"The modern South African common law is a mixed legal system. It is based on RomanDutch common

law, but it includes rules and principles from both RomanDutch and English law. The mixing of

RomanDutch and English rules and principles did not always happen quietly and peacefully. For much

of the 20th Century there was a bellum juridicum (war about the rules) between Judges and lawyers."

(Barratt et al, 2019, 41)

Discuss in overview the historical development of the South African legal system. In your essay you

may address all or some of the following points:

The legal system applying in southern Africa before 1652;

The laws applying in the Cape from 1652, including the role of RomanDutch law at the Cape;

The influence of British colonial rule generally and of English law specifically on the

development of the South African legal system;

The development of the South African legal system after Union in 1910; and

The impact of the new Constitutional order from 1994 on the future development of the

South African legal system.