Vishal Surbun

The Eduard Bohlen is a ship that was wrecked off the coast of Namibia in 1909. Today, the wreck — unhindered by human interference — lies about half a kilometre inland, along with numerous other documented wreckages found several hundred metres inland along stretches of the Skeleton Coast. On the east coast of the subcontinent, in the Maputo Bay of Mozambique, the Portuguese colonial administration installed artillery on the Xefina Grande Island during the Second World War. The artillery was placed 600 metres from the shoreline at the time. Today, it is reported that the cannons are almost submerged beneath the sea. Along the coast adjacent to the capital city Maputo, an access road to the Costa do Sol beach was constructed in 1957 at a minimum distance of 20 metres and a maximum of 65 metres from the shoreline — with protection offered by a seawall and Eucalyptus trees. In a recent survey, it was d...

Alongside the widely accepted definition of maritime piracy, the phrase hostis humani generis or “enemies of all humankind” has been frequently used in piracy jurisprudence and scholarship. This contribution traverses the historical usage of the phrase in academic commentaries and finds that while a literal translation of the phrase has mostly remained the same over the centuries, there has been no consistent definition and contextualisation of the term “enemy”. In this context, the contribution then investigates whether the phrase is a reliable epithet, and whether it should be seen as part of the definition of “pirate”.

South Africa’s re-entry into the international arena has led to the ratification of several global and regional maritime instruments. In addition, South Africa has been admitted to various international institutions and fora in the maritime space. A key consideration in this regard is whether there is an underlying global maritime foreign policy that underscores South Africa’s contributions, interactions and responsibilities in these fora. South Africa does not have a global maritime foreign policy which is contained in an explicit policy document. This article therefore charts how various domestic and continental policy documents and ministerial statements thread together a foundational base for a global maritime foreign policy. What emerges is the primacy of African interests as the golden thread of this foundational base. The article then considers South Africa’s practical engagement through a description and categorisation of its membership of global and regional organisations in the maritime realm. The article finally narrows the focus to one organisation, the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) as a platform to consolidate the foundations for a global maritime foreign policy for South Africa. The article concludes by pointing out nuanced factors that should be acknowledged for South Africa to exercise strategic power and influence over policy in the global and regional maritime realm.

Section 152(1)(e) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, provides that one of the objectives of local government is “to encourage the involvement of communities and community organizations in local government”. This objective is further entrenched in section 16 of the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, which requires that municipalities must develop a culture of participation by the community, and create mechanisms, processes and procedures accordingly. These obligations gave rise to a number of interesting questions. One of these is whether the local sphere of government is obliged to facilitate public participation in its legislative andexecutive functions. This issue was considered by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Democratic Alliance v eThekwini Municipality (2012 (2) SA 151 (SCA)). In this case, the SCA had to decide whether two decisions taken by the eThekwini Municipality to rename certain streets in Durban were, first, lawful and second, rational. Be...