Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Constitutional Law
CSL2601
Semesters 1 and 2
BARCODE
CSL2601/101/3/2023
CONTENTS
Page
1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................4
2 PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES ........................................................................................................5
2.1 Purpose ...........................................................................................................................................5
2.2 Outcomes ........................................................................................................................................5
3 CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION .............................................................................................6
4 CONTACTING THE UNIVERSITY VIA EMAIL ...............................................................................7
4.2 Lecturer(s) .......................................................................................................................................8
4.4 College of Law Information Centre ........................................................................................................8
4.5 University .........................................................................................................................................8
5 RESOURCES ................................................................................................................................10
5.1 Prescribed book(s) ........................................................................................................................10
5.2 Electronic reserves (e-reserves)....................................................................................................10
6 STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES ................................................................................................11
6.1 The Unisa First-Year Experience Programme...............................................................................11
6.2 Companies falsely advertising Unisa services ...............................................................................12
7 STUDY PLAN ...............................................................................................................................12
8 PRACTICAL WORK .....................................................................................................................12
9 ASSESSMENT ..............................................................................................................................12
9.1 Assessment criteria .......................................................................................................................12
9.2 Assessment plan ...........................................................................................................................12
9.3 Assessment due dates ..................................................................................................................13
9.4 Submission of assessments ..........................................................................................................13
9.5 The assessments ..........................................................................................................................14
9.6 Other assessment methods...........................................................................................................14
9.7 The examination ............................................................................................................................14
10 ACADEMIC DISHONESTY ...........................................................................................................14
10.1 Plagiarism ......................................................................................................................................14
10.2 Cheating ........................................................................................................................................15
10.3 For more information about plagiarism, follow the link below: .......................................................15
10.4 Academic and Administrative matters ...........................................................................................15
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Dear Student
1 INTRODUCTION
Teaching and learning in an ODeL context involve multiple modes of delivery ranging from blended
learning to fully online. As a default position, all post-graduate programmes are offered fully online
with no printed study materials, while undergraduate programmes are offered in a blended mode of
delivery where printed study materials are augmented with online teaching and learning via the
learner management system – myUnisa. In some instances, undergraduate programmes are offered
fully online as well.
CSL2601 is a blended module where printed study materials are augmented with online teaching
and learning via the learner management system – myUnisa. You are required to purchase the
prescribed textbook: Pierre de Vos and Warren Freedman (et al) South African Constitutional Law
in Context 2nd ed (Oxford University Press, 2021), which is to be studied in conjunction with Tutorial
Letter 102. Despite being a blended module, myUnisa is use as a virtual campus. This is an online
system that is used to administer, document, and deliver educational material to you and support
engagement with you. You are encouraged to log into the CSL2601 module site on myUnisa
regularly.
Furthermore, our programmes are aligned with the vision, mission and values of the University.
Unisa's commitment to serving humanity and shape futures combined with a clear appreciation of
our location on the African continent, Unisa's graduates have distinctive graduate qualities which
include
• independent, resilient, responsible and caring citizens who are able to fulfil and serve in
multiple roles in their immediate and future local, national and global communities
• having a critical understanding of their location on the African continent with its histories,
challenges and potential in relation to globally diverse contexts
• the ability to critically analyse and evaluate the credibility and usefulness of information and
data from multiple sources in a globalised world with its ever-increasing information and data
flows and competing worldviews
• how to apply their discipline-specific knowledges competently, ethically and creatively to solve
real-life problems
• an awareness of their own learning and developmental needs and future potential
Whether a module is offered either as blended (meaning that we use a combination of printed and
online material to engage with you) or online (all information is available via the internet), we use
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myUnisa as our virtual campus. This is an online system that is used to administer, document and
deliver educational material to you and support engagement with you. Look out for information from
your lecturer as well as other Unisa platforms to determine how to access the virtual myUnisa module
site. Information on the tools that will be available to engage with the lecturer and fellow students to
support your learning will also be communicated via various platforms.
The objective of constitutional law is to inculcate a culture of thinking citizens, who can function
effectively, creatively and ethically as part of a democratic society … [with] an understanding of their
society, and be able to participate fully in its political, social and cultural life. Our approach is that we
afford you optimal opportunities for learning with the intention of making complex information
understandable, relevant and personally important.
You are encouraged to log into the module site on myUnisa regularly (that is, at least twice per
week).
You will succeed in your constitutional law studies if you are able to:
▪ locate, identify and extract the concepts, principles and rules of constitutional law from a
variety of sources, in particular textbooks, statutes, law reports and journal articles.
▪ present written arguments that demonstrate your understanding of the concepts, principles
and rules of constitutional law.
▪ analyse judgments of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and the High
Courts, so as to list, summarise, apply and judge the constitutional concepts, principles and
rules articulated and developed by the courts.
▪ analyse the facts of legal problems to identify the nature of the problem, explain the
appropriate legal concepts, principles and rules and correctly apply these concepts, principles
and rules to demonstrate an ability to analyse and solve problem questions.
Ideally, however, you should be able to provide a broad and comprehensive depth of understanding
of the material, particularly if you are registered for the LLB degree, of which CSL2601 is a core
compulsory module worth 12 credits.
2.2 Outcomes
As a dynamic subject that develops continuously due to binding judicial precedent set in cases
concerning the interpretation and application of the Constitution, constitutional law includes far more
than simply what is contained in the textbook South African constitutional law in context. When
studying CSL2601, you are expected to achieve a number of outcomes, such as:
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- ensuring that you recognise the obligation imposed upon you as responsible citizens to keep
the government in check
- demonstrating your understanding of the mutually supporting relationship between a sovereign
state’s internal and external utterances, thus ensuring that the international law commitments
that South Africa has voluntarily undertaken – and compliance therewith – conform fully with
the Constitution;
- identifying when the theory contained in the Constitution or other law does not cohere with
practice, specifically with regard to executive conduct performed when implementing law.
To pass CSL2601, a pass mark of at least 50% is required. You will pass if you are able to:
▪ identify legal principles correctly and articulate/explain them in a fundamentally accurate way;
▪ analyse substantive law in a fundamentally accurate way and display adequate understanding;
▪ express yourself in language that is of an acceptable level, without plagiarizing; and
▪ communicate your solutions to the issues and questions by making use of appropriate
information technology and using the correct format so that the work is presented in a
professional manner that illustrates awareness of cognate fields.
3 CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION
To this end, Unisa has implemented a transformation charter based on five pillars and eight
dimensions. Curriculum transformation is high on the agenda. Curriculum transformation includes
the following pillars: student-centred scholarship, the pedagogical renewal of teaching and
assessment practices, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and the infusion of African
epistemologies and philosophies. The relevance of this to constitutional law cannot be
underestimated. It is therefore appropriate to quote Frantz Fanon in The Wretched of the Earth to
provide context: For colonialism’s ‘systematic negation of the other person and a furious
determination to deny the other person all attributes of humanity,’1 the dominated inevitably and
constantly ask themselves: ‘In reality, who am I?’2 ‘To decolonize’, contends John Murungi, ‘is to
remove the harm that has been done by colonialism.’3 ‘No human being has been unaffected in the
process of colonization’, he continues, and, hence, we all must undergo the process of
decolonisation. ‘As human beings, our human dignity is indivisible. No one can wholly make a case
for one’s wellbeing without making a case for the wellbeing of all other human beings.’4
1
Robert JC Young Postcolonialism (2003) Oxford University Press 139.
2
Frantz Fanon The Wretched of the Earth (1969) Grove Press 182.
3
John Murungi African Philosophical Currents (2018) Routledge 99.
4
Murungi (n 3 above) 106.
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become the dehumanizers. Post-colonial African provides ample evidence to demonstrate that this is
indeed the case. Dehumanization is not an invention of the colonizers. It predates them and most likely
it is bound to happen in future.5
As Murungi warns: ‘What ought to be increasingly clear is that dehumanization can be done in the
name of law.’6 ‘It is a matter of knowing what was done to Africans in the name of law for law is
nothing more than what is done in its name.’7 In the words of Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni, ‘denying
others humanity is the highest form of barbarism.’8 Framing Murungi’s perspective is the knowledge
that ‘the life of law in Africa is not only a central feature of life in Africa but also a mirror of African
life in general.’9
Murungi then puts it at its most quintessential:
At stake in the decolonization of African law is the decolonization of the African. Every legal theory is
an anthropology. It is a statement on how a human being is to be construed. It is a statement on what
it is to be a human being. Law is superficially understood if it is viewed as nothing more than a special
type of a rule or a special body of rules. When understood as a statement or expression of what it is to
be a human being, then, decolonization … calls for decolonization of the African.
Importantly, ‘[l]aw as a special type of rule or as a special type of body of rules must have as its aim to
be in the service of decolonizing the African.’10 As such, it is our wish that you will embrace the challenge
of being part of the process of decolonising South African law by understanding and interpreting the law
in a manner that is consistent with the objectives of transformative constitutionalism, including adherence
to the rule of law, social justice and constitutionalism.
• New applicants who are enquiring about information for the purpose of applying for
admission.
• New applicants who do not yet have a myLife e-mail account, because they have been
admitted but not yet registered.
5
Ibid 100-101.
6
Ibid.
7
Iibd 99.
8
Sabelo J Ndlovu-Gatsheni ‘Racism and “blackism” on a world scale’ in Olivia U Rutazibwa and Robbie Shilliam (eds)
Routledge Handbook of Postcolonial Politics (2018) Routledge 75. Murungi (n 3 above) 98.
9
Ibid.
10
Ibid.
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• Where a student requires assistance in resolving myLife e-mail account access
problems.
Please be aware that any personal information you publish on public platforms, such as social media
platforms and WhatsApp groups, is not covered by the provisions of Protection of Personal
Information Act 4 of 2013. Any personal information published in the public domain is not considered
private and can, therefore be accessed by external parties with access to such platforms.
4.2 Lecturer(s)
Mr Paul Mudau Room 7-46, Cas van Vuuren Building, 012 429 3111
Muckleneuk campus, Unisarand, Tshwane 0003 mudaufp@unisa.ac.za
4.3 Department
Dr Aubrey Manthwa Room 7-10, Cas van Vuuren Building, 012 429 8339
(Chair of Department) Muckleneuk campus, Unisarand, Tshwane 0003 manthat@unisa.ac.za
Mrs Mapula Senona Room 7-08, Cas van Vuuren Building, 012 429 8339
(Secretary) Muckleneuk campus, Unisarand, Tshwane 0003 matlawm1@unisa.ac.za
To contact the university, please dial 080 000 1870. Remember to keep your student number at
hand when contacting the university. The Unisa Student Communication Service Centre will be open
weekdays from 08:00 – 16:00 (South African Standard Time).
Please send all emails from your mylife email account. If you send an e-mail directly to a Unisa
e-mail address, insert your student number in the subject line to effect the correct routing to an
advisor for processing. Please check the list carefully and send an enquiry to one e-mail
address only. This will ensure that there is no confusion as to who must respond, thereby preventing
unnecessary delays in the response or the email portrayed as spam. Students should only forward
enquiries to the Registrar and Deputy Registrar in instances where those enquiries could not be
resolved at other levels.
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Contact addresses of the various administrative departments appear on the Unisa website:
http://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Contact-us/Student-enquiries.
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5 RESOURCES
5.1 Prescribed book(s)
Pierre de Vos & Warren Freedman (eds), Zsa-Zsa Boggenpoel, Lisa Draga, Christopher Gevers,
Karthy Govender, Patricia Lenaghan, Sindiso Mnisi Weeks, Catherine S. Namakula, Nomthandazo
Ntlama, Douglas Mailula, Khulekani Moyo, Sanele Sibanda & Lee Stone South African Constitutional
Law in Context 2 ed Oxford University Press (2021)
5.2 Electronic reserves (e-reserves)
E-reserves can be downloaded from the library catalogue. More information is available at:
http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/request/request
Recommended guides:
This brochure contains important information and guidelines for successful studies through Unisa.
If you need assistance with regard to the myModules system, you are welcome to use the following
contact details:
You can access and view short videos on topics such as how to view your calendar, how to access
module content, how to view announcements for modules, how to submit assessment and how to
participate in forum activities via the following link: https://dtls-
qa.unisa.ac.za/course/view.php?id=32130
Registered Unisa students get a free myLife e-mail account. Important information, notices and
updates are sent exclusively to this account. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours for your
account to be activated after you have claimed it. Please do this immediately after registering
at Unisa, by following this link: myLifeHelp@unisa.ac.za
Your myLife account is the only e-mail account recognised by Unisa for official correspondence
with the university, and will remain the official primary e-mail address on record at Unisa. You
remain responsible for the management of this e-mail account.
Many students find the transition from school education to tertiary education stressful. This is also true in the
case of students enrolling at Unisa for the first time. Unisa is a dedicated open distance and e-learning
institution, and it is very different from face-to-face/contact institutions. It is a mega university, and all our
programmes are offered through either blended learning or fully online learning. It is for this reason that we
thought it necessary to offer first-time students additional/extended support to help them seamlessly navigate
the Unisa teaching and learning journey with little difficulty and few barriers. We therefore offer a specialised
student support programme to students enrolling at Unisa for the first time – this is Unisa’s First-Year
Experience (FYE) Programme, designed to provide you with prompt and helpful information about services
that the institution offers and how you can access information. The following FYE services are currently
offered:
• FYE website: All the guides and resources you need in order to navigate through your first
year at Unisa can be accessed using the following link: www.unisa.ac.za/FYE
• FYE e-mails: You will receive regular e-mails to help you stay focused and motivated.
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• FYE broadcasts: You will receive e-mails with links to broadcasts on various topics related to
your first-year studies (e.g. videos on how to submit assessments online).
• FYE mailbox: For assistance with queries related to your first year of study, send an e-mail
to fye@unisa.ac.za .
• www.unisa.ac.za
• https://my.unisa.ac.za
• https://www.facebook.com/UniversityOfSouthAfrica
• https://twitter.com/unisa
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/unisa
7 STUDY PLAN
For this module you only need to study Chapters 1 to 8 of the prescribed textbook.
8 PRACTICAL WORK
Type here
9 ASSESSMENT
9.1 Assessment criteria
You are required to reference your answers by providing all the relevant detail so that the reader
can find the precise page or paragraph number of the source that you are referring to. You are also
required to use the Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA).
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• To gain admission to the examination, you need to obtain a year mark average of 40% for
the assignments.
• The assignment weighting for the module is 20%.
• You will receive examination information via the myModules sites. Please watch out for
announcements on how examinations for the modules for which you are registered will be
conducted.
• The examination will count 80% towards the final module mark.
• Assignment due dates will be made available to you on the myUnisa landing page for this
module. We envisage that the due dates will be available to you upon registration.
• Please start working on your assessments as soon as you register for the module.
• Log on to the myUnisa site for this module to obtain more information on the due dates for
the submission of the assessments.
• The myUnisa virtual campus will offer students access to the myModules site, where learning
material will be available online and where assessments should be completed. This is an
online system that is used to administer, document, and deliver educational material to
students and support engagement between academics and students.
• The myUnisa platform can be accessed via https://my.unisa.ac.za. Click on the myModules
2023 button to access the online sites for the modules that you are registered for.
• When you access your myModules site for the module/s you are registered for, you will see
a welcome message posted by your lecturer. Below the welcome message you will see the
assessment shells for the assessments that you need to complete. Some assessments may
be multiple choice, some tests, others written assessments, some forum discussions, and so
on. All assessments must be completed on the assessment shells available on the respective
module platforms.
• To complete quiz assessments, please log on to the module site where you need to complete
the assessment. Click on the relevant assessment shell (Assessment 1, Assessment 2, etc.).
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There will be a date on which the assessment will open for you. When the assessment is
open, access the quiz online and complete it within the time available to you. Quiz
assessment questions are not included in this tutorial letter (Tutorial Letter 101) and are only
made available online. You must therefore access the quiz online and complete it online
where the quiz has been created.
• It is not advisable to use a cell phone to complete the quiz. Please use a desktop computer,
tablet or laptop when completing the quiz. Students who use a cell phone find it difficult to
navigate the Online Assessment tool on the small screen and often struggle to navigate
between questions and successfully complete the quizzes. In addition, cell phones are more
vulnerable to dropped internet connections than other devices. If at all possible, please do
not use a cell phone for this assessment type.
• For written assessments, please note the due date by which the assessment must be
submitted. Ensure that you follow the guidelines given by your lecturer to complete the
assessment. Click on the submission button on the relevant assessment shell on myModules.
You will then be able to upload your written assessment on the myModules site of the modules
that you are registered for. Before you finalise the upload, double check that you have
selected the correct file for upload. Remember, no marks can be allocated for incorrectly
submitted assessments.
As indicated in section 9.2, you need to complete your assessments for this module.
There are no assignments included in this tutorial letter. Assignments and due dates will be
made available to you on myModules for this module. [We envisage that the due dates will be
available to you upon registration.]
The assessment methods will be in the forms of quiz (assignment 1) and written format (assignment
2 an examination).
Examination information and details on the format of the examination will be made available to you
online via the myUnisa site. Look out for information that will be shared with you by your lecturer and
e-tutors (where relevant) and for communication from the university.
10 ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
10.1 Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of taking the words, ideas and thoughts of others and presenting them as your
own. It is a form of theft. Plagiarism includes the following forms of academic dishonesty:
• Copying and pasting from any source without acknowledging the source.
• Not including references or deliberately inserting incorrect bibliographic information.
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• Completing assessments on behalf of another student, copying the work of another student
during an assessment, or allowing another student to copy your work.
• Using social media (e.g. WhatsApp, Telegram) or other platforms to disseminate
assessment information.
• Submitting corrupt or irrelevant files, this forms part of examination guidelines
• Buying completed answers from so-called “tutors” or internet sites (contract cheating).
10.3 For more information about plagiarism, follow the link below:
https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/myunisa/default/Study-@-Unisa/Student-values-and-rules
10.4 Academic and Administrative matters
10.4.1 Academic Matters
All module content-related enquiries must first be addressed to the relevant module lecturers. As
already indicated above, all such enquiries must be made from your mylife@unisa.ac.za email
account. Where your module lecturer(s) is unable to assist, such enquiries can be escalated to the
Chair of the Department in which your module is located. The Chair of the Department is the one
with the power to resolve issues, is authorised to make such interventions, and has the final say in
matters relating to the administration of a module. Such escalation must be done via the
departmental administrative staff.
Contact information for all the departmental administrative staff in the department is captured below.
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11 STUDENTS LIVING WITH DISABILITIES
The Advocacy and Resource Centre for Students with Disabilities (ARCSWiD) provides an
opportunity for staff to interact with first-time and returning students with disabilities.
If you are a student with a disability and would like additional support or need additional time for
assessments, you are invited to contact (Mr Paul Mudau at mudaufp@unisa.ac.za) to discuss the
assistance that you need.
12 IN CLOSING
Please ensure that you take the time to frequently log in to myUnisa so that you can receive updates
or further information about the module; participate in any discussions on the Discussion Forum;
and complete additional assessments using the Lessons Tool.
We remain at your disposal to assist you to master this module and succeed in your studies.
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