Tag: force majeure

Companies have been facing tough decisions over the past few months, particularly those with employees who cannot work during the crisis. The South African lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on industry, market and business.

With the struggle against COVID-19 far from over, South Africa faces a long and tough road ahead as it strives to mitigate the devastating economic impact of the global pandemic. The construction industry, which was already in a negative growth phase prior to the outbreak of the virus, has been particularly hard hit and many companies are struggling to stay afloat.

There is an insidious scourge in society, a criminality, albeit perhaps only due to a disregard for people. An ignorance of cause-and-effect. There has been Grand-Scale COLLUSION between Landlords and Managing Agents on the one hand enabled, even if unknowingly by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Competition on the other.

Businesses who are not providing essential services are likely to be directly and severely affected by the lockdown. For those businesses occupying leased premises, while they may retain the use of the leased premises for certain functions, for example storage of their goods and equipment, they will be deprived of the full use and enjoyment of the premises because they cannot continue to conduct trade or conduct business at the premises for the period of the shutdown.

An interview with Yasmine Wilson, Associate, Norton Rose Fulbright, and Dr Ivor Blumenthal, CEO, ArkKonsult, discussing the impact of COVID-19 on force majeure clauses in contracts.

Will the corona virus (COVID-19) constitute a force majeure event under South African law? The answer to that is it depends.