When buying or selling a house, a car, or anything else, you should be clear on whether or not things can still be sold “as is” i.e. without any warranty against defects.

There has been much speculation as to whether or not the very common “voetstoots” clause has been killed off by the strong buyer protections contained in the Consumer Protection Act, and we analyse this question in regard to sales of both movable and immovable property. 

Let’s start off by discussing the very important distinction between “patent” and “latent” defects…

Serial maintenance dodgers are in for a rude shock after their dependants were recently handed two powerful new enforcement options.

We’ll look at both of them – a new process for tracing defaulters, even those who are masters of concealment, and a way to curb those who are determined to continue living the high life on credit whilst refusing to honour their maintenance obligations.

We’ll also recap your other recovery options, which remain in place.

Owning any animal – domesticated or wild – exposes you to the risk of being sued for any loss or injury it may cause.

The danger is real, and even if you are not at fault or negligent in any way, you could be liable on a “strict liability” basis.

An angry ostrich featured in a recent Supreme Court of Appeal judgment which delved into some ancient Roman laws and their applicability in the modern world. We cut through all the Latin bits to discuss the practical issues at stake here…

The executor of a deceased estate pays a variety of costs and liabilities out of the proceeds of the estate’s assets before distributing the balance to the heirs.

One of those costs is the fees charged by the Master of the High Court, and they have recently been updated after many years. The increases are substantial, with the previous maximum fee of R600 now rising to R7,000. 

Full details in this explanatory table…

As our dependency on our always-connected cell phones grows, so does the importance of maximising battery life. 

That’s particularly relevant with the death knell now sounded for removable-battery phones. When your battery dies, you can no longer replace it yourself with a low-priced third party one, nor with a spare you carry around for sudden failures. You are in for the cost and delay of paying a technician to do the job for you.

So keep your battery alive and well for as long as possible. Cut through all the grey areas and myths surrounding the topic with “Smartphone charging myths – Are you killing your battery?” on the MyBroadband website.