legalis-za

South Africa / Suid-Afrika - Legal System Support for Legalis-RS

Version 0.1.3 - Constitution, Companies Act, POPIA, Labour Relations

Overview / Oorsig

legalis-za provides comprehensive support for the South African legal system within the Legalis-RS framework. South Africa has a mixed legal system combining Roman-Dutch civil law, English common law, and indigenous customary law, all subject to the supreme Constitution.

South African Legal System / Suid-Afrikaanse Regstelsel

The South African legal system is characterized by:

• Mixed legal system - Roman-Dutch civil law and English common law
• Constitutional supremacy - Constitution of 1996 is the supreme law
• Bill of Rights - Chapter 2 contains justiciable fundamental rights
• Customary law - Recognized and applied subject to the Constitution
• Transformative constitutionalism - Aimed at addressing historical injustices

Comparison with Other Legal Systems

Implemented Features / Geïmplementeerde Kenmerke

✅ Constitution / Grondwet

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996

• ✅ Chapter 2: Bill of Rights (ss 7-39)
  • Equality (s 9)
  • Human dignity (s 10)
  • Life (s 11)
  • Freedom and security (s 12)
  • Privacy (s 14)
  • Freedom of expression (s 16)
  • Labour rights (s 23)
  • Property (s 25)
• ✅ Limitation of rights (s 36)
• ✅ Interpretation (s 39)
• ✅ Horizontal application (s 8)

use legalis_za::constitution::{FundamentalRight, LimitationAnalysis};

let claim = ConstitutionalClaim::new()
    .right(FundamentalRight::Equality) // Section 9
    .applicant("Affected Person")
    .respondent("State Department")
    .build()?;

// Section 36 limitation analysis
let limitation = LimitationAnalysis::new()
    .nature_of_right(RightNature::Core)
    .importance_of_purpose(true)
    .nature_and_extent_of_limitation(LimitationExtent::Significant)
    .relation_between_limitation_and_purpose(true)
    .less_restrictive_means_available(false)
    .build()?;

assert!(limitation.is_justified());

✅ Companies Act / Maatskappywet

Companies Act 71 of 2008

• ✅ Company types (Profit: Ltd, Pty Ltd; Non-profit: NPC)
• ✅ Incorporation and registration (CIPC)
• ✅ Directors' duties (s 76)
• ✅ Business rescue (Chapter 6)
• ✅ Shareholder remedies (oppression remedy s 163)
• ✅ MOI (Memorandum of Incorporation)

use legalis_za::companies::{Company, CompanyType, validate_incorporation};

let company = Company::new()
    .name("Tech Solutions (Pty) Ltd")
    .company_type(CompanyType::PrivateCompany) // (Pty) Ltd
    .directors(vec!["Director 1"]) // Minimum 1 for Pty Ltd
    .registered_office("Johannesburg, Gauteng")
    .build()?;

assert!(validate_incorporation(&company).is_ok());

✅ POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act)

Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013

• ✅ 8 Conditions for lawful processing
• ✅ Data subject rights
• ✅ Responsible party obligations
• ✅ Information Officer registration
• ✅ Trans-border information flows
• ✅ Special personal information

use legalis_za::data_protection::{DataProcessing, LawfulBasis, validate_processing};

let processing = DataProcessing::new()
    .responsible_party("Data Company (Pty) Ltd")
    .purpose("Customer service")
    .lawful_basis(LawfulBasis::Consent)
    .data_categories(vec!["name", "ID number", "address"])
    .information_officer_registered(true)
    .build()?;

assert!(validate_processing(&processing).is_ok());

✅ Labour Relations / Arbeidsverhoudinge

Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995

• ✅ Unfair dismissal protection
• ✅ Unfair labour practices
• ✅ CCMA dispute resolution
• ✅ Collective bargaining
• ✅ Strikes and lockouts
• ✅ Organisational rights

Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997

• ✅ Working hours (45 hours/week maximum)
• ✅ Leave (annual, sick, family responsibility, maternity)
• ✅ Overtime and pay
• ✅ Notice periods

Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998

• ✅ Prohibition of unfair discrimination
• ✅ Affirmative action
• ✅ Employment equity plans

use legalis_za::labor::{Employment, DismissalAnalysis};

let employment = Employment::new()
    .employee_name("John Mokoena")
    .employer("Manufacturing Co (Pty) Ltd")
    .monthly_salary(25_000) // ZAR
    .tenure_years(5)
    .build()?;

// Analyse dismissal fairness (LRA)
let dismissal = DismissalAnalysis::new()
    .reason(DismissalReason::Misconduct)
    .fair_procedure_followed(true)
    .substantively_fair(true)
    .build()?;

assert!(dismissal.is_fair());

✅ B-BBEE (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment)

Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003

• ✅ Scorecard elements
• ✅ B-BBEE levels (1-8 + Non-compliant)
• ✅ Ownership requirements
• ✅ Skills development
• ✅ Enterprise and supplier development

📊 Current Implementation Status

Version 0.1.3 Statistics:

• ✅ Modules: 6 modules (constitution, companies, data_protection, labor, common, citation)
• ✅ Constitution: Bill of Rights and limitation analysis
• ✅ POPIA: Full compliance framework
• ✅ Companies Act: Incorporation and governance
• ✅ Labour Law: LRA, BCEA, EEA framework

🚧 Planned Features

• 📋 Consumer Protection Act
• 📋 National Credit Act
• 📋 Tax legislation (Income Tax Act, VAT Act)
• 📋 Environmental law (NEMA)
• 📋 Mining law (MPRDA)

Dependencies / Afhanklikhede

• chrono - Date/time handling
• serde - Serialization
• thiserror - Error handling

License / Lisensie

MIT OR Apache-2.0

Related Links / Verwante Skakels

• Government Gazette
• Constitutional Court
• CIPC (Companies)
• CCMA
• Information Regulator (POPIA)
• GitHub: cool-japan/legalis