In a defamation dispute between two politicians (the former and the subsequent mayor of Johannesburg) the incumbent mayor sued for defamation damages for remarks about him. At the same time he applied for a court interdict ordering the respondent to retract the offending remarks, to refrain from repeating them, and to issue an unconditional apology
April 2020
Service of summons on one surety does not interrupt running of prescription for other sureties

The service of a summons on one surety does not interrupt the running of prescription in favour of a co-surety. Although the surety undertakes to be liable if the principal debtor does not pay the debt, the surety does not become a co-debtor with the principal debtor, nor does the surety become a co-debtor with…
Essential service businesses, have you received an updated certificate from CIPC?


Companies which are registered to perform essential services during the lockdown should have by now received a new certificate from the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) for the extended lockdown period. The old certificates are no longer valid and will have to be disposed of.
The new certificates should be automatically emailed to companies…
10 things to know about business rescue


Business rescue offers a very useful alternative to the liquidation or winding-up of a company. During and after the pandemic, many companies may have to consider whether business rescue is an appropriate response to the economic impact that COVID-19 may have had on their business.
Here are 10 things to know when considering business rescue:…
SARB’s responses to COVID-19 and its recommendation to South African banks on the payment of dividends and executive bonuses in 2020


The SARB’s Prudential Authority (PA) issued a guidance note advising that it did not expect banks to distribute dividends on ordinary shares or pay cash bonuses to senior executives in 2020. This guidance is not binding on banks but is recommended. In terms of section 46(2) of the Companies Act 2008 resolutions authorising a distribution…
Evidence relating to a contract: contradicting versus interpreting the terms

Where a contract has been reduced to writing the writing is regarded as the exclusive embodiment of the transaction and no extrinsic (parol) evidence which would have the effect of contradicting, altering, adding to or varying the written contract may be relied on. This is referred to as the parol evidence rule. The inadmissibility of…
SA websites must be updated to have a link to government’s COVID-19 site


To promote the dissemination of real time public information (and to help in combatting the spread of fake news), internet sites operating within za Domain Name Authority (.zaDNA) top level domain name must be updated to include a landing page with a visible link to www.sacoronavirus.co.za.
.zaDNA is the statutory regulator and manager of…
HPCSA relaxes scope of practice rule, and provides more COVID-19 guidelines

On 17 April 2020, the Health Professions Council of South Africa provided its latest COVID-19 guidelines to registered practitioners. The guidelines were circulated to registered practitioners via e-mail – as at the date of publication of this article, the guidelines are yet to be published on the HPCSA’s website www.hpcsa.co.za
The HPCSA acknowledges that the…
Deciding between mutually destructive versions of oral agreement


Where there are mutually destructive versions of an oral agreement, a court will side with the version which is more probable considering the circumstances. The credibility of witnesses, including whether their evidence is coherent and consistent, will be taken into account.
The applicant in Meintjies v Annandale and another, an owner of an accounting…
Update to Disaster Management Regulations (16 April 2020)


The lockdown period has been extended to 30 April 2020.
The Disaster Management Regulations related to COVID-19 therefore still apply, with some changes. The changes aim to manage the remainder of the lockdown and to enable a phased and controlled return to normal economic and social activity.
Here are the main takeaways from the amended…