Category Archives: News & Resources

The dissolution of marriage in South Africa is regulated by our Divorce Act and the Matrimonial Property Act. These acts do not require parties contemplating divorce to enter into divorce mediation. However, our courts have recently started increasing the pressure on legal practitioners to advise their clients to enter into divorce mediation before the parties […]

Moya Rossouw Section 18 of Criminal Procedure Act 81 of 1977 (hereafter: “CPA”) states that a case cannot be brought against a person accused of sexual abuse if the alleged incident happened more than twenty years ago. The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg recently heard an application which challenged this section of the law, […]

In a recent matter in The Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, Greyvensteins Incorporated, acting on behalf of a local Port Elizabeth property owner, appealed the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality Rates rates clearance certificate policy and won the case. Rates Clearance Certificate necessary for transfer of property The Metropole had refused to issue […]

“I applied to my municipality to have the building plans for the extension of my garage approved. The municipality rejected my proposed extension on the grounds that it would be constructed over a servitude registered against my title deed in favour of the municipality. What is servitude? Can I have it removed?” Personal Servitude – […]

Insolvency is not being able to pay your accounts on time and in full, and is probably the most stressful situation a business owner will ever experience. What most people don’t realise is, that it is in fact, a very common occurrence affecting all entrepreneurs at some point in their business lives. Some famous multi-billionaires […]

Body Corporates (BC) established in terms of The Sectional Titles Act, 1986 (Act No 95 of 1986) were empowered to require owners of units within the scheme to contribute a monthly levy. The levy raised had to be sufficient to cover the day to day repairs, upkeep, control and management of the common property. The […]

The word conveyancing is used to describe the administrative and legal procedures necessary to transfer ownership (and other rights) in immovable property from one person to another. In terms of the laws in South Africa immovable property (vacant land, houses, flats, farms, buildings) can be privately owned. Thousands of property transactions take place in our […]

The enactment of the new Consumer Protection Act No. 68 of 2008 (CPA) introduces some far reaching changes to lease agreements for immovable property. Specifically for ordinary people, the changes affect the maximum duration of a lease agreement and grant the parties certain rights of cancellation. It is important to note that Juristic Persons fall […]

Domestic violence is a sad reality for many families in South Africa Domestic violence is where a person (“the complainant”) is being harmed by another person (“the respondent”) while they are in a domestic relationship. The complainant and the respondent will be considered to be in a domestic relationship if they are: married to each […]

In a much-anticipated Constitutional Court Judgment it has been ruled that new property owners are no longer expected to take responsibility for settling municipal debt incurred by previous owners of the acquired property. The matter stemmed from a litigious battle which challenged the constitutionality of section 118(3) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act. Section […]