Newsletter – Stay updated
Do you enjoy reading our newsletter? Consider subscribing to our mailing list, and we will send you a monthly newsletter.
Brand-New Car Giving You Nightmares? CPA to the Rescue
“The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) establishes a broad and comprehensive scope for consumer protection. Its purview includes developing and maintaining a consumer market in such a way as to ensure fairness, accessibility, effectiveness, sustainability and...
The New Cannabis Act: Here’s What You Will and Won’t Be Allowed to Do
“It’s high time they legalised cannabis” (Anon) Much excitement has greeted the signing into law of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act, which will formally regulate the cultivation, possession, and use of cannabis by adults in a private setting and, says the...
Can You Sign an Affidavit Over Zoom?
“These technological developments would have seemed far-fetched and science fiction a brief few years ago.” (Extract from judgment below) It’s an important question – the invalidity of an affidavit could sink even the strongest case, so it’s vital to get this right....
Why an Oral Estate Agency Mandate Isn’t Worth the Paper It’s Written On
“A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on” (Samuel Goldwyn) Perhaps you are a seller marketing your property through an estate agency, or a buyer asking an agent to find you one, or a landlord employing an agent to let out your property....
Cannabis Policies in the Workplace: A Delicate Balancing Act
“It is declared that the [employer]’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse Policy is irrational and violates the right to privacy in section 14 of the Constitution, to the extent that it prohibits office-based employees that do not work with or within an environment that has,...
Siblings Feuding Over a Business: Can You Get a Domestic Violence Protection Order?
“It is the purpose of this Act to afford the victims of domestic violence the maximum protection from domestic abuse that the law can provide” (Domestic Violence Act) When sibling rivalry escalates into physical or psychological abuse, victims should take advantage of...
Contracting with Trusts – Is a Majority Resolution Valid?
“Externally, trustees cannot disagree. In the external sphere the Trust functions by virtue of its resolutions, which have to be supported by the full complement of the Trust body.” (Extract from judgment below) A recent Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment provides...
In the Land of the Will, Clarity is King
“The golden rule for the interpretation of testaments is to ascertain the wishes of the testator from the language used. And when these wishes are ascertained, the court is bound to give effect to them, unless we are prevented by some rule or law from doing so.”...
Rising Damp and Failed Waterproofing: How to Sue the Sellers
“[w]here a seller recklessly tells a half-truth or knows the facts but does not reveal them because he or she has not bothered to consider their significance, this may also amount to fraud” … “a willful abstention from establishing the true facts does not constitute a...
The Pothole Plague – Claiming Damages
“If cars are required to be roadworthy, shouldn’t roads be required to be car-worthy?” (Online meme) If you fall victim to a pothole-infested road, don’t hesitate to sue for your losses. A recent High Court victory for a motorist claiming R8.6m in damages confirms yet...