LEGAL ASPECTS

LECTURER INFORMATION
• Who is the Lecturer?
• Dr M Madiba. Should a student wish to contact me, my email address is
• madibam@mut.ac.za;
• The lecturer’s office is located at Bozzolli Hall. Consultations with the lecturers will
be upon appointment that will be made via email.
• Consultation Hours
• Tuesdays 13:00 – 14:25
• Thursdays 13:00 – 14:25
CLASS RULES
UNIT ONE BACKGROUND
OF SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND
OF SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• WHAT IS LAW:
• Set of rules that governs the behaviour of persons.
• These rules are made and enforced by the state or
government.
• If these rules are broken a sanction/penalty can be
imposed by the state.
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LA
• WHAT IS LAW:
• Government makes rules(legislature) and
enforces(executive) them
• Makes it easy for society to function smoothly.
• Law tells you what your rights, duties and obligations
are.
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND
OF SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• Legal Terms:
• Legal: what you can and can not do.
• Legal subject= any person to whom the law applies.
• Who are these persons? = There are two types of persons
• 1. Natural Persons=Human Beings
• 2. Juristic Persons = Legal Entities like companies
• Legal principles= A general accepted standard of conduct/ behavior that has the support
of law to make it legally binding.
• Legally Binding= You have to obey it. Eg: Comply with the terms and conditions in a
contract
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• Legal Terms:
• Law?
• Parties- The two people involved in the
agreement/contract
• Invalid- Not in legal force, not enforceable/not binding
• Valid- ITO contact- all requirements are complied with
and the agreement is binding
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• Other Normative Systems:
• What are normative systems= A set of rules that govern human behaviour.
• 4 Types
• 1. Ethics
• 2.Positive Morality=Community morals/boni mores
• 3.Religion
• 4. Law
• All 4 Normative systems, to which sanctions and penalties can be imposed
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• 1. Ethics=Individual Morality: A set of rules that each individual decides
to live by. These rules are made and enforced by the individual. The
sanction/punishment is imposed by the individual themselves. Smoking
example
• Individual Morality(personal morality/ethics)
• Personal standards of behaviour based on belief and what we are taught.
• Each person sets standards for himself.
• Examples: being honest, not drinking too much, not telling lies.
• Individual morality, as such, is not enforced by the law.
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• A person's own individual sense of morality may, in some
instances, coincide (go hand in hand) with certain legal rules.
• Example: honesty (a norm of individual
• morality) is the value that is violated (offended) when the
crimes of theft and fraud are committed.
• The sanction for disobeying these rules is personal and self-
inflicted.
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
2.Positive Morality=Community morals/boni
mores: A set of rules made by the community,
rules are made and enforced by the community.
The sanction/punishment is imposed by the
community. Gambling example
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• Norms of a whole community or a group within a community.
They are called collective morals.
• They differ from religion and morality in that they are not
private matters concerning only a specific individual.
• The sanction for noncompliance is varying degrees of
disapproval by other members of society. E.g. Iinter racial
marriages.
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• In some instances the law and community mores
may coincide they may be the same.
• For example, possession and sale of harmful drugs
are disapproved of by the community and they are
criminal offences
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• NB! These normative systems tend to overlap at times. They also
correspond since they all govern human behavior.
• NB! various types of norms differ from each other.
• You should however, also have realised that they may overlap and that,
for example, some norms are both religious and legal norms, that
community norms (or mores as they are also called) may sometimes be
supported by the law, or that individual norms (a person's own personal
moral code) are sometimes religious norms.
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• 3.Religious Morality: A set of rules made by the specific
religion, rules are made and enforced by the specific religion.
The sanction/punishment is imposed by the religious leaders -
Adultery example.
• Code of conduct that people from a specific religion follow.
• Examples:Every religion has a sanction (a punishment) for
those who disobey
• its particular religious norms (its code of behaviour).
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
3 Questions
•1. Who makes the rules?
•2.Who enforces the rules?
•3. Who imposes punishment?
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• 4. Legal Rules: Everybody must obey, if rules are broken the
state punishes you.
• In most cases the law overlaps with other normative systems
example - (theft).
• Sometimes laws can be immoral( apartheid).
• Difference between ethics and law
• If legal rules are broken, you are punished by court of law. go
to page 6 SG
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW

•flexiquiz.com/live
•access code:
•3086925
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• LEGAL SUBJECTS AND RIGHTS
• 1. Natural Persons=Human Beings (Where does it start)
• 2. Juristic Persons = Legal Entities
• RIGHTS!!!!!!!!
• Real Right: A real right is right in respect of a thing that can be
enforced against everyone.
• Personal Right: A right to specific performance
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• Real Rights:
• Right over Physical material things we can touch.
• Examples: ownership, pledge servitude.
• Ownership: Owner can do anything he wants with it. Sell,
destroy, use give away=Powers of the right
• Pledge: Give a movable thing security for a debt.
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• Personal rights:
• Right specific to performance/claim=includes
doing something and not doing something.
• Example: delivery, payment, restraint of trade. go
to page 8 SG
 UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND OF
SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
• Connection between law and rights:
• NB! Always remember that the content of a right is
limited.
• Law prescribes the content of the right(powers)and
the limits to the content of the right.
• Balance: Right(holder) and duty(other legal subject).