Economy
Load shedding has an undeniable effect on our economy. The following post reflects a few estimates on the cost of that impact on our GDP: Reference
Business
The cancellation of R17bn Rand of SANRAL tenders, predictably has resulted in it potentially being taken to task for this (by CESA?) – pragmatically you cannot cancel contacts, ostensibly regularly entered into, unless you are very sure that an irregularity, attributable to the contractor, can be proven. This will be interesting.
Work stoppages are all the rage of late, but South Africa stands out head and shoulders above our competitors, for laurels in this respect: Reference
Whilst visiting Son no 1 in Parkview in January, I was shown a lane of plane trees infected by shot hole borer. The area is particularly lovely but will not remain so – the protected financial impact of this infection, countrywide, is R275bn and, worse, will destroy the beauty of a great many leafy suburbs: Reference
Once again: the impact of incompetent/bad governance has become tangible countrywide: some two thirds of our municipalities are in financial distress. The fact is that there is no easy remedy for a municipal system given over to incompetence. This will affect most of us very soon – in fact, there is some reason to ‘semigrate’ to the Western Cape.
New employment equity rules are in the offing: Reference
Practice
News:
Conveyancers; look at the following website: Reference
A circular, from the Indemnity Insurance Fund NPC, dealing with the refusal of the RAF to accept claims submitted on certain claim forms, has been circulated and is available from me on request.
An article, cautioning couples in a divorce, using the same attorney, may viewed at: Reference
Hard news:
This week past I was asked whether a child born of a gamete, left behind and frozen by previously deceased parent, could inherit: this is an awkward question as our law, when our current nasciturus fiction was formulated, could not possibly have conceived of children born of a parent deceased before conception. The fact is that one cannot dispute the genetics of this but there are other questions which arise, such as whether the parent involved intended that child to be born and so on. See, on this topic, an article by a pair of KZN law professors: Reference
A recent judgement on the validity of service to be done within a designated period, if the destination address is closed on the last day of service, is available at: Reference
A somewhat weird case came before the SCA, arising from an allegation of ‘court capture’ by attorneys’ practices and ended up in an argument on the regulation of procedures by our High Court: Reference
Last week I referred you to a case, declaring section 7(3)(a) of the Divorce Act inconsistent with our constitution. The reference to the case (thanks to Sieg) is: Reference
Our Registrar of Deeds requires the acceptance of the Master of the High Court before a redistribution agreement may be accepted by the Deeds Office. Prof van Wyk debunks this in Reference (West drew my attention to this).
Property
There is not much in the way of property news save that JSC-listed office landlord, Delta Property Fund, has an office vacancy rate of 31%
Quotables
“A great emigration implies unhappiness of some kind in the country.”
Malthus
“Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
JS Mill
Comment
Regular readers of this newsletter will be familiar with my rant on passports/Home Affairs and, of late, obtaining a visa. My visa was granted, most efficiently as one would expect, by the Swiss embassy, within a matter of days after my having to visit Pretoria for the privilege of submitting my application to the Swiss embassy’s representative, VHSGlobal. You book, pay for a timeslot, arrive, to find chaos which compares unfavourably to that at Home Affairs. Time slot? Perish the thought! You pay, book, and arrive, to find that time slots do not exist – in my case, I eventually barged in and was served three hours late. VHS only responded when I copied in my complaint to its client, whereafter I was besieged by rash of responses asking for proof of my complaint. If only there were an alternative…
