Adjudication: Disputes over Validity of a Contract Termination
INTRODUCTION In a recent adjudication where the adjudicator was a very senior retired judge, the question arose as to whether a dispute relating to the termination of a JBCC contract was susceptible to adjudication and whether the adjudicator had the power to make a binding order on that issue. These questions arose for […]
Expropriation Bill
The Expropriation Bill was finally passed by the National Assembly on Wednesday, 28 September 2022. The first version of the Bill was withdrawn in 2008 when the Parliamentary legal advisors concluded that it was unconstitutional for its exclusion of recourse to courts. The next version of the Bill was tabled in 2015 and passed in […]
Electricity Generation licencing exemptions
President Ramaphosa announced in his address of 25 July 2022 that in order to end loadshedding it was urgently necessary to add more capacity to the grid. This would be achieved by accelerating greater private investment in generation capacity. In 2021 the licencing threshold was increased to 100MW. Following the success of this reform and […]
Agreement to arbitrate
INTRODUCTION The resolution of disputes by means of arbitration requires that there be an agreement between the disputing parties to that effect. Absent agreement, the default mechanism for resolving disputes is by means of legal proceedings. What happens if there is a dispute about the existence of the arbitration agreement that one of […]
Creditors’ claims in business rescue and subsequent liquidation: where do they rank?
“The only man who sticks closer to you in adversity than a friend is a creditor.” Unknown The ranking of creditors’ claims during business rescue is, to a creditor, one of the most important aspects of business rescue. This is dealt with by the Companies’ Act, No. 71 of 2008 (“the Companies Act”) and has […]
Publication of Draft Preferential Procurement Regulations 2022 for Public Comment
On Wednesday, 16 February 2022, the Constitutional Court handed down judgment in the Minister of Finance’s Appeal against the judgment handed down by the Supreme Court of Appeal (See: Afribusiness NPC v the Minister of Finance [2020] ZASCA 140 ) (the Supreme Court decision). The Supreme Court decision concluded that the Minister of Finance exceeded […]
A short summary of the Exchange Control Circulars issued by the Financial Surveillance Department on 23 February 2022
1. Introduction 1.1 With reference to the February 2022 Budget Speech of the Minister of Finance, wherein further exchange control reforms were announced in Annexure F of the Budget Review, the Financial Surveillance Department issued the undermentioned Exchange Control Circulars to amend the Currency and Exchanges Manual for Authorised Dealers in foreign exchange. 2. Short […]
Estate Planning 2022
As at the 1st March 2022 the relevant rates of tax are as follows: Estate Duty – Estate duty is payable at the rate of 20% of the net value of assets in the estate in excess of the sum of R3 500 000,00. The rate will increase to 25% for estates over R30 000 […]
Sequel to enforceability of adjudicators’ decisions
INTRODUCTION The Bulletin last week entitled “When is an Adjudicator’s Decision Unenforceable?” dealt with the decision of the Gauteng High Court in the Framatome case handed down on 30 September 2020. That decision was taken on appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein (SCA) which has just handed down judgment. […]
When is an adjudicator’s decision unenforceable?
INTRODUCTION Adjudication is a dispute resolution process created by contract in many modern standard form construction contracts. A common feature of adjudication clauses is that an adjudicator’s decision is binding on the parties, albeit not final, unless neither party gives a notice of dissatisfaction in relation to the decision within a stipulated time […]