Articles
Legal Speak Made Easy: “Mandament van spolie”
“Mandament van spolie” An old Dutch law remedy, the mandament van spolie or spoliation order, is a quick remedy if someone dispossesses you of something unlawfully. It’s all about preventing...
Can Your Complex Cut Off Your Biometric Access Over Unpaid Levies?
“Force is not a remedy.” (John Bright) The facts The owner had two properties in a residential estate in Midrand, one of which she leased to tenants. A dispute had arisen between her and the...
Employ a Foreign National? What You Must Check Now, and What Could Change
“Ignorance of the law excuses no man.” (John Selden) Government is increasing inspections aimed at employers of undocumented foreign nationals. Businesses may be the most obvious targets, but an...
Was it Even His Signature? How to Overturn a Fraudulent Will
“Beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing.” (From Aesop’s Fables) Your relative or friend dies, having at the last minute made a new will leaving everything to a new sole heir. You’re suspicious: the...
Renegotiating After You’ve Signed: The Email That Ended a Property Sale
“Words are loaded pistols.” (Jean-Paul Sartre) In June 2018 a couple agreed to buy a house for R1.95 million. The sale was subject to two conditions: that they sell another property within ninety...
Legal Speak Made Easy: “Lex domicilii matrimonii”
This old legal concept, meaning literally “the law of the domicile of the marriage”, addresses a fundamental question facing courts when marriages involve multiple jurisdictions: “which country’s...
Can Your Neighbour’s CCTV Camera Point into Your Property?
“Good fences make good neighbours.” (Robert Frost) The neighbours, in the affluent suburb of Bakoven, had been locked in an acrimonious dispute for almost two decades when CCTV cameras became the...
A Pothole Causes You to Crash. Can You Sue the Government?
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” (Benjamin Franklin) On New Year’s Day in 2012, the rider was travelling along Airport Road (MR347), between George Airport and Blanco, when his...
Better Late Than Never: Marriage Law Drags Itself into the 21st Century
“It is revolting to have no better reason for a rule of law than that so it was laid down in the time of Henry IV.” (Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr) A couple may marry in one country, live in several...
Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality Fourth Supplementary Valuation Roll (2025/2026)
Public Notice: Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality Fourth Supplementary Valuation Roll (2025/2026) Property owners within the Buffalo City Metropolitan area—including East London, King William's...