Detention for suspected debt, which has been on the law books since 1944, has been pronounced invalid and unconstitutional by Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe, according to a report in the Cape Times.

Tatiana Malachi, a Moldovan exotic dancer at the House of Rasputin in Cape Town, found herself unable to pay a range of fees charged by the nightclub had held back her passport and charged her a range of fees she could not afford. And after arranging with the Russian consul-general to facilitate her return home, she was arrested and imprisoned. Her release was secured by an urgent application in the Cape High Court, and she returned to Moldova. Acting on her behalf, Advocates Anton Katz and Ross Garland, instructed by attorney Gary Eisenberg, then challenged the constitutionality of the rule known as tanquam suspectus de fuga, which allows a magistrate to issue an arrest warrant for a person suspected of fleeing from an alleged civil debt. The person cannot be released until the debt is paid. The report says Hlophe declared that this rule, contained in Section 30 of the Magistrate's Court Act 32 of 1944, was unconstitutional and invalid and had to be deleted. The Cape Times says the common law (dating to Roman times), which authorises civil detention, was also declared invalid and inconsistent with the Constitution.
Full Cape Times report (subscription needed)