Recent Industry Articles - Ashersons Attorneys

28 Jul 2026

Cancelled Sale, Damaged Property. Who Pays?

“You do not mend a broken vase by handing over a new one.” (Anonymous) When a property sale is cancelled, most people picture a straightforward reset. The seller keeps the property, the purchaser gets the money back, and everyone walks away as if the deal never happened. The law calls this restitutio in integrum, and a recent Gauteng High Court decision shows that putting the parties back where they started can be a far more exact exercise than simply reversing the transaction. Restitution is not a reset button The dispute followed the cancellation of a sale involving a smallholding in…

28 Jul 2026

By Ashersons Attorneys

Can Family Conflict Kibosh a Trust?

“The palest ink is better than the best memory.” (Chinese proverb) A founder dies and the family disagrees about what should happen to the assets. Then some beneficiaries produce emails proving they know what he wanted to happen. Surely the court can step in and wind up the trust? Not so fast. A recent Supreme Court of Appeal decision shows that a founder’s later wishes do not, without a formal amendment, override the terms of the trust deed. In black and white The trust at the centre of the dispute had been created decades earlier as a discretionary trust, holding…

28 Jul 2026

By Ashersons Attorneys

Does the Consumer Protection Act Protect Every Tenant?

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” (attributed to Mark Twain) A married couple moved to Australia and rented out their South African family home while they tested the waters Down Under. Years later, once they had decided to remain abroad, they sold the property and gave their tenant notice under a clause that allowed them to cancel the lease on three months’ written notice. The tenant argued that the lease was protected by the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) and could only be cancelled if he…

28 Jul 2026

By Ashersons Attorneys

Whistleblower Reinstated: Protected Disclosures Act to the Rescue

“…the threat of disciplinary action can be held as a sword of Damocles over the heads of employees …” (Supreme Court of Appeal) The Labour Court’s recent reinstatement of a dismissed whistleblower has confirmed that our laws will robustly protect anyone who reports wrongdoing in the workplace. “The Whistleblower’s Act” removes the Sword of Damocles The Protected Disclosures Act (“PDA”) – commonly referred to as the “Whistleblower’s Act” – protects employees, independent contractors, consultants, agents and workers employed by labour brokers from retaliation after reporting unlawful or improper conduct. Without that protection, as our courts have pointed out, “the threat…

25 Jun 2026

By Ashersons Attorneys

One Bad Letter and Your Eviction Falls Apart

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” (George Bernard Shaw) Many landlords assume that once a tenant stops paying rent, an eviction order will inevitably follow. A recent Western Cape High Court judgment shows how wrong that assumption can be. Despite rental arrears of more than R46,000 and an apparently legitimate grievance, a landlord’s eviction application failed because of a problem many people overlook: the cancellation letter. The dispute arose after tenants allegedly fell behind on their rental payments. The landlord sought to terminate the lease and evict the occupants. Although the alleged…

25 Jun 2026

By Ashersons Attorneys

Dementia in the Family? Here Are Your Legal Options

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” (Benjamin Franklin) A dementia diagnosis affects far more than memory. As the condition progresses, it can impair a person’s ability to manage finances, make legal decisions, sign contracts, or deal with property and investments. For many families, the legal implications only emerge when practical problems arise. A bank account needs accessing, a property needs selling, or financial decisions must be made for someone who can no longer act independently. At that point, many assume a Power of Attorney will help. South African law says otherwise. The Power of Attorney myth A…

25 Jun 2026

By Ashersons Attorneys

How to Protect Your Company from Unlawful Springboarding

“All’s fair in love and war, but not in business.” (Modern twist on the old proverb) Your business is flying after years of hard work and personal sacrifice. Suddenly, your most trusted employees resign and set up in direct opposition to you. The speed with which they do so makes you realise there’s something fishy going on. Sure enough, they are brazenly using your confidential knowledge, resources and client relationships against you. A recent High Court decision provides a perfect illustration of how our law can and will protect you from that sort of unfair competition. A new business and…

25 Jun 2026

By Ashersons Attorneys

Your Dormant Trust Is Not Invisible to SARS

“Things do not go away. They go somewhere.” (Annie Dillard) Many trustees assume that a dormant trust can be safely forgotten. No income, no assets, no transactions … No problem. SARS has made it clear that this assumption may be an expensive one. In recent months, SARS has intensified its focus on trust compliance, targeting trusts that have failed to submit annual income tax returns. What many trustees may not realise is that inactivity does not remove a trust’s tax obligations. A trust that has been sitting dormant for years is still required to submit annual income tax returns. Failure…

26 May 2026

By Ashersons Attorneys

Dodgy Deck: When a Property Defect is Your Problem, Not the Seller’s

“The buyer needs a hundred eyes, the seller not one.” (George Herbert) A Marina Da Gama property. A collapsed wooden deck. A purchase price of R1.55 million and repair costs claimed of just over R100 000. The facts are not complicated. But the legal battle that followed lasted more than a decade. What happened The buyers purchased a residential property in October 2013 after the estate agent described it as being in stunning condition. They took occupation in January 2014. Seven months later, the upper wooden deck collapsed. Expert evidence subsequently confirmed that the decks had been constructed without approved…

26 May 2026

By Ashersons Attorneys

Estate Planning: The Ambush Tax Lurking in the Wings

“I can’t afford to die; I’d lose too much money.” (George Burns, comedian) At the heart of any estate plan lies your will. Pair it with a file containing all the information and documents that your executor and heirs will need to wind up your estate, and you’ve laid a solid foundation for protecting your loved ones when you’re no longer around to do so. Hopefully, most of us have already crossed those two essentials off our “to do” list. But there’s a third step which doesn’t always receive the attention it requires: planning for the costs your estate will…