.. (Pomponius); Johannes Voet, Commentarius ad Pandectas .. title; ., sole text; .title; .sole text; Grotius, Inleidinge tot de hollandsche Regtsgeleertheyt ..; Huber Heedendaegse Rechtsgeleertheyt ..,; Simon van Leeuven, Het Roomsch Hollandsch Recht, ..; Dionysius Godefridus van der Keessel, Praelectiones juris hodierni ad Hugonis Grotii introductionem ad jurisprudentiam Hollandicam... The only relevant citations were to the works already named of Voet, at .., and of Huber at .., who stated that one can fish in public rivers, thus showing that navigation was not the only right in public rivers. The real issue in the case was disposed of very shortly and with no citation of direct authority: The issue that had faced Innes CJ139 was very different, namely the ownership of the river bed and of minerals contained in it. Still, Eloff quoted Innes with approval: 139 Van Niekerk and Union Government (Minister of Lands) v. Carter, 1917 A.D. 359. It will, I think, be in keeping with this approach [i.e., of Innes CJ] to recognize the right of the public in South Africa to make use of the waters of our public rivers for such modest and limited forms of navigation as those rivers permit. Navigability is a relative concept, and it can be said of the Crocodile River that it allows the passage of small craft such as canoes. It should furthermore be borne in mind that the type of use of rivers which, e.g., Huber (supra) andVoet .. refer to, indicate that even pleasurable activities may be indulged in by the public. In my judgment, members of the public, such as Dr. Monteith and the canoe clubs affiliated to the Canoe Union, have at common law the right to paddle on the Crocodile River. The elasticity of the civil and the Roman-Dutch systems has enabled South African Courts to develop our law of water rights along lines specially suited to the requirements of the country. The result has been a body of judicial decisions, which though eminently favorable to our local circumstances, could hardly be reconciled in its entirety with the law either of Holland or Rome. To take a point bearing upon the present enquiry - the definition of a public stream has been extended far beyond its original limits. And the Legislature has set its seal upon the work of the Courts. Every stream is now public, the water of which is capable of being applied to common riparian use, no matter how frequently it may run dry. The Union, therefore, though
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