IOS2601
Assignment 1 Semester 2 – 2023
Unique No:
The Jaga v Dönges 1950 (4) SA 653 (A), which was delivered at the height of
apartheid, remains important for the interpretation of statutes after the
democratic transformation. Kindly read the case and answer the following
questions.
(a) BRIEFLY PROVIDE facts of the Jaga case. (6)
In the early 1950s, Jaga was caught selling unwrought gold. He was sentenced to
“three months imprisonment suspended for three years”. Section 22 of Act 22 of 1913
reads as follows: “Any person who has been sentenced to imprisonment for any
offence committed by the sale of unwrought precious metal and who is deemed by the
Minister to be an undesirable inhabitant of the Union, may be removed from the Union
under a warrant”. The Minister declared Jaga an undesirable inhabitant of the Union
and a warrant for his deportation to India was issued. Jaga challenged his deportation
on the basis that he had not been sentenced to imprisonment. The Minister argued
that a suspended sentence of imprisonment is still a sentence of “imprisonment” within
the ordinary meaning of section 22. Jaga argued that “imprisonment” meant actual (as
opposed to merely potential) imprisonment. “Sentenced to imprisonment” thus meant
to be sentenced i.e to be actually and physically held in prison, which he was not (his
sentence was merely suspended and he was allowed to go home).
Assignment 1 Semester 2 – 2023
Unique No:
The Jaga v Dönges 1950 (4) SA 653 (A), which was delivered at the height of
apartheid, remains important for the interpretation of statutes after the
democratic transformation. Kindly read the case and answer the following
questions.
(a) BRIEFLY PROVIDE facts of the Jaga case. (6)
In the early 1950s, Jaga was caught selling unwrought gold. He was sentenced to
“three months imprisonment suspended for three years”. Section 22 of Act 22 of 1913
reads as follows: “Any person who has been sentenced to imprisonment for any
offence committed by the sale of unwrought precious metal and who is deemed by the
Minister to be an undesirable inhabitant of the Union, may be removed from the Union
under a warrant”. The Minister declared Jaga an undesirable inhabitant of the Union
and a warrant for his deportation to India was issued. Jaga challenged his deportation
on the basis that he had not been sentenced to imprisonment. The Minister argued
that a suspended sentence of imprisonment is still a sentence of “imprisonment” within
the ordinary meaning of section 22. Jaga argued that “imprisonment” meant actual (as
opposed to merely potential) imprisonment. “Sentenced to imprisonment” thus meant
to be sentenced i.e to be actually and physically held in prison, which he was not (his
sentence was merely suspended and he was allowed to go home).
