Recent Industry Articles

Home Affairs have announced a postponement to 1 June 2015 of two of the new rules relating to children, namely the Unabridged Birth Certificate requirement and the requirement for written permission from both parents/guardians authorising a child's travel. With reports of major delays in the Home Affairs system, if you don’t have Unabridged Birth Certificates for all your children, apply for them now – whether or not you have any future travel plans in mind.

“The fostering of a culture of disclosure is a constitutional imperative as it is at the heart of the fundamental principles aimed at the achievement of a just society based on democratic values” (Labour Appeal Court, case below) The “Whistle-blower’s Act” (more correctly the PDA or Protected Disclosures Act) encourages employees to disclose unlawful or irregular conduct by their employers or fellow employees (in both the public and private sectors), without fear of reprisal. (more…)

Government and our courts are serious about protecting the environment, and NEMA (the National Environmental Management Act) is being strictly enforced. A new amendment to NEMA provides that directors (and members of CCs) are now jointly and severally liable “for any negative impact on the environment, whether advertently or inadvertently caused by the company or close corporation which they represent, including damage, degradation or pollution”. (more…)

Municipalities may levy rates on properties by valuing them and then applying a rate to them based on categories of permitted or actual usage, with “residential” properties traditionally attracting lower rates than “commercial”, “business” and “industrial” properties. What happens though when you own a mixed use property? (more…)

“Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward” (Vernon Law) Never assume that you have any rights to a property just because the owner says that he/she intends to give you ownership, even if a sale agreement is signed. Make sure that you actually do take ownership via registration in the Deeds Office. That’s the hard lesson learnt recently by a mother and her children who will now be evicted from “their” home. (more…)

“No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow” (Euripides) We will all die. We have limited control over what will eventually kill us and when, but there is something that we can do now, whilst we are still physically and mentally capable of doing so, to express our wishes as to how we die.  Specifically, we can give instructions now as to what medical treatment we want to be given at the end.  For many people a nightmare scenario is to be kept artificially alive, quite possibly in pain and distress, long after your medical condition becomes hopeless…

Consider this scenario.  It’s unfortunately one all too likely to face creditors in these hard times -    One of your corporate customers runs up a substantial debt, finds itself in financial distress, and applies for business rescue, You suspect that somewhere down the line you will have to write off at least part of your claim, Sure enough, a business rescue plan is proposed that will in effect compromise your claim, Nevertheless you are relaxed, because you hold personal suretyships from the directors and they have assets.  They are good for the shortfall if necessary. (more…)

“Our system of deeds registration is negative: it does not guarantee the title that appears in the deeds register” (extract from first judgment below) Although in practice title deeds as registered in the Deeds Office are accepted as proof positive of property ownership, two important SCA (Supreme Court of Appeal) decisions illustrate a little-known but potentially serious danger here. (more…)

“…..the respectability of polygraph evidence, at best, remains an open question” (extract from Labour Appeal Court judgment below) Many employers are confused as to whether or not our labour laws allow you to use “lie detector” testing in disciplinary investigations and/or other processes like selecting suitable candidates for promotion. (more…)