## Facts

- A government commissioner declared Jabulani Sydney Dube, a 24-year-old unemployed man living with his mother and supported by a welfare grant, an “idle person” under a statute regulating urban residence.
- The declaration carried severe consequences, including removal to and detention in a farm colony unless Dube obtained work within 30 days or left the urban area within 35 days.
- Medical information before the decision-maker indicated Dube suffered from epilepsy, experienced frequent fits, required constant medication, and was fit only for light duties.
- Under the statutory scheme, the commissioner’s decision went on automatic judicial review, requiring a court to consider whether the proceedings were “in accordance with justice.”
- The reviewing court examined whether the statutory preconditions for declaring a person an “idle person” were satisfied on the evidence.

## Issues

1. Whether the statutory definition of “idle person” permits a declaration against an unemployed person who is not “capable of being employed” due to medical incapacity.
2. Whether the absence of the statutory precondition (“capable of being employed”) renders the declaration and the consequential removal/detention order invalid on review.
3. How a reviewing court should discharge a statutory duty to certify proceedings as “in accordance with justice” when the governing scheme has harsh effects.

## Decision

- The court set aside the commissioner’s declaration that Dube was an “idle person.”
- The court set aside the consequential order for Dube’s removal to, and detention in, a farm colony.
- The court held the statutory power applies only to unemployed persons who are capable of employment.
- On the medical evidence, Dube was not capable of being employed in the sense required by the statute, so the commissioner lacked authority to act.

## Legal Principles

- Where a statute authorizes coercive administrative action only if defined preconditions exist, those preconditions operate as jurisdictional facts limiting the decision-maker’s power.
- A statutory definition requiring that a person be “capable of being employed” excludes persons whose medical condition makes them incapable of employment for the statute’s purposes.
- On review, a court must determine whether the statutory conditions for exercising the power were satisfied; if not, the action is ultra vires and must be set aside.
- A reviewing court may apply a restrictive reading of coercive provisions so their operation does not extend beyond what the text authorizes.

## Conclusion

The court invalidated the “idle person” declaration and the related detention/removal order because the statute authorized such measures only against unemployed persons capable of employment, and the evidence showed Dube’s medical condition placed him outside that class.


In re Dube, 1979 (3) SA 820 (N)