In planning our estates and drafting our wills, our focus is inevitably on protecting our (human) loved ones. But spare a thought also for your pets. What will become of them when you are no longer around to look after them? We’ll share three ideas for ensuring that they don’t end up needlessly euthanised or consigned to a shelter.

First however we discuss the concept of a “pets’ living will” – similar to your own living will, and equally designed to save your pets from needless distress and suffering.

Directors must comply with a long list of onerous duties or risk personal liability for company debts and losses, criminal liability, and declaration as a “delinquent” director – a severe and career-threatening sanction.

Until now, creditors have been unable to apply for offending directors to be declared delinquent even when they have cause to attribute their and other stakeholder losses to director misconduct. That has changed with a recent High Court decision, which we’ll analyse in the context of when creditors can get authority to make such an application and what they must prove to succeed.  

Moonlighting is reportedly common in South Africa, and that seems unlikely to change any time soon. Everyone should therefore take note of a recent Labour Court finding that a highly qualified university lecturer’s decision to take a second full-time job without permission justified her dismissal.

We’ll discuss the facts of the case and the Court’s analysis of what our law has to say on the matter, with a specific focus on when moonlighting is unacceptable and when an employer will be justified in dismissing an offender. We’ll end off with some important practical advice for both employees and employers.

“Copyright” or “Copywrite”?

Commonly confused, and sometimes incorrectly switched out by spell-checkers, these two terms are pronounced identically but have completely different meanings. “Copyright” is one of our intellectual property legal protections for creators of artistic and creative works. In South Africa it is automatic and doesn’t require registration; but adding a copyright notice with a “©” symbol and the year of creation to your work tells would-be plagiarists that you are serious about protecting your rights.

“Copywrite” on the other hand is what a “copywriter” does – literally, “writes copy”, usually for some form of advertising or other marketing communication.