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LJU4801 Assignment 02 – 2025/02, plus A pass mark

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LJU4801 Assignment 02 – 2025/02 Instructions: 1. Write an essay in which you answer the following question. 2. Your essay must include footnotes in the prescribed format and a bibliography. Only reference sources that you consulted. 3. Do not include long quotations in your essay. Arguments and ideas must be relayed in your own words. 4. Make use of the study guide and other relevant sources to substantiate your argument. Question: Carefully consider the following quotation: Members of the Makwanyane court found the death penalty repugnant because retribution and group catharsis as the bases for punishment are inconsistent with an uBuntu-based jurisprudence of reconciliation, restorative justice, and democratic solidarity. As importantly, their findings should be understood as broadly representative of South African views regarding the moral underpinnings of the basic law. The presence of uBuntu as a guiding norm in the interpretation of our basic law is essential for the legitimation of our legal system.1 Read the case of S v Makwanyane (uploaded onto myUnisa under the Additional Resources tab). Extensively explain why the judgment can be seen as embodying an African legal philosophical approach. [10]

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Year 2025

ASSIGNMENT 2 ANSWERS

SEMESTER 2

LEGAL PHILOSOPHY

(LJU4801)




The landmark decision in S v Makwanyane (1995) abolished the death penalty in
South Africa. Significantly, the judgment foregrounded an African legal-philosophical
approach by rooting its rejection of capital punishment in ubuntu, a normative
framework emphasizing reconciliation, restorative justice, and democratic solidarity.
This essay will explain how the judgment aligns with African legal philosophical
principles by showing how ubuntu operates as a guiding norm in interpreting South
Africa’s Constitution and legitimates the legal system.


The Constitutional Court in Makwanyane explicitly invoked ubuntu to argue that
punishment should not be about retribution or societal vengeance but about healing
and restoring relationships. The Court found retribution and group catharsis to be
inconsistent with an ubuntu-based jurisprudence because such approaches violate the

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