Legal updates and opinions
Search Author
FAQ – Opportunities For Investors Arising from the South African Business Rescue Process
INTRODUCTION The South African business rescue process has created the opportunity for investors (local and foreign) to position themselves in order to take advantage of distressed [...]
Werksmans POPIA e-learning Course
Werksmans POPIA e-learning Course The Werksmans Protection of Personal Information Act (“POPIA”) e-learning course will provide your business and staff with a basic understanding on: • [...]
POPIA: A Guide to the Protection of Personal Information Act of South Africa
An Introduction to POPIA POPIA or POPI was promulgated on 26 November 2013. The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) is intended to promote the right [...]
Large fines show FSCA is focused on enforcement to leave the grey list – a red flag for non-compliant financial services providers as more fines likely
Gone are the days of box-ticking. The FSCA has imposed penalties on financial services providers for non-compliance with FICA The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has [...]
Shifting gears and driving competition: Proposed changes to the Guidelines for Competition in the South African Automotive Aftermarkets
The Competition Commission is proposing changes to its Guidelines for Competition in the South African Automotive Aftermarkets ("Guidelines"), and interested parties have until 13 May 2024 to comment! The [...]
The AI National Policy: South Africa’s initial step to establish an AI policy and regulatory framework
At the AI Government Summit on 5 April 2024, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies ("DCDT") launched South Africa's Artificial Intelligence ("AI") Planning Discussion Document [...]
Striking a balance: The impact of strike violence on protected strikes
Danelle Plaatjies - Candidate Attorney and Hanan Jeppie - Candidate Attorney Issue Whether a protected strike that was characterised by serious violence and intimidation could [...]
Employee entitlements in the event of employer death
and Danelle Plaatjies - Candidate Attorney When the employment relationship ends due to the death of the employer, it terminates by operation of law, absolving both [...]
Caught on the sidelines: The cost of employee sick leave abuse
Danelle Plaatjies - Candidate Attorney and Yendiswa Sithole - Candidate Attorney What is an employer to do when an employee is booked off on sick leave, [...]
Court orders un-redacted documents be provided to SARS
Section 46 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (TAA) allows SARS to request 'relevant material' in relation to a taxpayer for the purposes of administering a [...]
The Competition Commission’s Revised Final Public Interest Guidelines: A Critical Framework for Merger Analysis
and Chiara Ferri - Candidate Attorney Introduction The South African Competition Commission ("Commission") has published its final revised Public Interest Guidelines ("the Guidelines") relating to merger [...]
Constitutional Court considers evictions in the inner-city of Cape Town
On 27 February 2024, the Constitutional Court heard oral arguments in the matter of Charnell Commando and Others v City of Cape Town and Another (Abahlali [...]
Newsflash: The Competition Authority of Kenya clarifies the position on Administrative Remedies and Settlement.
and Lwazi-Lwandile Simelane - Candidate Attorney On 21 March 2024, the Competition Authority of Kenya ("the CAK") announced that it had published the Consolidated Administrative Remedies [...]
Large fines show FSCA is focused on enforcement to leave the grey list – a red flag for non-compliant financial services providers as more fines likely
Gone are the days of box-ticking. The FSCA has imposed penalties on financial services providers for non-compliance with FICA The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has [...]
Considerations of a surety relying on the remedies provided in the Insolvency Act
CASE NOTE Introduction On 9 February 2024, the Supreme Court of Appeal in the case of Cohen v Absa Bank Limited [1] delivered a judgment in [...]
New Earnings Threshold
and Danelle Plaatjies - Candidate Attorney On 5 March 2024 the Minister of Employment and Labour, Thembelani Waltermade Nxesi, published a Government Gazette providing for the [...]
Regulator or Legislature?
The Information Regulator ("Regulator") issued its first Enforcement Notice regarding non-compliance with the direct marketing provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA") against FR [...]
Is your business struggling? Liquidation or Business Rescue are not the only options: The Section 155 Compromise
and researched by Thabani Dlamini - Candidate Attorney Introduction When your business is struggling and creditors are knocking down the door, the primary focus has traditionally [...]
Be careful what you wish for: Lessons from the LAC
On 13 October 2021 the Labour Court ("LC") found the dismissal of the employee to be automatically unfair. This was after the Labour Court found that [...]
An extension of the Parate Executie principle in the liquidation context
Emontic Investments (Pty) Ltd v Bothomley and Others[1] Introduction A Parate Executie clause is generally regarded as an impermissible contractual provision which envisages a secured creditor [...]
Online brand protection practices for brand owners
Online shopping is prevalent due to the ease and convenience with which consumers can purchase goods or services. Consumer decisions to purchase branded goods or services [...]
Zambia introduces welcomed revisions in the Trade Marks Bill 2023
Zambia's Trade Mark Legislation is currently the Trade Marks Act (Chapter 401) 1958 ("TM Act") and in 2023 the Trade Marks Bill 2023 ("TM Bill 2023") [...]
South Africa’s Greylisting: Regulatory authorities make progress on the Financial Action Task Force recommendations
Introduction It has been over a year since the Financial Action Task Force ("FATF") announced that South Africa had been added to the FATF's greylist [...]
Pro Bono Matters
In the past year, our pro bono team and other lawyers from Werksmans worked on a variety of matters across different legal fields. The following are [...]
Business Rescue Trends in 2024 and Beyond
Brandon Starr - Candidate Attorney and Caitlin Steytler - Candidate Attorney With looming elections now scheduled for 29 May 2024, persistent loadshedding, elevated interest rates and [...]