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A dismissal arising out of a failure to work overtime for religious reasons may be found to be automatically unfair
By: Jacques van Wyk, Director; Andre van Heerden, Senior Associate and Chelsea Roux, Candidate Attorney ISSUE Whether the dismissal of an employee who refused to work [...]
Woolworths Vs Ubuntu Baba Saga
2019 certainly started with a bang for Woolworths when social media carried the story of its sale of a baby carrier, which Woolworths had stated was [...]
Cutting edge issues for south african boards of directors facing financial distress in 2019
INTRODUCTION Over the years, South African directors have, from time to time been faced with claims of malfeasance, reckless trading, fraud and negligent behaviour, all of [...]
African competition law developments in 2018 and the outlook for 2019
Africa is sometimes described as the "last frontier" of competition law. This observation arises because many African countries have only recently adopted modern competition laws (South [...]
Brexit And Trade Marks – What Is Next
The following considerations and time frames concerning trade marks in the UK are expected to apply to European Trade Marks (“EUTM’s”)*: The UK and EU reach [...]
‘Deal’ or ‘No Deal’ – brexit and trade marks
By Donvay Wegierski, Director Depending on the circumstances, the following considerations and time frames concerning trade marks in the UK are expected to apply to European [...]
South Africa: primark cancelled due to non-use
By Janine Hollesen, Director Truworths brought a cancellation application against Primark Holdings’ registration for PRIMARK on the basis that the mark had not been used. A [...]
Can you copy a product of someone else?
By Janine Hollesen, Director This question was all over social media and media reports when the owner of Ubuntu Baba used the power of social media [...]
Roger federer – the ownership of the trade mark comprising of his initials
By Donvay Wegierski, Director In August 2018, tennis champion Roger Federer terminated the sponsorship agreement with Nike having entered a US$300 million contract with Japanese casual [...]
Ten things you need to know about amendments to the Competition Act
On 4 December 2018 the National Council of Provinces voted to approve the Competition Amendment Bill of 2018. With this vote, the Bill has now completed [...]
Long road to data protection
On 14 December 2018, the Regulations relating to the Protection of Personal Information were finally published by the Information Regulator ("Regulator") under section 112(2) of the Protection [...]
The national minimum wage bill is now law
By: Bradley Workman-Davies, Director and Megan Livingstone, Candidate Attorney On 23 November 2018, the president of the Republic of South Africa ("RSA"), Cyril Ramaphosa, assented to [...]
Direct marketing: the wild west to be tamed by POPIA
by Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Head of Data Privacy Practice The POPIA[1] centres around eight Conditions detailing how personal information should be handled while regard is given to [...]
Trade mark your cannabis concept
Brand owners take note, the movement to legalise the possession and consumption of cannabis is real. With the growing global trend to recognise cannabis as legal, [...]
Hey administrator, did you consult with the public and stakeholders on that decision?
A win for communities and the environment, but yet another hurdle for an ailing mining sector. The impact of the recent judgments involving Atha–Africa Ventures (Pty) [...]
Constitutional Court judgment: CCT 265/17 Maledu v Itereleng Bakgatla Mineral Resources
On 25 October 2018, the Constitutional Court in case number CCT 265/17 handed down judgment in an application for leave to appeal against the decision of [...]
Are landlords and property owners better off with the proposed Amendment to Chapter 6?
The anticipated amendments to the Companies Act 71 of 2008 have proposed one change to Chapter 6 of the 2008 Act. It is somewhat surprising that [...]
Dawn raid in a box
A dawn raid can be carried out on any business, big or small, and companies must be mindful of the possibility of a raid. It is [...]
New Commercial Courts to include intellectual property matters
On 3 October 2018, the Judge President of the Gauteng division of the High Court issued a Commercial Court Practice Directive, which will apply to the [...]
Employer’s threat of criminal and civil proceedings against an employee
By Jacques van Wyk, Director and Yusha Davidson, Candidate Attorney ISSUE Can an employer's threat of criminal and civil proceedings against an employee arising out of [...]
Different sanctions for employees who participated in an unlawful strike
By Jacques van Wyk, Director and Yusha Davidson, Candidate Attorney ISSUE Does the application of different discipline and issuing of different sanctions to certain employees who [...]
Different sanctions for employees who participated in an unlawful strike
By Jacques van Wyk, Director and Yusha Davidson, Candidate Attorney ISSUE Does the application of different discipline and issuing of different sanctions to certain employees who [...]
“So the wolf showed his teeth” – not again Facebook!
by Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Head of Data Privacy Practice "Little pigs! Little pigs! Let me in! Let me in!" "No! No! No! Not by the hairs on [...]
Access, equality and health
National Health Insurance Bill The current process to construct a national health insurance scheme for South Africa is currently underway. The first phase, of what will [...]
When the dispute relates to personal information – the discovery vault
by Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Head of Data Privacy Practice A number of articles have been written and comments made in the media in relation to hundreds of [...]
