Insights
Practical writing on procedure, remedies and the questions clients ask most often.
Litigation
A signature obtained from the wrong person creates no contract. The Supreme Court of Appeal considers exemption clauses, authority between partners, and the notice standards the Consumer Protection Act demands of operators running activities that carry real risk.
3 August 2026 · 3 min read
21 July 2026
Business Rescue
A company facing a winding-up brought a business rescue application days before the hearing. The High Court refused it — and set out what a company must actually prove to be rescued, and why an arbitration clause won't shield it from liquidation.
15 July 2026
Insolvency
One of the most cited rules in our winding-up law began with an unpaid salary of £120 and a one-day letter of demand. Badenhorst is the case everyone quotes and almost no one reads. Here are the facts, and the principle that grew out of them.
30 April 2026
Construction Law
An employer tried to escape a JBCC arbitration clause by pointing out that the contract was never signed. The Western Cape High Court was unpersuaded: a building contract you have handed over the site for, paid on and cancelled is a contract that binds you, signature or no signature.
27 March 2026
When someone is insolvent in two countries, is the money left in the South African estate a "surplus" that returns to them? In Scheer v Wagner the SCA said no — not while the foreign estate is still in deficit.
22 January 2026
An insurer refused to pay out on a construction guarantee, raising defective demands, full recoupment and even fraud. The Gauteng High Court rejected all three. A call on an on-demand guarantee must be met, and only proven fraud will stop it.
21 January 2026
A bank took cession of a borrower's insurance rights as security, then lost the proceeds when the insurer settled with the borrower. Stannic v Samib is a sharp reminder that a security cession only binds those who actually know about it.
1 January 2026
Arbitration
One of the topics we have discussed before is when a court will intervene and set aside an arbitration award. The legal principles governing such applications are well established. As a general rule,
- A Brief Overview of the SCA's Landmark Ruling In Telcordia Technologies Inc v Telkom SA Ltd 2007 (3) SA 266 (SCA), the Supreme Court of Appeal reaffirmed the limited role courts play in reviewing
18 November 2025
Insurance
In AIG South Africa v Azrapart the Supreme Court of Appeal refused to rectify a policy to strip out COVID-19 infectious-disease cover, holding that an insurer who signs a Placing Slip and policy that include the cover cannot later plead a "mistake" it never flagged.
1 November 2025
In Hanekom N O and Others v Nuwekloof Private Game Reserve Farm Owners Association a trust referred a levy dispute with a Homeowners' Association ("the HOA") to the Community Schemes Ombud Service
1 May 2025
It is said that all contracts are agreements but not all agreements are contracts. In business we tend to use the terms ‘agreement' and ‘contract' interchangeably, which is fine most of
1 April 2025
As a young attorney, I had the privilege of acting as attorney of record for ABSA Brokers in Rippel v ABSA Brokers (Pty) Ltd (3198/2009) [2009] ZAKZDHC 49 (30 October 2009). The case serves as an
In a judgment handed down earlier this year, the South Gauteng High Court restated the legal principles for reviewing an arbitration award. Any party who seeks to challenge an arbitration award under
1 March 2025
In the 2007 case of Gutsche Family Investments (Pty) Ltd and Others v Mettle Equity Group (Pty) Ltd and Others [2007 (5) SA 491 (SCA)], the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered a key ruling on the
1 February 2025
The incident On 6 May 2024, a building that would be known as the 74 Victoria Apartments catastrophically collapsed in George, resulting in the tragic death of 34 persons and serious injury to many
15 January 2025
Mediation is an alternative form of dispute resolution where an independent third party (called a mediator) facilitates a settlement between the parties. The process is voluntary meaning that it
1 January 2025
The first time the Supreme Court of Appeal had to deal with the concept of business rescue was in the matter of Oakdene Square Properties (Pty) Ltd v Farm Bothasfontein (Kyalami) (Pty) Ltd (609/2012)
1 November 2024
The crisp issue that was decided by the Supreme Court of Appeal in the matter of Lutchman N.O. and Others v African Global Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Others was when exactly a business rescue application
