Legal

A recent judgment in the Supreme Court of Appeal has reconfirmed that the duty of debarring representatives, who do not meet the requirement of a ‘fit and proper’ person as prescribed in the FAIS Act, falls fairly and squarely on the shoulders of financial services providers (FSPs).

We have released a report on advertising law developments around the world in response to COVID-19 pandemic. As the world faces a terrible pandemic, there’s been an enormous effort by regulators and others to protect consumers. This special report tracks how regulators and others have responded to advertising issues, such as fake cures and price gouging, related to COVID-19.

Intellectual property (IP) is often overlooked when a business is compelled to seek business rescue or liquidation, but it may form a valuable asset, requiring decisions to be made on whether to sell it or maintain it. In the current economic climate, many businesses will unfortunately find themselves in the unenviable position of having to decide between business rescue and liquidation.

Employees returning to work from the COVID-19 lockdown will need to show reasonable justification if they halt work on the basis that they are exposed to the virus. Legal provisions allowing employees to withdraw from a hazardous working situation could, in the context of COVID-19, be open to abuse by unprincipled employees or trades unions.

As a bare minimum, directors are required to act in a manner which benefits the company – that is, to act in the company's best interests. This is entrenched in section 76 of the Companies Act which requires all directors, alternate directors and prescribed officers to act in good faith, in the best interests of the company and with the necessary degree of care, skill and diligence and prevents such persons from (1) abusing their position; and (2) knowingly causing harm to the company.

A number of fundamental changes to the Competition Act demonstrate government's strengthened policy commitment to drive radical economic transformation in South Africa and are likely to be more regularly used in the midst of COVID-19.

In a strong rebuke of the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and her Director-General, Judge Norman Davis in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday, 02 June 2020, declared the regulations issued by the Minister in terms of Section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act to be unconstitutional and invalid.

The Rule of Law was mostly absent during Apartheid when a system of parliamentary supremacy elevated the state's effectively absolute power above all else.

Judgements are handed down each day across the country and busy lawyers cannot read them all. Essential Case Law, updated monthly and available as a print subscription or online on Lexis Library, promises to be a game changer for everyday law.

On 29 April 2020, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, published regulations in terms of the National Disaster Management Act which regulate the Alert Level 4 conditions during the COVID-19 national disaster.