Ethics – a rare commodity
“A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world” – Albert Camus Based on the recent events in South Africa, ethics should be a buzzword you are quite familiar with. South Africa, specifically the audit industry, has been rocked by two major scandals in the recent past, which was both caused by […]
Electronic signing of documentation
The commercial world is currently moving to greater levels of digitisation. Organisations are implementing automated and electronic solutions in an effort to improve efficiency and better the environmental footprint at the same time. The move to digitisation and electronic signatures prompted questions surrounding the legality of these documents. This article aims to highlight certain legal […]
AGA (SA) – Relevance, enhanced recognition and status for accountants
The journey to reach the Chartered Accountant South Africa CA(SA) designation has been described as one of the most difficult career paths in South Africa. With the professional accounting body, South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), being established as one of the best in the world, and providing the highest of standards and excess […]
Wat is ’n noulettenheidsondersoek en wat is die doel daarvan?
Dit is algemeen om die term “noulettenheidsondersoek” of due diligence (“DD”) te hoor tydens gesprekke wat gevoer word oor die moontlike koop, verkoop, samesmelting of amalgamasie van besighede, asook in gevalle waar ’n derde party dit oorweeg om in ’n besigheid te investeer. Ten spyte van die feit dat voornemende kopers, verkopers en/of beleggers bekend […]
The impact of the CPA on Franchise Agreements
With franchises becoming a common phenomenon worldwide and franchisors, traditionally, benefitting from a strong bargaining position when negotiating franchise agreements, regulation of the industry has become inevitable and has South Africa’s legislature initiated this regulation through the Consumer Protection Act No.68 of 2008 (“CPA”), which was signed into law on 24 April 2011. The CPA […]
General CPA v the voetstoots clause
Both sellers and buyers (of anything – houses, cars, you name it) need to understand how the CPA (Consumer Protection Act) has impacted on the very common “voetstoots” (“as is”) clause. Firstly, what’s the difference between “patent” and “latent” defects? Before we get into the meat of this question, let’s understand two important terms – […]
Am I prejudiced by an arbitration clause in my building contract?
Contracts for the building of a house or providing for substantial alterations to a house commonly contain an arbitration clause. This article looks at the advantages of resolving disputes relating to building contracts by arbitration rather than by litigation in the courts. I had a written contract with a builder to make substantial alterations to […]