- The Johannesburg High Court held that applicants launching applications for an appeal against a refusal of a request for access to information of a private body under Section 82 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA), must first submit a complaint to the Information Regulator regarding the refusal, before launching court proceedings.
Rosalind Lake (ZA)
The hefty consequences of breaching Kenyan competition law
By Rosalind Lake (ZA) & James Donald on
This blog was co-authored by Candidate Attorney, Neshalia Nayagar.
The Competition Authority of Kenya recently published the Draft Consolidated Administrative Remedies and Settlement Guidelines, which are available here . The Guidelines will be used by the Authority in determining administrative penalties and offer insight into how such penalties will be calculated. Under Kenyan competition…
Data breaches in terms of the FAIS Act
This blog was co-authored with Julian Scholtz, Candidate Attorney.
While the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) is widely accepted as the primary legislation dealing with the processing of personal information, it is important for financial service providers (FSPs) to take note of their duties in the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services…
Anti-competitive information exchange among competitors: Final Guidelines issued
By Rosalind Lake (ZA) on
This blog was co-authored by: James Donald, Trainee Associate
On 27 January 2023, the Competition Commission published its Final Guidelines on the Exchange of Competitively Sensitive Information between Competitors under the Competition Act. The Guidelines are not binding but will be taken into consideration in determining administrative penalties. The guidelines are available here.
Exchange…
Information Regulator issues guidance on POPIA data breach notifications
By Rosalind Lake (ZA) & Victoria Pillay on
The Information Regulator published Guidelines on 12 August 2022 regarding security compromise notifications in terms of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).
POPIA governs data breaches by ‘responsible parties’ who, alone or in conjunction with others, collect and process personal information for purposes and by means determined by them. They…
Access to personal devices in competition claims
By Juliana Munyembate & Rosalind Lake (ZA) on
The High Court in England has ruled that it can order companies accused of breaking competition rules to require employees to disclose work-related communications stored on personal electronic devices.
The court was dealing with a disclosure and inspection dispute in relation to a competition damages claim filed by a mobile phone retailer. Phones 4U’s insolvency…
South African Data Privacy laws finally come into force
By Rosalind Lake (ZA) & Priyanka Naidoo on
On 22 June 2020, the effective commencement of the Protection of Personal Information Act 2013 (POPI) was gazetted as 1 July 2020.
Anyone processing personal information in South Africa will have a 12 month grace period to ensure that they comply with the requirements of POPI. After 1 July 2021, any non-compliance with POPI will…
What does data privacy mean for due diligence investigations?
By Rosalind Lake (ZA) & Priyanka Naidoo on
Given many entities’ proactive compliance with the provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act despite it not being enforceable, companies should be considering the impact of POPI (or data privacy laws with wide reach) when they carry out due diligence investigations. Depending on the nature of the transaction, the due diligence process can involve…
Competition laws require online platforms in the ‘gig economy’ to protect SME and black suppliers
By Rosalind Lake (ZA) on
The Competition Act was amended in February 2020 to introduce new rules to protect small, medium and black-owned suppliers in specific sectors (the buyer power provisions). These include the e-commerce and online services sectors (the gig economy).
On 18 May 2020 the Competition Commission issued its guidelines on the buyer power provisions. These guidelines set…
Sign of the times: Electronic signatures in South Africa
By Lisa Ellefsen, Steve Chemaly & Rosalind Lake (ZA) on
Are electronic signatures valid? It depends: the parties must explicitly agree to the use of electronic signatures and must agree a signing method which complies with the requirements in the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 2002 (ECTA).
What constitutes an electronic signature and whether such signatures are valid in South Africa has become a question…