Liquidations: Compulsory and Voluntary
A company can be liquidated regardless of whether it is solvent or insolvent. If a company is insolvent, it is unable to satisfy its debts as and when they come due (this is referred to as commercial insolvency). If the company is solvent, it has the option of being liquidated for reasons other than that more...
Summary Suspensions in Employment Law – Long or right?
Many, if not all, employers have had to grapple with the riddle of how best to deal with employees who have misconducted themselves to a degree requiring suspension, and how best to affect such a suspension (pending lawful disciplinary proceedings, of course) whilst giving effect to the employee’s fair process rights under South African employment more...
The consequences of the Cybercrimes Act on Social Media (ab)use
The President has finally signed the Cybercrimes Bill into law after a long legislative process. The Cybercrimes Act (the Act) focuses mainly on criminalising the interference with computer systems and data, which is described in more detail in Andrew Marshall’s article on the subject. However, the Act also has bearing on the way we use more...
Cybercrimes Act
After an extended period in Parliament, the Cybercrimes Act has finally been signed into law by the President. The purpose of the Act is to bring South Africa into line with international jurisprudence on the detection and prosecution of crimes which are either specific to computers, or which are perpetrated using computers. This is a more...
When your neighbour decides to renovate: what are your rights?
Imagine this scenario – you wake up one morning to the loud beeping of industrial trucks reversing cargo into your neighbour’s driveway, the shouting of labourers fill your ears as scaffolding clatters, mechanical lifts are fired up and the angle grinders shriek into the cold morning air. Dazed and confused, you stumble to the kitchen more...
A closer look at polygraph testing in employment disputes
A polygraph test, more commonly known as a “lie detector test”, is a procedure commonly used to verify whether the person being tested is being truthful in their responses to a set of questions posed to them by the conductor of the test. The test seeks to record the relevant person’s bodily responses to the more...
Online Gaming – the risks and dangers
Gaming online is not new; it’s actually been around since the 1960s. However, new technology and high-speed internet connections have certainly helped playing online games like Call of Duty and Fortnite become the popular hobby it is today. Online gaming can also refer to online gambling, for example, casino-like games, lotteries, and betting on sporting more...
A summary on the legality of Electronic Debit Orders
We are all accustomed to using debit orders for various reasons, for example: Netflix fees, gym memberships, internet monthly usage and store credit accounts. It is important to consider whether the instructions we provide for these debit orders electronically are legal, valid and enforceable by the merchants and banks. In essence, a debit order is more...
Pre-Emptive Rights and Sale of Shares Provisions for Shareholders
A private company registered in accordance with the Companies Act 71 of 2008 ('the Act') must restrict the transferability of its securities. This is required in section 8(2)(b)(ii)(bb) of the Act. A standard MOI (part of the set of documents issued by CIPC upon a company being formed) may not however suit your requirements and more...
Is the Covid-19 vaccination compulsory for employees?
According to recent reports in respect of South Africa’s planned national roll-out of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) vaccine, it was widely anticipated that the country was due to receive its first batch of vaccines during January 2021, with a further, second batch to follow during February 2021. There are several reasons why individuals, specifically employees venturing more...
Maintenance: Ignorance of the law is not an excuse
As the age old saying goes “Ignorance of the law is not an excuse”. The position under South African law is clear - both parents have a duty to maintain their children according to their respective means, until such a time that the children become self-supporting. The fact that a parent is not in contact more...
Dismissal versus retrenchment due to restructuring: Operational or Unfair?
A recent Constitutional Court (“CC”) judgment has allowed employers to breathe a collective sigh of relief in the comfort that they cannot be threatened with unfair dismissal proceedings where an employee has unreasonably rejected an employer’s proposals aimed at avoiding retrenchments, and where the employer commences to dismiss the employee by reason of its operational more...