The Pretoria High Court has refused to extend the ‘bloedige hand’ principle in instances where the beneficiary of a death benefit was the child of the deceased’s killer. The ‘bloedige hand’ principle holds that no person who unlawfully causes the death of another may inherit from the deceased.
The deceased and his wife were killed
If an employer requests that provident fund benefits be withheld from an employee due to misconduct, the trustees of the fund must still independently exercise their discretion to satisfy themselves that a sufficient case against the employee has been established, in order to withhold the benefit.
The Financial Services Tribunal has again considered the withholding
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Investec Bank Limited v Erf 436 Elandspoort (Pty) Ltd and Others gave useful examples of what constitutes a tacit acknowledgement of liability (which interrupts the running of prescription of a debt in terms of section 14 of the Prescription Act 1969). The case involved a debt related to
The owner of a dog that attacks a person who neither provoked the attack nor by their negligence directly caused their own injury is liable, as owner, to make good the resultant damages.
Based on Roman law, for nearly 200 years the law in South Africa has been accepted that owners of animals are strictly
Shop owners have a duty of care to their customers. The duty of care necessitates preventing harm to customers, which can be reasonably foreseen. The duty is however not limitless.
In De Wet v Gateway Plaza Meatworld CC De Wet slipped and fell at Gateway Plaza. She alleged that her fall was caused by oil
The prescribed rate of interest has been changed with effect from 1 September 2020 to 7.00% per annum. The previous rate was 7.25%.
According to the Prescribed Rate of Interest Act, interest on debts where no rate is prescribed is calculated at the repo rate plus 3.5%. The prescribed rate of interest applies to all
The paper-based nature of trade finance presents significant risks of error, fraud and duplicated costs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revitalised efforts towards digitisation, because the transport of these documents is dependent on courier services and the processing is dependent on in-person handling. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) called on governments and central banks in
The court in Firstrand Bank Limited v Barreiro reconfirmed that there is no general ‘prejudice principle’ which holds that a debtor or surety is released from their obligations to a creditor if the creditor does anything that prejudices them. The court reiterated that a surety can be released, either wholly or in part, from their
JP Markets, which markets itself as a global forex powerhouse, has been placed under final winding up as a result of a successful liquidation application brought by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).
The FSCA brought the application in terms of section 38B of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS Act) and section
The use of electronic signatures in cross-border transactions can be fraught with difficulties given the lack of uniformity relating to electronic signatures across countries. This position is further exacerbated by the lack of widespread adoption of the Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts 2005, which sought to standardise electronic communications. The