De Rebus - Volume 2015, Issue 550, March 2015

After a long period of waiting the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 (LPA) was published in Government Gazette 38022 on 22 September 2014. In terms of s120 of the LPA, different provisions of the LPA will come into operation on dates promulgated in the Government Gazette and, in one instance, after a lapse of a number of years after ch 10 has come into operation.

Recovering arrear levies and legal costs

The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) held a colloquium on the Public Protector's powers on 4 February at the University of Pretoria. The theme of the debate was: 'Quo vadis Public Protector?' which means where to from here Public Protector?

In an effort to understand the unique challenges that attorneys in small law firms face, independent research firm, Activate, conducted a survey on behalf of LexisNexis. Over 160 independent small law firms across South Africa were approached to partake in the survey.

Cape Town attorney Taswell Papier has been recognised for his services to the profession, particularly for his work in the human rights/access to justice arena, and particularly in his contribution in the establishment of pro bono work in South Africa and has been inducted as a fellow of the College of Law Practice Management in Boston, in the United States. He is the first African to receive this honour.

Communities in the Gauteng and North West provinces are travelling shorter distances to access justice services closer to where they live. This initiative was launched by the Justice Department and is known as the 'rationalisation of magisterial districts to municipal boundaries'.

People and practices

The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services repealed and confirmed the changes to the amounts in respect of the following sections of the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965 -

• s 18(3);
• s 80(2)(a);
• s 80(2)(b); and
• s 90(1) (see GN R920 GG38238/38238/24-11-2014).

Clients from time to time entrust their money and/or property to practitioners for future payments on their instructions to the practitioner/s. Practitioners are required by the Attorneys Act 53 of 1979 (the Act), the rules applicable to the various law societies and the draft uniform rules to keep accounting records for monies that they are entrusted with.

There is a general misconception that the main, or even the sole criterion, for a claim for spousal maintenance on divorce is the claimant's need or ability to maintain himself or herself.

This article briefly discusses the regulation of mergers and acquisitions in terms of the Companies Act 71 of 2008 (the Act). It is generally accepted that legal protection of the investing public in a country encourages development of financial markets. In countries that have well-functioning legal rules, outside investors are willing to invest by providing funding to firms and are willing to participate in financial markets. On the other hand, where investors are not protected the development of financial markets may be retarded. Shareholders and creditors feeling that their rights are protected are willing to pay more for financial assets including equity and debt, with the recognition that they will be repaid in the form of either dividend or interest rather than losing their investment to expropriation; investors may be willing to pay more. Share prices may increase. This in turn, may lead to investors putting more money in the financial markets and subsequent expansion of the financial markets.

The state, as employer, is immunised against unfair dismissal claims in the realm of deemed dismissal. This is ensured by way of s 14(1) of the Employment of Educators Act 76 of 1998 (the Act) and s 17(3)(a) of the Public Service Act 103 of 1994 (PSA).

The District Court of Cape Town, sitting as an Equality Court, has recently made a landmark ruling in Nomasomi Gloria Kente v Andre van Deventer (EqC) (unreported case no EC 9/13, 24-10-2014, Cape Town Magistrates Court) (Magistrate Koeries), by awarding a domestic worker R 50 000 in damages. This was after it found in the domestic worker's favour in a case of hate speech and harassment. Ms Kente, a domestic worker, complained that after her shift had ended, she requested her employer's boyfriend to look after his own child for a brief period of time, while she took a shower. He was upset about this, grabbed her by her pyjamas, spat in her face and told her that she was 'a pathetic Kaffir, that he hated Kaffirs and that he hated her'. He continued by saying that 'Kaffirs had stolen our land'. Ms Kente complained that she had been subjected to racial abuse and harassment over a number of years and that she had previously lodged a case with the police, only to find out that the perpetrator had paid an acknowledgment of guilt fine in the sum of R 150.

January 2015 (1) South African Law Reports (pp 1 - 313); [2014] 4 All South African Law Reports December no 1 (pp 539 - 672); and no 2 (pp 673 - 763); 2014 (12) Butterworths Constitutional Law Reports - December (pp 1397 - 1513)

Legislation published from 22 December 2014 - 30 January 2015

Recent articles and research

The debate surrounding prenatal life is a multifaceted and convoluted legal topic, notwithstanding the various religious and philosophical arguments it triggers. Without becoming all dogmatic about life and when it begins, it seems appropriate in light of recent case law surrounding delictual claims of children, to evaluate the right that children have to institute wrongful life claims and the repercussions this has for law reform in the interpretation of the right to life.

Juta has recently published the 11^th edition of John Grogan's Workplace Law. This book is an invaluable source of information on employment law in South Africa and contains everything you need to know about how to manage the employment relationship. From the basic terms and conditions of employment, how to terminate employment fairly, how to guard against unfair labour practices and unfair discrimination in the workplace, as well as, how to implement affirmative action measures and ensure compliance with the employment equity laws in South Africa. This book also contains information on collective labour law and industrial action.

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