Practice
News
- Undoubtedly the legal news of the week was made, again, by the RAF; certainly, high time that this institution is held up to scrutiny:
- Scopa has launched a full parliamentary enquiry into the RAF, after it withheld information and then provided false information. The date set is for September, to be finalised before the end of October. Much of the heat, generated in this affair, is owing to the issue having been politicised.
- On the back of the above was a report on what was described as a cover-up, in which R30 allegedly, paid to two legal firms, was in fact found to be R210m.
- The Pretoria High Court ruled against the RAF CEO’s appeal against his suspension.
- The RAF maintains that its funding model is unsustainable/insufficient. A part of this discussion revealed that its cost to pay-out was 17%/83%.
- The Gauteng High Court has again referred a team of lawyers to the LPC, after that court had been referred to AI-generated non-existent cases.
- First came the construction mafia, then the water mafia; now criminal gangs, targeting schools, demanding protection fees as much as 10% of teachers’ salaries.
- What happens when one deals with a deregistered company? https://www.cliffedekkerhofmeyr.com/export/sites/cdh/news/publications/2025/Practice/Corporate-Commercial/Downloads/Corporate-Commercial-Alert-2-July-2025.pdf
- Is a logo, created electronically, eligible for trademark protection? https://www.adams.africa/melissa-morris/from-template-to-trade-mark-is-your-logo-legally-yours/
- Earn-out; if you don’t know what it means, take a look: https://www.phinc.co.za/OurInsights/ArticleDetail.aspx?Title=-MA-in-SA-Why-everyones-talking-about-earn-outs
- The latest case on payment by EFT, of an email invoice which had been tampered with resulted in the, by now, usual order that the debtor bears the onus of ensuring that the creditor is correctly paid: https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2025/93.pdf
Hard news
- Labour law. Jurisdiction: https://www.cliffedekkerhofmeyr.com/export/sites/cdh/news/publications/2025/Practice/Employment-Law/Downloads/Employment-Law-Alert-23-June-2025.pdf
- An acknowledgement, to pay whatever someone chooses to charge, is not a fixed or ascertainable sum. This case was reported upon by Moneyweb but the has not yet appeared under SAFLLI – Appellate Division.
- Our De Rebus ran an article on the correct procedure for PIE evictions: https://www.derebus.org.za/action-or-motion-proceedings-what-is-the-correct-procedure-for-pie-evictions/
- The first two paragraphs of this judgement, on the requirements for validity of customary marriages, could well be placed within a romantic escapism novel: https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAMPMBHC/2025/53.html
- For nerds only: the inquisitorial nature of certain proceedings under the Competition act: https://www.cliffedekkerhofmeyr.com/export/sites/cdh/news/publications/2025/Practice/Competition-Law/Downloads/Competition-Law-Alert-25-June-2025.pdf
- Does a director of a company in business rescue have the power to appoint attorneys? https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2025/96.html
- Is an unconscious child claimant entitled to general damages for pain and suffering? https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2025/91.pdf See at paragraph 73 et seq.
Conveyancing
- West had written a summation of how positive and negative personal servitudes are created and dealt with. Worth a look: https://www.tech4law.co.za/business/conveyancing-in-south-africa/creation-of-positive-and-negative-personal-servitudes-conveyancing-news-2/
- The PIC reportedly wants banks to put up packages, funding public servants’ mortgages; older colleagues would recall that institutions, such as Transnet, would buy a property, have the employee pay the debt off and, on settlement, cede/transfer the property by way of endorsement into the employee’s name.
- The Johannesburg Attorneys Association has intervened in the latest power failure at the Johannesburg Master’s office and are in the process of purchasing a generator for that office. That the private sector has to provide a backup power system for a vital cog in our legal framework, is indicative of a public sector that simply does not work.
Property
Trends
- There is little new news on value shifts in our property market and so on. Commercial property brokers’ confidence dropped sharply in the second quarter of this year – from 55% in the first quarter of this year, to only 40% in the second quarter of brokers describing our prevailing business conditions as satisfactory.
- A similar result will probably apply to agricultural property prices also – Agbiz reported that the Agribusiness Confidence Index fell by five points in Q2 2025, to 65.
- Our inward migration into the Western Cape Is slowing down, with an uptick moving into the Eastern Cape – especially the St Francis Bay area. Think affordability.
- BusinessDay ran a note saying that green-certified commercial properties outperform their non-certified counterparts; delivering 34% higher gross income per square metre.
News
- I have a son wanting to volunteer as a fireman in Zürich; I was told that insurance companies pay much of the cost of maintaining fire stations there. Will the same happen here? The Johannesburg fire fleet failure will impact upon the costs payable towards fire damaged by insurance companies.
- This week past, false news was circulated to the effect that the Johannesburg Deeds Office had closed down. Whatever – statistics tell: thus far that deeds office had registered 3400 property transfers this year – compared to 38500 for all of last year. Having said that, registration volumes are notably down. The Pietermaritzburg Deeds Office registered 113826 deeds in 21/22, 110335 in 22/23, 9822 in 23/24 and 98082 in 24/25; a 13% decline.
- Interesting but silly news, is that Tshwane will be taking steps to regularise several townships which were illegally/irregularly created. The news held that this municipality was considering scrapping 10,000 houses which are situate in illegal developments; never going to happen!
- I chanced across two articles which may be of interest: what drives buyers and sellers and what to look for when investing in commercial property:
- https://www.property24.com/articles/the-psychology-of-negotiation-what-drives-buyers-and-sellers/32641
- https://www.property24.com/articles/what-to-look-for-when-investing-in-south-african-commercial-property/32639
Legal News
- I was reminded of what most attorneys should know, on reading an article by Cliffe Dekker, namely that an electrical compliance certificate is required when leasing a property. Do bear this in mind.
- Similarly, Millers published a note on penalty clauses in bonds – do give notice on receipt of instructions to the bondholder that the bond will be cancelled in due course – failure to do so will expose the sender to penalty interest.
- A defect, allowing you to cancel the purchase of a property must be one that destroys or substantially impairs the properties utility or effectiveness for the purpose which it is generally used: https://madeleyn.co.za/2025/06/25/buyers-remorse-can-be-costly-think-before-you-sign/
- The DA has proposed an amendment to the Pie Act that would criminalise the incitement and organisation of unlawful occupation. There is also a similar movement in the Western Cape to amend that act, and which the Department of Human Settlements, appears to support. This will take years.
- Are you paying estate agents a back hand? The PPRA will be taking such conduct up in a webinar be held 11 July: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/720e2938-ca25-44ac-aba2-9dfc3f65a088@87621f63-a057-4da8-993e-fbab081227ce
- Several Registrars of Deeds insist on forms LLL lodged with virtually everything – a discussion, led by West and responded upon by Shawe, acting on behalf of the Chief Registrar, emphasised that these forms pertain only to land/mortgage- and notarial bond registration transactions. Not ANCs!
- Another bone of contention (ex West) is that Registrars do not charge the same tax on cessions, waivers, substitutions, et cetera of mortgage bonds.
Comment
The outgoing CEO of Capitec had caused a storm when suggesting that the contribution of our informal sector to employment, may be bigger than we think. Fresh news is that Capitec has become our biggest bank by customer numbers – amazing, given that the old four have been around for many years. In any event, his rant clearly attracted attention as, he is to consult with six or more of our ministers who clearly want an opinion. Good but, like everything else here, a bit late!
Lighten up
