The Sectional Title Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011 and the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 9 of 2011 came into operation in 2016. Both Acts introduced various changes to sectional title law in South Africa. One of the notable changes is the establishment of an...

Witness: What does this word mean? A witness in the context of written documents is a natural person who is physically present when a party signs an agreement to confirm that he/she saw that party sign the document. A competent witness is commonly defined as a person...

Breach of Contract - What does this mean? A breach of a contract means the failure of one party to meet that party’s obligations in an agreement. This can come about by either doing something a person was obliged not to do or failing to do something they were obliged...

Domicilium citandi et executandi - What does this mean? Domicilium citandi et executandi, roughly translated, means the physical address at which legal notices and process (eg summons) can be served on you. A post office box address is not sufficient for the purposes...

Small Claims Court - When is it the right option? Whilst we as a firm do our utmost to render our legal services at a reasonable cost, the nature of litigation is such that a successful litigant may not be able to recover all amounts claimed from a defendant if that...

Voetstoots – What should a Buyer and a Seller do? Voetstoots is a standard clause in an immovable property sale agreement which protects the Seller, stating that the property is purchased “as is”.   It is critical that Buyers inspect their prospective immovable...

What is a Notary? A notary is an attorney who has passed an additional specialist exam. And who has been admitted as one by the High Court. They are afforded a high degree of trust, and in return are expected to act with the highest degree of good faith. There are...

Immovable property transactions, Voetstoots and the CPA The Voetstoots clause essentially protects the Seller by seeking to deprive the Buyer of any recourse against the Seller, if the property has any latent or patent defects. Latent defect are discovered by a...

Contracts: Know who you are dealing with? We have come across many instances where clients thought they were contracting with party A, but subsequently discovered they were contracting with party B. This presents significant risk to clients as they may be unable to...

Changes to Matrimonial Property Regime We regularly meet clients who are married in community of property, as they did not sign an ante-nuptial marriage contract before getting married. This can cause challenges, particularly for those who plan to run their own...