Judgment No. CCZ 6/2016 8 Const. Application No CCZ 28/14 “56 Equality and non-discrimination (1) All persons are equal before the law and have the right to equal protection and benefit of the law.” The right guaranteed under s 56 (1) is that of equality of all persons before the law and the right to receive the same protection and benefit afforded by the law to persons in a similar position. It envisages a law which provides equal protection and benefit for the persons affected by it. It includes the right not to be subjected to treatment to which others in a similar position are not subjected. In order to found his reliance on this provision the applicant must show that by virtue of the application of a law he has been the recipient of unequal treatment or protection that is to say that certain persons have been afforded some protection or benefit by a law, which protection or benefit he has not been afforded; or that persons in the same (or similar) position as himself have been treated in a manner different from the treatment meted out to him and that he is entitled to the same or equal treatment as those persons. In Van der Walt v Metcash Trading Limited (CCT37/01) [2002] ZACC 4; 2002 (4) SA 317; 2002 (5) BCLR 454 where reliance on the provisions of s 9(1) of the Constitution of South Africa (which is identical in its terms to s 56(1) of the Constitution) depended solely on the inequality of outcome of two applications to the Supreme Court of Appeal, the Constitutional Court described the right as follows: ”It is clear that the provision means that all persons in a similar position must be afforded the same right to access the courts and to the same fair and just procedures with regard to such access.” And in Sarrahwitz v Martiz N.O. & Anor (CCT93/14) [2015] ZACC 14; 2015 (4) SA 491 (CC); 2015 (8) BCLR 925 (CC), the same Court said: “This subsection guarantees everyone the right to equal protection and benefit of the law. The concept of “equal protection and benefit of the law” suggests that purchasers who are equally vulnerable must enjoy the same legal endowments irrespective of their method of payment”.