SCL1502/101/3/2016

Tutorial Letter 101/3/2016

Research Literacy for Law

SCL1502

Semesters 1& 2

Department of Jurisprudence

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Please activate your myUnisa and myLife e-mail addresses and ensure that you
have regular access to the myUnisa module site SCL1502-2015-S1 (first
semester students) or SCL1502-2015-S2 (second semester students) as well as
your group site.

Note: This is an online module and therefore it is available on myUnisa. However, in order to
support you in your learning process, we will also send you some study materials in printed
format.
 CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
2 OVERVIEW OF THIS MODULE: SCL1502 ..................................................................................4
2.1 Purpose..................................................................................................................................4
2.2 Outcomes...............................................................................................................................4
3 LECTURERS AND CONTACT DETAILS .....................................................................................4
3.1 Lecturers ................................................................................................................................4
3.2 University ...............................................................................................................................4
4 MODULE-RELATED RESOURCES .............................................................................................5
4.1 Joining myUnisa .....................................................................................................................5
4.2 Other resources – Printed support materials ..........................................................................5
5 HOW TO STUDY THIS MODULE ONLINE ..................................................................................5
5.1 What it means to study fully online .........................................................................................5
5.2 The myUnisa tools you will use ..............................................................................................6
6 ASSESSMENT .............................................................................................................................6
6.1 Assessment plan ....................................................................................................................6
6.2 General assignment numbers ...............................................................................................7
6.2.1 Unique assignment numbers .......................................................................... 7
6.2.2 Due dates for assignments ............................................................................ 7
6.3 Submission of assignments ............................................................................................... 8
6.4 Assignments ...................................................................................................................... 8
6.5 Assessment of assignments .............................................................................................. 9
7 CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................9
8 ADDENDUM .................................................................................................................. 10

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1 INTRODUCTION
Dear Student
We are pleased to welcome you to this module and hope that you will find it both interesting and
rewarding. You will be well on your way to success if you start studying early in the semester.
Take time to do the assignments properly. These include two formative assignments and one
summative assignment. All assignments must be submitted! The latter is a research portfolio
and forms the formal examination for this module. Therefore, there will be no venue-based
sit-down exam for this subject, only a research portfolio.
Because this is an online module, you need to use myUnisa to study and complete the learning
activities for this module. You need to visit the myUnisa website for SCL1502 frequently. The
website for your module is SCL1502-15-S1 (first semester students) or SCL1502-15-S2 (second
semester students).

Because this is an online module, you need to go online to access your study materials and
read what to do for the module. Go to the website https://my.unisa.ac.za and log in with your
student number and password. You will see SCL1502-2015-S1 or SCL1502-2015-S2 in the row
of modules in the orange blocks across the top of the webpage. Remember also to check in the
-more- tab if you cannot find it in the orange blocks. Click on the module you want to open.

Note: Some of your tutorial matter may not be available when you register. Tutorial matter that
is not available when you register will be posted to you as soon as possible, but is always
available on myUnisa.
Study guide: The study guide contains the study material you will need for this module. Make
sure that you study it carefully and do all the activities it contains.

Tutorial Letter 101: This tutorial letter contains important information about administrative
arrangements as well as the first two assignments for this module. We urge you to read it
carefully and to keep it at hand when working through the study material, completing the
assignments, preparing for the examination and addressing questions to your lecturers.

Tutorial Letter 301: Please read Tutorial Letter 301 in combination with Tutorial Letter 101 as it
provides you with important general information on studying at Unisa and, specifically, within
the College of Law.

Additional tutorial letters that you may expect later in the semester will include, for example,
feedback on the assignments. We would like to point out that you must read all the tutorial
letters you receive during the semester immediately and carefully, as they always contain
important and, sometimes, urgent information. Also, take note that the tutorial letters you
receive form part of your study material and should be taken into account when you prepare
for the examination.

myUnisa and the internet: Remember that myUnisa provides you with additional opportunities
to take part in activities and discussions of relevance to this module and gives you easy access
to assignments and your results. However, you must be registered on myUnisa to be able to
submit assignments, gain access to the library functions and various learning resources,
download study material, “chat” online to fellow students about your studies and the challenges
you encounter, and participate in online discussion forums. An announcement will be sent out
on how to access myUnisa.

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We hope that you will enjoy this module and wish you all the best!

2 OVERVIEW OF THIS MODULE: SCL1502

2.1 Purpose
The purpose of this module is for students to gain the fundamental knowledge and skills
necessary to conduct research in the various fields of law.
2.2 Outcomes
This module is directed at equipping students with the fundamental skills necessary for legal
research to enable them to
• understand what legal research is
• understand the different phases of legal research and the interconnectedness of these
phases
• approach the legal research process systematically
• identify and interpret authoritative sources of South African law
• analyse case law or a problem in South African law
• evaluate writing and citation of sources independently

3 LECTURERS AND CONTACT DETAILS

3.1 Lecturers

The lecturers responsible for this module are:

Mr MR Phooko (module leader)

Brooklyn House, Office 2-14

E-mail: phookmr@unisa.ac.za
Tel: 012 433 9517

Mr KH Raligilia

Brooklyn House, Office 2-32

E-mail: raligkh@unisa.ac.za
Tel: 012 433 9444

3.2 University

General Unisa contact details can be found in the My studies @ Unisa brochure, which you
should have received upon registration. Remember to use your student number when you
contact the university.

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4 MODULE-RELATED RESOURCES
4.1 Joining myUnisa
If you have access to a computer that is linked to the internet, you can quickly access resources
and information at the university. The myUnisa learning management system is Unisa's online
campus that will help you to communicate with your lecturers, with other students and with the
administrative departments of Unisa – all through the computer and the internet.
You now need to register your account with myUnisa so that you can start using it. This is how
you do it:

• Go to https://my.unisa.ac.za

• On the left-hand side, click on “Claim UNISA Login”

• Follow the steps required

• Then click on “Join myUnisa” and follow the steps required

4.2 Other resources – Printed support materials

Because we want you to be successful in this online module, we also provide you with some of
the study materials in printed format. This will allow you to read the study materials, even if you
are not online.

• These printed study materials will be sent to you at the beginning of the semester, but you
do not have to wait to receive them to start studying – You can go online as soon as you
register and all your study materials will be there.

• Therefore, the printed materials are not something that you need to wait for before you
start with the module. It is only an offline copy of the formal content for the online module.

It is therefore very important that you log into myUnisa regularly. We recommend that you
should do this at least every week to check for the following:

• Check for new announcements. You can also set up your myLife e-mail so that you
receive the announcement e-mail on your cellphone.
• Do online activities, as required. For some of the study unit activities, you may be
required to go to a discussion forum.

We hope that this system will help you to succeed in this online module by giving you extra
ways to study the materials and practice with all of the activities and assignments. At the same
time, you MUST go online in order to complete the activities and assignments on time – and to
get the most from the online module.

Remember, the printed support materials are a backup of everything that is found online on
myUnisa. It does not contain anything extra. In other words, you should NOT wait for the
printed support materials to arrive to start studying.

5 HOW TO STUDY THIS MODULE ONLINE

5.1 What it means to study fully online
These modules are taught online – this means that it is totally different from some of your other
modules at Unisa.

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• This means that all your study materials and learning activities are designed to be
online, on myUnisa. Even though we give you a printed copy to support your studies, the
module is designed to be completed online.

• This means that all of your assignments must be submitted online. It means that you
do all your activities and submit all your assignment on myUnisa. In other words, you
CANNOT post your assignments through the South African Postal Service.

• This means that all of the communication between yourself and the university also
happens online – by e-mail, in Discussions and through Questions and Answers. You can
use all of these ways to ask questions and contact your lecturers. This also means that
your lecturers will communicate with you in the same way – through e-mails, with
Announcements, in Discussions and with Questions and Answers.

5.2 The myUnisa tools you will use

It is important to stress the tools that will be used for your formal assignments.

• Assignments: You will have to complete three written assignments in this module. The
third one is a research portfolio and will form the examination component of this module.
These assignments require you to type the written assignment and submit it online in PDF
format the same manner you submit all other assignments online. These typed
assignments must be submitted as a PDF document using the online Assignments tool
on myUnisa.
We will create nine discussion forums for this module, one for social interaction between
students in this module and the others which will be used by the lecturers to address certain
topics and engage with the students on these topics.

6 ASSESSMENT
6.1 Assessment plan
How the assessment system works: Only students who submit both the compulsory
assignments on or before the date of submission will be admitted to the examination. If you do
not submit the assignments, you will not be admitted to the examination.

Both Assignments 01 and 02 will be taken into account for your year mark. Your year
mark constitutes 20% of your final mark. You need to obtain at least 40% in the examination
before your year mark will be taken into account.

How will this work in practice?

• Your YEAR MARK counts 20% (Assignment 01 counts 10% and Assignment 02 counts
10%) of your final mark.
• Your EXAMINATION MARK counts 80% of your final mark.
• Your FINAL MARK for the module will thus be calculated as follows:
20% (year mark) + 80% (examination mark) = 100% (final mark).

Very important: Please note that the examination for this module is not venue based. In other
words, you will not go to an exam venue and sit there to write the exam. Instead, you will get an
exam assignment that you need to complete and your exam mark will be based on that.

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6.2 General assignment numbers

You have to submit two compulsory assignments for this module – Assignment 01 and
Assignment 02. Assignment 03 is your examination assignment and must also be submitted
before the due date.

6.2.1 Unique assignment numbers

In addition to the general assignment number, each assignment has a unique number. These
unique numbers appear on the assignments below. Please ensure that this unique number is
clearly indicated on the assignments that you submit to the university.

6.2.2 Due dates for assignments

Please note that NO ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED after the relevant due date. Also,
please note that your lecturers cannot grant any extension for the late submission of
assignments. Please stick to the due dates. This means that you should take into account the
submission dates for Assignments 01 and 02 when planning your study schedule. It also means
that you must plan ahead.

The closing dates for the submission of assignments are:

● First semester

Assignment 01: 09 March 2016 (unique number: 727366)

Assignment 02: 29 March 2016 (unique number: 779205)
Assignment 03 (exam): 20 May 2016 (unique number: 751468)

● Second semester

Assignment 01: 2 September 2016 (unique number: 711705)

Assignment 02: 16 September 2016 (unique number: 837040)
Assignment 03 (exam): 7 October 2016 (unique number: 798546)

6.3 Submission of assignments

Assignments may not be submitted by fax, e-mail or post.

You must submit your assignments electronically via myUnisa.

For detailed information on assignments, please refer to the My studies @ Unisa

brochure, which you received with your study package, or the myUnisa website.

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 To submit an assignment via myUnisa:
• Go to myUnisa
• Log in with your student number and password
• Select the module
• Click on “Assignments” in the menu on the left-hand side of the screen
• Click on the assignment number you wish to submit
• Follow the instructions

6.4 Assignments

Assignments and learning

Assignments are regarded as part of the learning material for this module. When you do your
assignments, study the study units, discuss the work with fellow students, participate in the
discussion forums on myUnisa or do research, you are actively engaged in learning.

The assignments

IMPORTANT:

Both assignments are compulsory assignments and must be submitted on or before

the due date to gain access to the examination. Both Assignments 01 and 02 will
count towards your year mark.

Your lecturers do not have the authority to grant extension of time for the
submission of assignments.

All three assignments are written assignments. Commentary on the first two assignments will
be sent to all students and will be posted on myUnisa. Please note that you will be evaluated on
your writing skills in all your assignments.

Please check your answers as soon as you receive the commentary. Doing the assignments
and carefully studying the commentary on them constitute an important part of your learning
and should help you to be better prepared for the examination.

You will receive your exam assignment shortly after the submission date for Assignment 02. All
instructions regarding the form and content of the question for the assignment (and therefore for
the examination) will be contained in this tutorial letter. The assignment/examination will also be
posted on myUnisa and an announcement will be sent out to inform you that the tutorial letter
has been uploaded.

6.5 Assessment of assignments

Although students may work together when preparing assignments, each student must write
and submit his or her own individual assignment. In other words, you must submit your own
ideas in your own words. It is unacceptable for students to submit identical assignments on the
basis that they worked together. That is copying (a form of plagiarism) and none of these

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assignments will be marked. Furthermore, you may be penalised or subjected to disciplinary

proceedings by the university.

Please note that, in addition to your knowledge of the content of a module, you will also be
assessed on your writing and language skills. It is therefore important that you pay attention to
formulation (sentence construction) and language (spelling, grammar, punctuation) when
completing the assignment. Also note that cellphone language is not acceptable. Marks could
be deducted for poor writing skills.

7 CONCLUSION

We trust that you will enjoy this module. Please remember that you are welcome to contact any
of your lecturers for this module, should you have any questions relating to the content of this
module. We wish you success with your studies.

Kind regards

SCL1502 lecturers.

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8 ADDENDUM

General requirements for all assignments in SCL1502

1. All assignments must be typed and properly formatted.

2. All assignments must contain footnotes in the prescribed format.
3. Assignments that contain plagiarism will not be marked and may, in addition, lead to
disciplinary action by the university.
4. Remember that spelling, grammar and general language usage will also be assessed
and will form part of your final mark.

8.1 Assignments for the first semester

FIRST SEMESTER: ASSIGNMENT 01

CLOSING DATE: 09 March 2016
UNIQUE NUMBER: 727366

Answer the following questions, keeping the general instructions above in mind.

Question 1

Find the case Maphango and Others v Aengus Lifestyle Properties (Pty) Ltd 2012 (3) SA 531
(CC) and summarise it in the prescribed format. Include the relevant headings in your
summary. (8)

Question 2
Maphango and Others v Aengus Lifestyle Properties (Pty) Ltd 2012 (3) SA 531 (CC) deals with
the right to have access to adequate housing. Find any book written on South African law
which deals with access to adequate housing, and cite the book in the exact prescribed format
of citation. (2)

TOTAL: [10]

FIRST SEMESTER: ASSIGNMENT 02

CLOSING DATE: 29 March 2016
UNIQUE NUMBER: 779205

Do research on the constitutionality of ukuthwala custom in South Africa with specific reference to
the rights to privacy, human dignity and education and write an essay of 2 – 3 pages.

Your essay must include footnotes in the prescribed format and a bibliography. You must consult
and use at least one book, one journal article, one Act of parliament and one court case in your
essay. (20)

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The following criteria will be used to assess your essay:

Use of language and formulation of sentences (5 marks)

Consistently following the correct style of reference in the footnotes (5 marks)
Quality of content (5 marks)
Correct use of sources (5 marks)

TOTAL: [20

8.2 Assignments for the second semester

SECOND SEMESTER: ASSIGNMENT 01

CLOSING DATE: 2 September 2016
UNIQUE NUMBER: 711705

Answer the following questions, keeping the general instructions above in mind.

Question 1
Find the case Kievits Kroon Country Estate (Pty) Ltd v Mmoledi and Others 2014 (1) SA 585
(SCA) and summarise it in the prescribed format. Include the relevant headings in your
summary. (8)

Question 2
Kievits Kroon Country Estate (Pty) Ltd v Mmoledi and Others 2014 (1) SA 585 (SCA) deals with
a labour dispute emanating from a cultural practice. Find any book written on South African
law which deals with labour law and cite the book in the exact prescribed format of citation.
(2)

TOTAL: [10]

SECOND SEMESTER: ASSIGNMENT 02

CLOSING DATE: 16 September 2016
UNIQUE NUMBER: 837040

A wronged spouse may no longer sue for damages based on adultery in South African law. This follows a
unanimous decision by the judges of the Constitutional Court that marriage is based on the concept of two
willing parties and where the relationship breaks down it is not appropriate for the law to intervene in the
parties’ intimate personal affairs. South Africa has joined a string of countries all over the world including
England, New Zealand, Scotland, and Canada amongst many, where adultery is no longer a criminal
offence. Some of the African countries where it is still a legal offence are Cameroon, Kenya, Botswana,
Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Write a 2 – 3 page essay and discuss the law applicable to adultery in South
Africa.

Your essay must include footnotes in the prescribed format and a bibliography. You must consult
and use at least one book, one journal article, one Act of parliament and one court case in your
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essay. (20)

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The following criteria will be used to assess your essay:

Use of language and formulation of sentences (5 marks)

Consistently following the correct style of reference in the footnotes (5 marks)
Quality of content (5 marks)
Correct use of sources (5 marks)

TOTAL: [20]

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