UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE

DEPARTMENT OF PRIVATE LAW

LAW OF PERSONS 112

2011 MODULE INFORMATION

Dear Student,

Welcome to the Law of Persons 112. This is a semester module in basic South African
Law of Persons and is presented in a package of three lectures per week.

1. General Information
The Law of Persons 112 falls in the Department of Private Law. The departmental
Chairperson is Prof. B Martin. His email address is bmartin@uwc.ac.za.

The course is presented by: Dr L Mwambene (Course-Co-ordinator) (Room 219, Tel.

021 959 3284, lmwambene@uwc.ac.za.); Mrs L Albertus (Room 209 Tel. 021 959
3085, lalbertus@uwc.ac.za); and Mrs C Van Niekerk (Room 213, Tel. 021 959 3087,
cavanniekerk@uwc.ac.za.).

Mrs M Nelson is the Course Administrator

(Room 220, tel. 021 959 3314, mnelson@uwc.ac.za).

The information about the 4 Graduate Lecturing Assistants (GLA) for the module will be
available in due course.

2. Outcomes of the module

See study guide as posted on eTeaching for a complete explanation of expected
outcomes. To log on to eTeaching; first go to uwc webpage; click on eTeaching; your
username is your student number: your password is the first 8 numbers of your ID. Click
on the Law of Persons; go to file manager; open the course information folder; you are
then ready to access the study guide.

3. Consultation
Consultation times are posted on the lecturer’s door as well as the GLAs and also
available from the course administrator (Mrs Nelson). Should these times not suit you,
please make an appointment with the lecturer at a mutually convenient time or with the
course administrator.
 NB: Students are asked to kindly note that lecturers do not only teach but also have
administrative, research and community service duties (and that some of these duties take
place outside of the lecturer’s office) and to take this into consideration when wanting to
see a lecturer outside of consultation times.

Lectures
The lecture times are as follows:
Group A
Day Time Venue
Monday 12h00-13h00 A2
Tuesday 14h30-15h30 A2
Wednesday 10h50-11h50 A2
Group B
Day Time Venue
Monday 08h30-09h30 A2
Wednesday 12h00-13h00 A2
Thursday 14h00-15h00 A2
Part-time
Day Time Venue
Wednesday 17h00-20h20 A2

4. Prescribed materials
Boezaart Trynie (2010) Law of Persons, (5 ed) Juta
Heaton, J (2008) The South African Law of Persons (3ed), Butterworths.
Case law and legislation as indicated in the study guide
Heaton, J (2008) Casebook on the South African Law of Persons (3ed), Butterworths.

4.1 Recommended Reading, but not prescribed.

Du Bois, F (2007) Wille’s Principles of South African Law (9ed) Juta.

5. Assessment information
a. Tests
There will be two tests for the Law of Persons. Both tests are compulsory. The first test
will be written on Saturday, 12 March 2011 at 09h30. The sick test will be written on
Wednesday 30 March 15h30. The second test will be written on Friday 8 April 2011 at
17h00 and the sick test will be written on Wednesday 20 April 2011 at 15h30. These
dates, as well as the times and venues for the tests, will be posted on the notice board
prior to the test date.

Students are responsible for checking the notice boards. Students who, for a valid reason,
fail to write one of the tests must submit an application, together with a medical
certificate to the Faculty Office within 5 days after the test was written in order to qualify
for a sick test. The departmental chairperson considers all applications and the students
will be informed whether they qualify to write the sick test.
The onus rests on the student to retrieve their marked tests scripts and to keep the scripts
until the end of the semester. A time and place where the scripts may be collected will be
provided. No correction of test marks on the official mark sheet will be effected without
production of the relevant script(s). Students are reminded to collect their test scripts
timeously after the test has been marked and not to wait for a few months before
collecting their scripts.
NB: Unless otherwise announced in class, the tests will cover all the work done up to the
date of the test.
NB: Dates for the tests will be confirmed in class.

5.2 Class tests and tutorials

5.2.1 Compulsory tutorials must be attended. Tutorials will take the form of
discussions around prescribed topics and will be conducted by Graduate Lecturing
Assistants (GLA) who have been carefully selected and trained to perform this work.
Tutorials provide you the opportunity to acquire and/or enhance your knowledge and the
skill of debating issues.

Attendance and participation in tutorials will count 10% (ten percent) towards your final
class work mark. If you are not in the tutorial class you must supply Dr Mwambene with
a medical certificate within five working days of such absence.

5.2.2 Compulsory writing skills class attendance and participation Attendance and
participation in writing skills class exercises will count 10 % (ten percent) towards your
final course work mark

5.3 Two assignments must be completed during the course of the semester. The
assignments are contained in annexure 2 of the study guide that has been posted on e-
teaching. Details of the assignments will be provided in class and during tutorials.
NB: In both the assignments, emphasis will also be placed on the writing skills.
Assignments will each count 10% (ten percent) towards your final mark.

Rules for Assignments

Assignments must be typed or computer printed, must be properly referenced and must
contain a complete bibliography of all sources consulted. Assignments must be
formulated in the student’s own words- a verbatim transcription of another author,
which includes another student work without acknowledgement of the source and
proper referencing constitutes plagiarism and will result in the forfeiture of the
particular mark and in disciplinary steps being taken.

The following rules will apply to the submission of assignments:

Assignments must be submitted to the GLAs, they may not be given to the lecturers or
module Administrator. Assignments must be submitted on the submission date, during
the time announced by the GLAs. Assignments may not be left under the door of the
lecturers or the GLAs. Assignments must be handed personally to the relevant
GLA.
 Late submission of assignments will only be permitted if such late submission occurs
within 5 working days after the original submission date and is accompanied by
documentary proof of a reason for late submission (eg medical certificate). Assignments
that are submitted late must be directed to Dr Mwambene and not to the GLA. Once Dr
Mwambene has approved the late submission the student will then hand the assignment,
together with written permission to hand it in late, to the relevant GLA. Five percent
(5%) will be deducted for every day that the assignment is late without an acceptable
reason (eg no medical certificate). The onus rests on students to retrieve their assignments
from their GLAs and to keep them until the end of the semester. No correction of marks
will be effected without production of the original assignment(s).
The above rules will be strictly applied and no exceptions will be permitted.
NB: SUBMISSION DATES FOR THE ASSIGNMENTS ARE INDICATED IN
THE STUDY GUIDE.
5.3 Examinations
The examinations and the re-evaluation will cover all the work covered during the
semester. Examination dates will be announced in class.
5.4 Calculation of Marks
5.4.1 Course work mark
A student’s course work mark for Law of Persons is compiled in the ratio:
First test 40%
Second test 20%,
Tutorial 10% (attendance and participation (in form of small class tests),
Writing skills 10% (attendance and participation (in form of class written exercises)
First assignment 10%
Second assignment 10%
Total 100%
5.4.2 Final mark
A student’s final mark for the Law of Persons is compiled in the ratio 50% examination
mark and 50% course work mark.
5.4.3 Re-evaluation
Students are referred to the University Calendar 2011 for rules regarding admission to re-
evaluation examination after the final assessment for the course.
6. Student counselling
Students who feel that they are unable to cope with the work are advised to consult their
lecturer timeously. The University of the Western Cape also runs a Student Counselling
Centre for students who, inter alia, feel that they cannot cope. This feeling often arises
not as a result of an insurmountable problem, but as a result of inadequate study methods,
reading or language problems or some other problem, which can be remedied. These
centres and other services are highly recommended and offer services to registered
students at the University of the Western Cape:
• Counselling (study skills, time management etc) 021 959 2299;
• The writing centre (skills around writing essays etc) 021 959 3919; and
• The Multimedia centre (slide shows on essay writing, level 4 of the library) 021
959 3016.

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