The Supreme Court of Appeal has decried the growing tendency to lead evidence about what experts think a contract means and about the subjective intention of the parties and details of their negotiation. The written text must not be relegated, but must be considered having regard to the context in which the agreement was entered
The Supreme Court of Appeal restated the principles on liability for unlawful competition by the use of the trade secrets of a competitor. Every person is entitled to freely carry on their trade or business in competition with rivals but the competition must remain within lawful bounds. If it involves a wrongful interference with another’s
The Minister today committed government to a collaborative approach with the private sector in dealing with the current energy crisis in South Africa.
At the DLO Africa Power Roundtable Conference today (26 March 2019), the Minister spoke positively about the imminent release of the final Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), the unbundling of Eskom and long-term
One of the major issues facing the law in an age of autonomous technology is the question of who is liable for damage caused by a machine or artificial intelligence either by physical injury or the failure of a contract. Insurers will have a major role to play.
If a machine such as a driverless
The guarantor in Raubex Construction (Pty) Ltd v Bryte Insurance Company alleged that payment under a guarantee was not due because of fraud on the part of the beneficiary. A mere error, misunderstanding or oversight, however unreasonable, does not amount to fraud and is insufficient to show that the contentions of the beneficiary are deliberately
The English Court of Appeal found that the plaintiff building society had not proved damages against its auditors who gave them incorrect information about how to treat long-term interest rate swaps on its balance sheet under the IFRS requirements.
The swaps were not included on the balance sheet from 2005 till 2013, when they were
An application for business rescue does not terminate the office of provisional liquidators nor does it result in the assets and management of the company in liquidation re-vesting in the directors of the company.
Where a company had been liquidated, an application was made for business rescue in GCC Engineering v Lawrence Maroos. Although
The Constitutional Court has reminded us in the context of mineral rights that a statutory provision must be interpreted in accordance with the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights (s 39(2)) and consistently with the Constitution and consistently with international law (s 233), and the courts must apply customary law when that
Currently section 26 of the Companies Act 2008 provides only for holders of securities and beneficial interests in securities to have access to the notices and minutes of annual meetings, written communications sent generally to any class of security holders, resolutions adopted at a shareholders meeting and any documents made available in relation to such
The Western Cape High Court found that the common law duty to provide lateral support to a neighbouring property falls within the law of neighbours where the guiding principle is reasonableness. The duty of lateral support relates to contiguous pieces of land even where the land has been built on, provided the buildings have not