Tag: public interest

All taxpayers should arrange their tax affairs to obtain the best advantage and to pay the least amount of tax. This is a right every taxpayer possesses, and well entrenched in South African and international tax law. However, this planning must be done within the constraints of what the law allows.

South Africa is facing an extraordinary ‘polycrisis’. The dimensions of this crisis include an energy collapse; a failing rail network; weak education outcomes; an interrupted water supply; and the effects of decades of endemic corruption that have brought much of government to a halt.

The recent Constitutional Court ruling in Arena Holdings (Pty) Ltd t/a Financial Mail and Others v South African Revenue Service puts pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa to reveal the tax records of the Tshivhase Trust, owner of Phala Phala.

The passing of legislation is a complex process and often a lengthy one. There are many checks and balances before a Bill becomes an Act of Parliament. Each bill is debated in detail and, if necessary, amended. If there is much public interest in a bill, public hearings may be organised to allow interested parties to make written comments and sometimes make oral representations on the provisions of the Bill.

Not resting on its laurels since releasing Squid Game, its most watched series to date, Netflix has been hard at work – filing trade mark applications worldwide to protect the Squid Game name and logos for a wide variety of products and services.

The Competition Commission has recently prohibited a transaction between Emerging Capital Partners Africa (ECP) and Grand Parade Investments, a private equity firm listed in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The transaction would have seen ECP acquire Grand Parade’s stake in Burger King South Africa (BKSA) as well as Grand Foods Meat Plant (Pty) Ltd.

We published a new research paper highlighting the dangers of property confiscation (also known as expropriation without compensation) and nationalisation. The paper Private Property, Public Interest: Alternatives to Confiscation and Nationalisation identifies at least five alternatives, each of which empowers the vulnerable, to the government's dangerous plans which simply empower the state.

The land reform debate over the last few years in South Africa can at best be described as controversial, political and mostly emotional, more specifically so in the context of expropriation. From the outset, it should be noted that the current Expropriation Act, 1975 (the 1975 Act) is completely outdated and predates the Constitution and the South African expropriation laws were in dire need of being overhauled.

The Johannesburg High Court discussed the balance between the constitutional right to freedom of expression and the required respect for inherent dignity ‘to all human beings’.

Government’s push to water down the constitutional protection for property rights in South Africa by amending the Constitution should shock everyone of whatever race or socio-economic background. Every South African who owns property will be in jeopardy if the vital check of compensation is repealed.