Daan's Snippets

Gentle Reader
You might be aware that I semi-grated to Pretoria.
I am now employed as a consultant by Delberg attorneys (https://delberg.co.za/).
My new address is daan@delberg.co.za (but my old address will function for the foreseeable future).

Regards
Daan

Practice News

  • Given the BEE sectoral dispute, initiated by some of our larger practices, a debate on the cost of B-BBEEE in our economy may be of interest to you – note that this takes place on June 10 at 11 AM; be quick if interested: link
  • Legal misbehaviour:
    • The usual slew of lawyers ripping off clients I will ignore.Extensively reported on in the press is missing parolees; certainly bad news for both society and Correctional Services.Cheap justice? A Gauteng judge has been reported to the JSC for allegedly accepting a R5000 bribe! Really, at that cheap rate we lawyers will all die of hunger!Much more interesting is a SCOPA resolution to charge the previous RAF CEO criminally for failing to appear when summonsed. Please do!The fact is that the RAF is broke, which must have prompted our Minister of Transport wanting to introduce a new vehicle tax, reminiscent of third-party insurance, because, amongst other things, the introduction of electric vehicles will reduce the (fuel) tax, destined for the RAF. Link

    • Both the previous DG and Deputy DG of Justice resigned prior to their scheduled disciplinary hearings. Whatever the issues that gave rise to this, there is a dramatic clean-up happening in our Justice system, which is certainly long overdue. But wait, there is more!
    • What is worrying, is a report that a senior forensic investigator has been arrested for fudging ballistic reports. This indicates that our justice system was certainly not what one should expect and that forensic reports may well be suspect.
  • Much more interesting is the Johannesburg Society of Advocates having a go at a reporter for spreading “misinformation”. Apparently, a selection of pupils had enabled the Bars to “transform more aggressively”; the reporter says that without that selection the Bar would not be able to fast track transformation because they are proportionately more white male applicants than others. The allegation is that this prevents too many white men from joining the profession. The bar responded that white male applications have declined and that the above allegation amounts to misinformation. Fun!
  • Whilst on practice: a CDH article on holding attorneys and advocates to different standards, when appearing in the superior courts, drew my attention. Much was made of the judgement declaring section25(3)(a) of the Legal Practice act unconstitutional, which the CDH writer (link) interprets as holding practitioners to different standards. The fact is that we are on track to what was, in the past, referred to as the fusion of the bar and sidebar. (Side-note advocates are traditionally seen as seniors in the profession specialising in the presentation of cases whilst attorneys are more general practitioners. The degree taken by both advocates and attorneys is identical, whilst I suspect that the training of each is focused more on the work generally done by attorneys as opposed to advocates. The fact is that specialisation occurs in both branches of our profession, with attorneys being more able to specialise in diverse fields, as they are entitled to take in partners. One of the reasons why Zimbabwe adopted a fused profession, was to address racial discrimination in the profession. Perhaps we should resuscitate the debate on whether a divided bar is still necessary?
  • A statistic, which drew my attention, is a graph showing the build-up of legislation in the RSA over the past century or so. The fact is that the amount of legislation, practitioners have to cope with, has increased dramatically of late: link
  • Is VAT included in contingency fees? An article by prof Klopper is worth a read: Link
  • A CDH pod cast drew my attention to a Labour Court decision that I would not normally have looked at: the solicitation of nurses by a previous employee. Restraints of trade are finicky and this one is interesting: link
  • Quite an interesting debate, on post-judgement interest (in this case against the RAF), is worth a read: link
  • You cannot export Bitcoin to avoid exchange control: link
  • Mediation is mandatory in Gauteng; what happens when the opposition refuses to engage in mediation? In this respect I advise that the practice, with which I am now associated, offers specialist mediation services! Link

Hard news

  • A cedent under a cession in securitatem debiti, is not a creditor: Link
  • An interesting case, where curators sought compensation for their fees from the RAF; compensation is a capital payment on which an income fee by a curator cannot be charged: link
  • The difference between sureties and guarantees as discussed in New Life.
  • Dependents versus the pensioner’s choice, in pension funds’ pay outs, discussed. A pension fund creates an excellent estate reduction opportunity with the downside being that the planner cannot choose recipients! Link
  • Does section 127 (8) of the NCA oust High Court jurisdiction? Link

Conveyancing and property law

  • Do leases fall under the CPA? Link
  • This is old hat, but happens often in property sales: you cannot revive a lapsed contract: link
  • Be wary of assuming the continuation of a lease with a municipality, after its lapse – legislation requires a written lease: link
  • Life-right scheme administrators should read this on the eviction of surviving spouses for administrative omissions: link

Property

Trends

  • Statistics by Property 24 show that the number of properties for sale, listed monthly, is flat and, somewhat disturbingly, slightly down from December through to March. Properties, on average, currently spend 11 to 14 weeks on the market before being sold.
  • Our Scopa chairman, when asked what could be done to fix South Africa’s municipalities, replied: “Nothing”. This encapsulates municipal dysfunction today. It is common knowledge that the way to go is to buy into schemes which offer safer and more secure living. Of late such enclaves increasingly offer own water and electricity supply also. Think the drive to build green. An interesting comment on this trend is to term it “balkanisation” i.e. to divide an area into smaller (uncooperative?) factions.
  • If one does not invest in property itself, REITS offer shares in property-owning companies. These, reportedly, have performed relatively well illustrating a so-called defensive investment. Is this true? Take a look for yourself – the following site shows price earnings values over 1 – 10 years for such entities: link

News

  • There is virtually no interesting property news, save Property24 having flighted, what it terms property hunting by simple natural conversation: link
  • There is a proposal that the PIC takes over Balwin properties; the latter is trading at a discount on the JSE and struggles with liquidity.

Legal news

  • Executing a judgement against a farmer’s land is problematical as tenants and occupiers may need to be evicted. Yawn.
  • On a similar repetitive note is a quite a useful article on voetstoots: link
  • There is a brewing scandal on the issue of shares in farming enterprises, paid for by the state, to farm labourers which has reportedly not brought the expected benefits to the nouveau riche. Apparently, the SIU will be investigating this.

Lighten up – on mediation

What is the difference between a mediator and a doctor?
A doctor can kill his patients.

Young Solomon, who’s yet to complete his 40-hour mediation training, was called upon urgently to mediate a dispute between two women claiming to be the mother of a child. Result?
The mediation failed and Solomon was charged with attempted murder.

Why retired judges like to be mediators?
They get paid without having to judge.

Brought to you by:
Dr Daan Steenkamp
daan@delberg.co.za
https://delberg.co.za/