Would you believe that South Africa has been identified as the world’s most affordable country in which to buy a home? It’s an average price vs average income calculation and is great news for local sellers and buyers alike.

Having said that, sellers need to be really careful when choosing a conveyancer to look after their property transfer. We discuss the risks in the context of the dishonest attorney who absconded with R4.25m – leaving buyer and seller to fight it out over who would take the hit.

Employee turnover is inevitable, and your business is almost certainly at risk of unfair competition from key employees (or their new employers) taking your trade secrets with them. Luckily, there’s a tried-and-tested way of managing that risk – the restraint of trade clause. 

We list the basic legal requirements for its validity, and we share a Court’s warning: Don’t skimp on paying for a properly drawn restraint clause! All in the context of an employer whose clause was too vague to be enforceable. 

The tragic case of a mother killed in a car accident, and of the grandmother’s subsequent fight to have access to her young grandsons, illustrates our courts’ attitudes towards children having contact with their grandparents as well as with their parents. 

Commenting that “usually, it is in the best interests of a child to maintain a close relationship with his grandparents”, the Court granted an access order in the face of the father’s implacable opposition. 

As more and more couples elect to live together as life partners without formally marrying, our judicial system is increasingly faced with bitter disputes in the aftermath of failed relationships. Particularly when substantial assets like houses are in play, expensive and fraught litigation is the order of the day.

There’s an easy way to avoid all that unhappiness and hostility, which we explore through the woeful tale of a life partner who failed to convince the High Court to award him a 50% share in his former life partner’s house.  

“Trust account”

You will most often come across trust accounts in your dealings with attorneys and estate agents, who must use them to hold funds on behalf of clients and other third parties. The funds in a trust account must be kept in a registered South African bank and are subject to yearly audit. They do not belong to the professional and must by law be kept entirely separate from the professional’s own business or personal funds.

If you pay over money to an attorney or estate agent to be held on your behalf, check that their Fidelity Fund Certificate (FFC) is current and ensure that the money is paid into their trust account, not a business or personal account.