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its decisions are taken by the trustees you appoint at your discretion. It does
require you to be careful about whom you nominate, but fortunately, the actions
of the trustees are also regulated and they are required by law to always act in
the best interests of the beneficiaries and to manage the trust in accordance
with the law and the provisions of the trust deed, the provisions of which can be
defined by you.

The danger in not providing for a trust is that any funds bequeathed to a minor
child, will have to be paid over to the Guardians Fund. The Guardian’s Fund falls
under the administration of the Master of the High Court and administers funds
that are paid into it. Guardians of minors can claim maintenance from this fund,
which would typically include school and university fees, clothing, medical Commercial
fees, lodging, and any other costs that can be motivated by the guardian. But
claiming from this fund can be time-consuming and leave your child at the
availability of officials that have to deal with numerous claims. A trust on the
other hand provides for persons who are directly responsible to have the best
interests of your family foremost in mind.
We would recommend discussing the option of a trust with your estate planner
as well as the options of possible trustees for your family trust when you review
your current estate planning.

New Competition Amendment Bill aims to
overcome previous structural challenges

Juanita van Zyl
January 2018

“We’re a BEE consortium that has been exploring opportunities to venture into
the telecommunications industry. What is immediately apparent is that this
sector is dominated by a number of larger players, which makes entry quite
difficult. To what extent will the proposed amendments to the Competition Act
create more scope for newer players like us?”

A Competition Amendment Bill, 2017 (“draft Bill”) was published for comment
on 01 December 2017 with the proposed amendments being described
as “extensive” and “far reaching”. Primarily, the draft Bill seeks to address two
structural challenges to the business environment, namely market concentration,
and secondly, racially-skewed ownership profiles in the South African economy.
Additionally, the draft Bill aims to enhance the policy and institutional framework
as well as procedural mechanisms for the administration of the Competition Act
89 of 1998 (“the Act”).

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