“A body corporate’s lot is not an easy one.” (With apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan) One of a body corporate’s core functions is to collect current and outstanding levies. When a section owner becomes uncooperative, recovery can turn into a difficult, costly and lengthy process. Good news for trustees is that it just became a…
“Good in parts” (Like the curate’s egg) Transfer duty threshold increased by 10% You pay no transfer duty if the property you are buying sells for less than the set threshold. The threshold wasn’t increased last year, so this year’s proposed 10% increase from R1,100,000 to R1,210,000 (from 1 April) is a welcome adjustment for…
“All that glisters is not gold” (William Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice) Buying or selling a home could be one of the most important financial decisions you’ll ever make. It’s an exciting time – but don’t lose sight of the need to tread with care. A key player in the process is likely to be…
“The minute you read something that you can’t understand, you can almost be sure that it was drawn up by a lawyer.” (Will Rogers, cowboy and actor) We’ve all seen (and probably ignored) disclaimer notices as we enter shopping centres, restaurants, businesses, hotels, sporting venues and the like. Usually, they read something along the lines…
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” (Benjamin Franklin’s warning to fire-threatened Philadelphians in 1736) Cases of Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud continue to surge, and recent High Court decisions have confirmed that it’s up to you to verify that you are paying into the correct bank account. How does BEC work and…
From 1 April 2025, the earnings threshold under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) will increase, impacting not only the BCEA but also employee protections under the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and Employment Equity Act (EEA). Broadly speaking, employees earning less than the threshold amount are entitled to stronger labour protections. The new threshold The threshold…
“O, I do not like that paying back.” (Falstaff, in Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part I) A standard clause in loan agreements, suretyships and the like is the “certificate of balance” or “COB” clause. Typically, it will read something like this (but normally with a lot more verbiage, and bear in mind that every lender has…
“If you didn’t hear it from the horse’s mouth, it came from the other end of the horse.” (Anon) The rapid rise of AI is hard to ignore. DeepSeek’s AI assistant, only launched on 10 January this year, has grown to rival ChatGPT in popularity, making it the most widely used AI language model at…
“The right of self-defence is the first law of nature.” (St. George Tucker, Blackstone’s Commentaries, 1803) South Africa’s chronically high crime rates have left many of us wondering what the limits are when defending ourselves and our families from criminals. What weapons does the law allow us to carry, what permissions do we need to…
The National Minimum Wage (NMW) for each “ordinary hour worked” has been increased from 1 March 2025 by 4.4% from R27,58 per hour to R28,79 per hour. Domestic workers: Assuming a work month of 22 days x 8 hours per day, R28,79 per hour equates to R230,32 per day or R5067,04 per month. Of course,…