Water Rights and Transformation
The battle for the control and ownership of water rights appears to be heating up. The call for expropriation of land without compensation was a theme of the 2019 elections. Is the reallocation of water rights on racial lines going to be a theme for the 2024 elections? It is important to understand the context. The […]
Mergers and Public Interest Guidelines
Since 1998, the Competition Act (the Act) has regulated merger activity. Large mergers need to be assessed and approved by the Competition Commission (the Commission) before they can be implemented. Until February 2019, mergers were assessed only on their impact on competition. This all changed in February 2019 when the Act was amended to state that the […]
Duty to Supervise
INTRODUCTION What is the ambit of the Employer’s Agent’s (“EA”) duty to supervise the execution of construction works and what are the consequences of a failure to do so properly? The extent of the duty will be set out in the relevant contract which must be one’s first port of call in addressing […]
Liberalisation of the Energy Sector
The last leg to the liberalisation of the Energy Sector so as to allow for private sector participation, is contained in the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill (the Bill) which has been published by the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy, and on which written comments need to be submitted by 13 October 2023. Submissions need to […]
COP28 and Climate Change
The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP28, will be held in Dubai from 28 November until 12 December 2023. At COP21, in 2015, the world agreed (the Paris Agreement) to limit global warning to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels, by 2050. To remain on target, science tells us that emissions […]
Court clamps down on the abuse of business rescue proceedings as a stratagem to avoid winding-up proceedings
Business rescue proceedings are a mechanism to facilitate the rehabilitation of a company that is financially distressed. Such proceedings are primarily aimed at restoring a company to solvency that should not be abused by a company with no prospects of being rescued to avoid a winding-up or to obtain some respite from creditors. Cox Yeats […]
Considering liquidation and re-issued negative certificates in state construction contracts
In a recent decision, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) considered the complexities surrounding liquidation, adjudication and payment certificate issues in government construction contracts. Is an adjudicator's decision enforceable if a party disputes the ruling and wishes to proceed to arbitration? And what is the situation where the other party is in liquidation – do […]
Is an exclusion of liability clause in a contract against public policy?
The Constitutional Court considered this and delivered a split decision on the debate. Can public policy considerations exclude the enforceability of an exclusion of liability clause? The Constitutional Court, by a narrow majority, says no in this case. On 28 June 2023, the Constitutional Court handed down judgment in the matter of Fujitsu […]
National Health Insurance Bill
Records indicate that almost 85% of South Africans depend on the public health care system. Back in 2019/2020, the National Department of Health estimated that the spend on public health care was about R220 billion with R250 billion being spent on private health care which services about 15% of South Africans. The disparity between the […]
Climate Change – The Opportunity for South Africa
In a keynote address at Daily Maverick’s First Earth Edition of The Gathering, held in Cape Town on 26 May 2023, former Eskom CEO, Andre de Ruyter, spoke about the opportunities to our economy in embracing climate change. He stated that “… this is a huge opportunity, but it requires us to have a coherent policy environment, we […]