Roe raised serious legal, moral and religious issues. The central issue was whether a woman had a legal right to an abortion. The USSC by a majority of seven to two held that woman had a constitutionally protected right to an abortion. As will be seen, Roe based its decision on its interpretation specifically of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.All major cases before the USSC can be put into two categories – abortion cases and all others. Abortion remains the central legal issue before that court. It defines the judicial philosophies of the justices of the USSC. It dominates their nomination and confirmation processes. The abortion controversy is sensitive and emotional. It generates vigorous, opposing views. It inspires deep and absolute convictions. A person’s philosophy, experiences, exposure to the raw edges of human existence, religious beliefs, and attitudes towards family values, and the moral standards a person establishes and seeks to observe all influence their thinking about abortion.It arguably delineates the difference between the National Democratic and Republican parties. When, during the confirmation proceedings of the present Chief Justice Roberts, he was asked about his views on Roe, he was careful not to commit himself. His answer was that Roe was settled as a precedent of the court and entitled to be respected under the principles of stare decisis, but he added that the justices of the Supreme Court do sometimes reverse their own precedents.Abortion issues remain eternal. Does a woman have a legal right to an abortion? Is the termination of a pregnancy a decision to be made by a woman and her doctor, or is the protection of potential human life a legitimate interest of the State? At what point does an unborn person acquire legal rights that are protected under the law? The majority and dissenting judgments in Roe represent the full spectrum of legal approaches to these and related questions. However, no court decision exists in a vacuum and the controversial issues raised in Roe continue to be raised and debated in the legal and political life of the United States, as they do in other jurisdictions
THE INFUSION OF AFRICAN JURISPRUDENCE ON LEGAL DEFENCES INTO JUDICIAL DELIBERATIONS Bulelwa Ndamase v Development Bank of Southern Africa Limited D 8073/2020 [2022] (ZAKZDHC) (30 May 2022)
No full textIt is often said that customary law is unwritten, as its knowledge system is not recorded in statutes and codifications. Tracing its earliest origins can prove difficult, largely because African communities have historically lived independently of one another, observing norms and practices that differ from one community to another. In previous eras, Africans lived according to values such as a sense of communal belonging, collective ownership of assets and the communal life that characterised the African tradition. All these elements developed into an African normative system that catered for justice and human rights. The fortunes of customary law, however, changed after contact with colonialism. Section 11(1) of the Black Administration Act (BAA) 38 of 1927, for example, afforded courts the discretion to apply customary law in all disputes concerning African people as disputants, provided that customary law was not against public policy and natural justice. This repugnancy proviso therefore limited the application of customary law. Section 11(1) of the BAA was repealed in 1988 by the Law of Evidence Amendment Act 45 of 1988, which was framed in similar terms to the BAA, and in terms of which courts could take judicial notice of customary law if it could be readily ascertainable. As a result, courts could merely strike down any African practice or norm that they deemed to be inconsistent with principles of public policy and natural justice. The interim Constitution contained a specific provision speaking to the cardinal African concept of ubuntu. However, this concept did not find space in the 1996 Constitution. Yet, ubuntu had already informed the basis for the abolition of the death penalty in one of South Africa’s most seminal judgments in a first case that came before a full panel of the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court stressed the importance of infusing African jurisprudence or indigenous knowledge systems into judicial pronouncements. This had become apparent in the wake of the ill-treatment of customary law as a subordinate legal system vis-à-vis common law. Other courts have subsequently made commitments that customary law and its value systems would be afforded space as an independent legal system away from the prowling eye of the common law. Also, in Gumede v President of the Republic of South Africa (2009 (3) SA 152 (CC) par 22), the Constitutional Court confirmed that customary law “lives side by side with the common law and legislation”. Notwithstanding these assertions, courts have not given effect or found an avenue to allow customary law to be integrated in decision-making. It must be stated that customary law differs from indigenous law as customary law emerges from the latter. Customary law is people’s adaptation of indigenous law to socio-economic changes. This gives effect to the value of indigenisation that scholars have written about and has also become a value that institutions of higher learning have embraced to form part of their curriculum design and transformation. A long journey still lies ahead for the process of indigenisation, especially in Western-style courts, but there are tools and a rich body of literature with which to work. The role of developing indigenous languages has also become important and requires attention
Transferring Policy: The African Union's Protection of Civilians Policy in Peacekeeping Missions in Somalia and South Sudan
Full text linkThe African Union's (AU's) doctrine underlying Peace Support Operations (PSOs) highlights the fact that the AU should take the lead in providing political direction for all AU PSOs. This includes mainstreaming the standards and operating procedures applicable to the Protection of Civilians (PoC). The PoC guidelines mandate the AU to support and complement the efforts of the host state by enhancing its capacity to secure civilians and prevent abuse against them. The guidelines have allowed the AU to develop and grow its institutional capacity and emerge as the continent's leading institution. It provides fragile member states with technical support through African-led and AU-mandated missions (crafting the concept of operations, training and implementation and procedures for peace operations). However, little is known about how the AU transfers its PoC policy to member states during peacekeeping missions. This paper assesses the institutional capacity of the AU and its ability to influence specific national PoC policies and approaches through AU PSO and United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UN PKOs). The paper highlights that although the AU has made progress in PoC policy, it has not been implemented effectively and practically in South Sudan and Somalia, despite being a significant priority for the organisation
Law, South African Mothers Living in Poverty and the COVID-19 Pandemic
No full textSometimes being a mother in tough economic times can be a challenge. Socio-economic demands occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic have been especially cumbersome for mothers already living under conditions of poverty. Since the beginning of 2020 the pandemic has further exacerbated the daily struggles of the poor during periods of economic uncertainty, disease and death. Conscious of this additional socio-economic pressure and to lessen the financial burden carried by mothers living in poverty, the South African state introduced a COVID-19 relief Child Support Grant to assist during this trying period. This article explores the role played by law in poverty discourse where mothers are concerned. It is suggested here that the conceptualisation of poverty in law, at least where mothers are concerned, is limited by law's neglect of the socio-political identity of women as mothers, which is rooted in history. This failure reaffirms that law is implicated in contemporary socio-economic inequalitie
Evaluation of the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of fucoxanthin from Dilophys fasciola and as a food additive in stirred yoghurt
No full textWe investigated the effects of fucoxanthin isolated from the edible macroalga Dilophys fasciola on pathogenic microbes and probiotics in vitro and the antioxidant activity of fucoxanthin. The yield concentration of the obtained crude was 50.5% fucoxanthin. We found strong inhibition against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes, and lower inhibition against Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. The probiotic strains progressed between 1.2 and 1.67 log cycles at a concentration of 30 μg/mL. The antioxidant activity ranged between 54.76% and 88.36% at a concentration of 40 μg/mL. The 50% lethal dose of algal fucoxanthin was shown to be more than 2511.88 mg/kg. The production of stirred yoghurt incorporated with 20 mg and 30 mg of fucoxanthin per kilogram of milk was evaluated through chemical, microbiological, and sensory analyses during storage for 21 days and compared with control samples. The maximum growth for probiotics (Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lacticaseibacillus casei) was found on day 14, but more viability counts were detected in the treatment with 30 mg/kg. All treatments were free from mould and yeast counts up to 7 days, and the small numbers of mould, yeast, and psychrotrophic counts appeared first in control samples. Also, the highest dry matter content was observed for treatments with 30 mg/kg. Moreover, the protein, fat, and ash content of all treatments increased with a progressive cold storage period. Greater reductions in the pH were found in treatments than in the control, and were consistent with the development of acidity. During storage, the amount of crude fucoxanthin had no significant impact on the flavour, colour, or appearance scores.
Significance:
Fucoxanthin is a type of carotenoid that offers many benefits to human health.
The fucoxanthin of edible Dilophys fasciola had a strong antimicrobial effect against Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, and fungi.
Stirred yoghurt fortified with crude fucoxanthin had good overall acceptability and the percentage of crude fucoxanthin had no noticeable effects on the flavour, colour, or appearance. Fucoxanthin, therefore, has potential benefit as a food additive
The impact of loadshedding on dental practice in South Africa
Full text linkThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on many industries and sectors across the world, and South Africa is no exception. The economic effects of the pandemic have been particularly severe in South Africa. In this context, the recent announcement of sustained, widespread electricity loadshedding in South Africa raises serious concerns about the impact on dentistry within the South African economy