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Panel Discussion: Decoding the 2025 Budget Speech

Date: 26 February 2025 | Location: Online webinar – link will be sent to registrants

Join us for our annual online panel discussion as our expert panellists set to work decoding the 2025 national budget from a legal, tax, accounting, fiduciary, and compliance perspective and discuss the implications it holds for individuals, trusts, and companies. 

Webinar Details
Date: 26 February 2025
Start Time: 26 February 2025 03:00 PM
End Time: 26 February 2025 04:00 PM

Panel Discussion: Decoding the 2025 Budget Speech

Date: 26 February 2025 | Location: Online webinar – link will be sent to registrants

Join us for our annual online panel discussion as our expert panellists set to work decoding the 2025 national budget from a legal, tax, accounting, fiduciary, and compliance perspective and discuss the implications it holds for individuals, trusts, and companies. 

Webinar Details
Date: 26 February 2025
Start Time: 26 February 2025 03:00 PM
End Time: 26 February 2025 04:00 PM

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Filter: Disaster Management Act
Wedding cancelled due to Covid-19: can I get my money back?

19 January 2021,  Jaco Van den Berg

Since Covid-19 struck, it is no longer unusual to hear of engaged couples whose wedding date had been fixed, whose... invites had gone out long before and who had paid for everything already including the total venue costs - only for unexpected Covid-19 regulations to suddenly be implemented squashing all their romantic plans in one, fell swoop. The big question is, now that the wedding had to be cancelled, can the couple get their money back?Yet again with the recent amended Covid-19 regulations declared at the end of December 2020, many weddings had to be postponed or cancelled on short notice. It is important to know your rights if you already paid the wedding service providers and the wedding is now cancelled due to the change in regulations.The Regulations issued in terms of the Disaster Management Act, defines a gathering as follows:‘gathering’ means any assembly, concourse or procession in or on—(a) any public road, as defined in the National Road Traffic Act, or(b) any other building, place or premises, including wholly or partly in the open air, and including, but not limited to, any premises or place used for any sporting, entertainment, funeral, recreational, religious, or cultural purposes; but excludes a workplace and a place of residence for those persons ordinarily residing at the residence.The amended level 3 lockdown regulations that are now in force, prohibits most gatherings or social gatherings, including weddings. Many contracts with service providers, like the wedding venue, will contain a force majeure clause. Force majeure refers to an event or occurrence, which renders contractual performance impossible. The term is synonymous with the term vis maior.Force majeure clauses allow a party to a contract to escape the normal consequences of non-performance or late performance of their obligations in terms of the contract, because of an unforeseeable or unavoidable event. This can include acts of God, acts of government, natural disasters, epidemics, pandemics, terrorism or even war. The clause will allow a party to suspend its obligation in terms of the agreement for the duration of the force majeure event.If, however, there is no force majeure clause in the contract with a wedding service provider, and the service provider refuses to refund the money paid when a wedding is cancelled due to the new regulations, the other party has a possible claim against the service provider based on the legal remedy known as unjustified enrichment. The term "unjustified enrichment" is used to describe the situation which occurs when one party is enriched and the other party correspondingly impoverished, while the enrichment is at the expense of the impoverished party and unjustified, that is, without there being a legal ground for the retention of the enrichment by the enriched party. From the fact of such unjustified enrichment an obligation arises by operation of law in terms of which the enriched party has, in specified circumstances, a duty to restore the enrichment to the impoverished party up to the level of the latter's impoverishment.This means if you paid a wedding service provider and the wedding could not proceed due to the force majeure event (in this case, Covid-19), the wedding service provider might have been enriched at your expense, and you might well have a claim based on unjustified enrichment against them.Most probably the claim will be against the venue provider, band or other service providers who has not performed their obligation prior to the cancelation of the wedding. Unfortunately, if the service provider already performed, such as delivering the wedding cake, no enrichment claim will be possible.Each matter will have to be judged on the relevant facts and it is best to contact an attorney to advise you on a possible claim.

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SA's State of Disaster now set to expire: what happens next?

14 August 2020,  Eldon Ward

South Africa’s State of Disaster and its laws are as of this moment, still set to expire on the 15th... of August 2020. With this being tomorrow, the question we're all asking is, what happens next? As we are all well aware, President Cyril Rampahosa addressed the nation on the 15th of March 2020 on the Covid-19 world pandemic and declared the pandemic a national state of disaster in terms of the Disaster Management Act.  Subsequent to the declaration, regulations and directions were issued and passed in terms of Section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act as a method of taking urgent and drastic measures to manage the virus, protect the citizens of our country and reduce the spread and impact of the virus on our society and on our economy.  Over the past few months the President has extended the state of disaster on several occasions, the last of which was on the 12th of July 2020. On the 12th of July 2020 the President extended the national state of disaster to the 15th of August 2020. It is therefore important to note that in terms of Section 27(5) of the Disaster Management Act, the Act provides that a national state of disaster that has been declared in terms of subsection (1) lapses after three months after it has been declared, or it may be terminated by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in the Government Gazette before it lapses, or it may be extended by the Minister by notice in the Government Gazette for one month at a time before it lapses or the existing extension is due to expire. So what happens next? It is important to note that if the national state of disaster lapses it will mean that the regulations and directions issued in terms thereof lapses too and will no longer be in force or effect. In terms of the Disaster Management Act it is thus understood that the regulations and directions issued to fight the Covid-19 pandemic will only remain in force for as long as there is a national state of disaster. If the national state of disaster lapses, the laws and regulations passed in terms thereof lapses too.  In terms of the Disaster Management Act it should be noted that there is no restriction on the amount of times that the national state of disaster may be extended. The Government can thus extend the national state of disaster one month at a time for as long as it is deemed necessary.   What can be expected by the citizens of South Africa? Because the number of infections and deaths are still very high, it is likely expected for the national state of disaster to be extended with a new set of regulations. It is also likely expected that the new set of regulations will ease the current restrictions imposed, such as perhaps moving to Alert Level 2, easing the curfew in terms of the hours, still allowing intra-provincial travelling and allowing inter-provincial travelling under strict conditions. We therefore now wait in anticipation for the President to address the nation! 

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Blog
Sectional Title body corporates, and Covid-19

10 July 2020,  Corlia van Zyl

I live in a small sectional title scheme and am on the body corporate. We have tried to comply as... much as possible with the Covid-19 regulations but am unsure about what we may or may not do in this time. Is it possible to get some guidance in this regard?

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Emergency Public Procurement under Covid-19 (Part 1)

01 July 2020,  Mulalo Mokgoro

The Covid-19 virus has presented various challenges for aspects of commercial practice both on a national and on a global... scale. South Africa in particular, has seen many of its businesses in both the public and private sector deviate from their ordinary policies and processes as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. These deviations have, for the most part, been contextual, with each, business, organisation or entity having to adopt its own unique Covid-19 survival strategy. Similarly to private business and organisations, in an attempt to survive the pandemic, South Africa has had to adopt drastic measures, including the loosening of restrictions in certain industries and the tightening of restrictions in others. As part of South Africa’s wide-ranging measures to limit the spread of the virus, consideration had to be given to the potential threat which could be posed by persons entering South Africa illegally, particularly those individuals entering South Africa through the Beitbridge border. Situated across the northern plains of the Limpopo River, the Beitbridge border town is a border post and bridge that separates Zimbabwe from South Africa. The Beitbridge is infamous for being occasionally utilised for unauthorised border crossings by individuals wishing to reach South Africa in the hope of a better life. With the announcement of the national lockdown in South Africa, it became of paramount importance to ensure the closure of international borders enabling access into the South African territory. To this effect the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure was mandated to oversee the erection and repairs of the Beitbridge border fence.The Department stated that it invoked the emergency procurement procedures as issued by the National Treasury and the Disaster Management Act No 57 of 2002 to appoint a contractor to effect the erection and upgrades of the fence at a cost of approximately R37 million. A few months following the appointment of the contractor, the contractor’s work is under scrutiny as holes have begun appearing on the fence with the number of illegal entries into South Africa is continuing if not increasing by the day. The quality of the fence and value for money spent on the appointment of the contractor are currently the subject of interrogation. Consequently, the Department’s anti-corruption investigators and Special Investigating Unit are conducting an inquiry into the procurement process followed by the Department in appointing a contractor to erect and repair the Beitbridge fence, and all payments to the contractor have been suspended pending finalisation of the investigation. Impropriety in public procurement is not an unfamiliar concept in South Africa as news headlines and television screens constantly stream with updates of scandals involving public and private sector procurement, particularly flawed tender processes. Procurement of the repairs and erection of the Beitbridge fence is the latest of many procurement projects in South Africa which have become the subject of public scrutiny. Private sector organisations and government entities must also thoroughly understand the law governing public procurement in South Africa, particularly under the laws imposed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.While the need for deviation from certain processes due to Covid-19 is justifiable, businesses and institutions of government must still ensure adherence to the Covid-19 rules and policies set in place by their specific industries. To this effect organisations must not use Covid 19 as an excuse to not follow applicable procedures in their respective industries. Part 2 of this blog will discuss emergency public procurement measures which have been put in place by the National Treasury in light of the Covid 19 pandemic. Be sure to watch this space! 

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