Blog

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Phew! No major tax increases are planned, and taxpayers will benefit from zero “bracket creep” across a range of taxes. While property sellers and buyers will be disappointed that transfer duty thresholds have not increased, there’s reason to get very excited about the 50%...

Your New Car’s a Lemon: Here’s How to Make Lemonade and Get Your Money Back

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You buy a second-hand vehicle and finance it through a bank. When you realise the vehicle is a complete lemon, you cancel the sale and return the vehicle. But the bank still wants its monthly instalments. We have good news for you. The Supreme Court of Appeal has just held that...

Choose Your Conveyancer with Care! A Cautionary Tale of “Fraud Unravels All”

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Buying and selling a house is probably one of the most important financial transactions you will ever be involved in. Not to mention the emotional aspect of acquiring or letting go of your “home sweet home”. This is why it’s vital to choose the right conveyancer. Case in point, a...

Effective 1 March 2026: New National Minimum Wage

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The National Minimum Wage (NMW) for each “ordinary hour worked” has been increased from 1 March 2026 by 5% from R28,79 per hour to R30,23 per hour. Domestic workers: Assuming a work month of 22 days x 8 hours per day, R30,23 per hour equates to R241,84 per day or R5320,48 per...

Love and the Law: Cohabiting? Get Your House in Order Now

27 Jan 2026

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“All you need is love… and a good lawyer.” (Anonymous) February, with its Valentine’s Day chocolates, roses and declarations of undying love, should be a month for romance, not legal niceties. But in the real world, love and the law are inextricably linked because any...

Parking Disputes and the “Reasonable Neighbour” Test

27 Jan 2026

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“Wouldn’t it be nice to get on with me neighbours?” (from “Lazy Sunday” by Small Faces) Maintaining friendly relations with the neighbours, or at least an “I’ll ignore you if you ignore me” sort of neutrality, has probably been a primary aim of homeowners since the dawn of...

Workplace Sexual Harassment: It’s the Victim’s Perspective That Counts

27 Jan 2026

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“Sexual harassment is the most heinous conduct that plagues the workplace.” (Extract from the judgment below) Our courts have no tolerance for sexual harassment in the workplace, stressing that, at its core, it is concerned with power dynamics at work. A recent Labour Court...

Your Top 10 (Legal) New Year’s Resolutions for 2026

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“My New Year’s resolution is to stop procrastinating. I’ll start tomorrow.” (Anonymous) Most New Year’s resolutions are vague, unwritten, and destined to be forgotten in the first week of January’s hustle and bustle. But please don’t neglect this Top Ten list of legal issues that...

Property Sales and Side Deals: Verbal Agreements Don’t Cut it!

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“With a verbal agreement you have nothing but air.” (Author and entrepreneur Robert Ringer) 2026 opens with positive signals for our property market after last year’s encouraging GDP forecasts, a credit-rating upgrade, and a series of interest rate cuts boosting access to bond...

Electronic Wills are not Valid: Stick to Pen and Paper

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“Let’s choose executors and talk of wills.” (William Shakespeare in Richard II) You may have read one of the many online articles about an electronic will being validated recently by the High Court. Don’t be misled into thinking that electronic wills are now valid as a matter of...

How to Fund Your Divorce if Your Spouse Can Outlitigate You

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“For what is wedlock forced but a hell, An age of discord and continual strife?” (William Shakespeare in Henry VI Part I) This article is a balm for anyone unfortunate enough to be stuck in an unhappy marriage full of Shakespeare’s “discord and continual strife”, yet too scared...

Can You Airbnb Your House or Apartment in a Residential Complex?

25 Nov 2025

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“Landlords grow rich in their sleep.” (John Stuart Mill, economist) If you are thinking of buying (or already own) a house or apartment in a residential complex with the idea of renting it out as an Airbnb (whether permanently or on an “I can make a fortune this Christmas”...

Prescription, Procrastination, and Personal Liability for Corporate Debts

25 Nov 2025

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“I have heard that in war, haste can be folly, but have never seen delay that was wise.” (Sun Tzu, The Art of War) Collecting debt from a recalcitrant debtor can feel very much like going to war, particularly if you have to slog through the trenches of a series of increasingly...

The AARTO National Rollout has Been Delayed – But Beware of Scams!

25 Nov 2025

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“South African drivers, beware! Scammers are issuing fake traffic fines to catch you off guard! Always use AARTO approved collecting agents for your payments.” (Road Traffic Infringement Agency) The national rollout of AARTO has again been postponed, this time to July 2026....

Selling Your House This Summer? Get Your Ducks in a Row With This Checklist

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“In the summertime, when the weather is high, you can stretch right up and touch the sky.” (Mungo Jerry) Summer’s here with its blue skies, happy holidaymakers from around the country and the world, and, as always, an upsurge in demand for houses. If you’re going to capitalise on...

Parental Leave: Out With the Old, in With the New

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“Raising kids is part joy and part guerilla warfare.” (Ed Asner, actor with a great sense of humour!) A game-changing judgment from our Constitutional Court sets out new rules for parental leave. The joy of becoming parents, and a father’s leave dilemma The birth of a couple’s...

Wedding Bells? You Can Both Choose Your Own Surnames Now

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“A family name holds the music of generations – it’s the first inheritance we receive.” (Attributed to Irish poet-philosopher John O’Donohue) The Constitutional Court has just confirmed (with some significant adjustments) last year’s High Court ruling that both partners in a...

As 1 December Looms, Here’s What AARTO Means for Motorists and Employers