South Africa is a great holiday destination for families, and a recent announcement by government that it has eased the requirements for children entering the country has been widely welcomed. 

We discuss the documentary requirements which have applied until now, the extent to which they have been waived, and the restricted application of that waiver.

We end off with a useful Department of Home Affairs table which conveniently and clearly sets out exactly what documents are required to enter South Africa for both South African children and for foreign children in a variety of circumstances.

Having your company deregistered by the CIPC will have serious consequences for your company, for your business, and for you personally – so you should take the new “compliance checklist” requirement seriously. 

Until you complete the checklist you won’t be able to complete your company’s annual return, and then your problems will really start because CIPC will decide that you have gone out of business and deregister the company.

Voluntary until now, completing the checklist will be mandatory for all companies and close corporations from 1 January 2020. Your first step will be to establish when your next annual return will become due …

Without your original title deeds you cannot pass transfer of your property to a buyer, and whilst obtaining a certified copy of a lost deed has until now been relatively quick, simple and cost-effective, that changes for the worse on 1 January next year.

We discuss what a title deed is and give you details of the new procedures, with suggested courses of action for all property owners (not just active sellers), buyers, estate agents and bondholders. 

Item 1 on your action list will be to make sure you know exactly where the title deed is. If it is lost, Item 2 will be to approach your attorney urgently for help in getting a replacement before your local Deeds Office closes for the December break.

Every year the criminal fraternity welcomes the onset of the Holiday Season – lots of empty homes, lots of high-value new gadgets around, lots of relaxed homeowners letting their guard down…

Here’s how to foil the bad guys while enjoying your year-end break as a time of celebration and relaxation, not a time of worrying about whether your home-sweet-home will be ok without you, and stressing over the aftermath of a burglary (or worse).

“Locking Up For The Holidays: Your Home Security Guide” on the Private Property website has a useful checklist for you. It’s written mostly for home owners headed out of town, but there’s also a lot of good advice there for “holiday at home” families.