Meter Wars: A Consumer Strikes Back

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August 2016 NEWSLETTER

Meter Wars: A Consumer Strikes Back

You challenge the accuracy of a services account from your local municipality, thus: “Your meter must be wrong, no way was my consumption that high”. The reply: “We’ve tested the meter and it works fine. Pay up or face disconnection”.

Off to court you go....

NOTE FOR ATTORNEYS: Judgment in Euphorbia (Pty) Ltd t/a Gallagher Estates v City of Johannesburg (A5052/2015) [2016] ZAGPPHC 548 is on Saflii.

Companies: How Private Are Shareholders’ Details?
	All companies - big and small, public and private – must keep registers of their shareholders and directors. And, as the SCA (Supreme Court of Appeal) made clear recently, even “private” companies’ registers aren’t private at all.

NOTE FOR ATTORNEYS: Judgment in Nova Property Group Holdings v Cobbett (20815/2014) [2016] ZASCA 63 is on Saflii.

The Companies Act (Act 71 of 2008) and Regulations are available on ActsOnline. For details of records required to be kept for directors (not referred to in the case above) see section 24(5) of the Act and Regulation 23 respectively.

Employees: Must You Report Wrongdoers? A Violent Strike Illustrates
	Our laws and courts provide strong protection for the right of employees to go on strike, and are quick to shield participants in a protected strike from any unlawful action against them by their employers. But this is subject to the important provision that strikers (and their unions) must always act within the law...

NOTE FOR ATTORNEYS: Judgment in Dunlop Mixing and Technical Services (Pty) Ltd and Others v National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa ("NUMSA") obo Nganezi and Others (D345/14) [2016] ZALCD 9 is on Saflii.

Plot And Plan: The Strange Case Of The Unsigned Sale Agreement
	You buy a plot in a residential development and the developer agrees to build you a house to stated specifications and plans. You pay in full for the plot and it is transferred into your name. All good so far. But then you fall out with the developer over the costs, finishes and other specs for the building work. What happens now?

NOTE FOR ATTORNEYS: The judgment in Bray v Grand Aviation (Pty) Ltd and Another (07/28371) [2015] ZAGPJHC 139 is on Saflii. This article is of necessity a very simplified summary of both the facts and the Court’s findings.

The Alienation of Land Act (Act 68 of 1981) is also on Saflii - see in particular sections 2(1) and 28(2).

Your August Website: Get Your Stolen Phone Back!
	Make sure you have tracking enabled on your precious cell phone and do it now – it’s too late once the phone’s gone! If you already have tracking, test it regularly. In fact right now is a great time for a test run – and make sure you will be able to remember your password in an emergency.

NOTE FOR ATTORNEYS: No notes for this article.



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