Back in 2015 we received calls from a few distraught women who had fallen victim to a scam involving a supposed parcel at customs. It seems that the criminals are still reaping the rewards of this scam, as many women are still being caught by these criminals.
Today’s Africa Ports & Ships has reported that the industrial strike action which has been affecting our ports, most notably Durban and Ngqura, has now been extended to the Port of Cape Town.
One of the more frequently used, and even more frequently misunderstood, chapters in the BBBEE Codes of Good Practice is Statement 102: Sale of Assets.
It is commonly known that our Constitution bestows the right of freedom of expression to all citizens, which includes freedom of the press and other media as well as the freedom to receive and impart information and ideas.
What is the future for broad-based schemes and non-profit schemes in BBBEE ownership structures?
A recent Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment has again raised warnings about the implications of not complying with statutory requirements when buying and selling immovable property, as well as not ensuring that important procedures are followed when one of the contracting parties is a trust.
I recall being requested by one of my colleagues to assist him during a consultation with an isiZulu-speaking client who he was assisting on a pro-bono basis.
Most employers have a “Zero Tolerance” to the accessing of pornography on the company’s computers and IT systems. The viewing or even attempted accessing of pornography on the company’s computers is generally a dismissable first offence in an employer’s disciplinary code and procedure.
On 22 August 2019 we alerted clients of the fact that South Africa had yet to promulgate legislation to give effect to, inter alia, Annex VI to MARPOL. On 6 September 2019 the department of transport (“DOT”) published the draft Marine Pollution (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Amendment Bill, 2019 (“the Bill”), for comment.
When legislation is unclear, courts will seldomly let this go unnoticed. Even so, some pieces of legislation receive more frequent and blatant criticism than others. One example is the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (“the Act”) which has been scorned for its lack of clarity since its inception.
Here is a situation that clients have found themselves faced with: For the purposes of workplace wellbeing, an in-house social worker that your employees can confide in when they are facing difficulties in their personal and professional lives has been hired.
It is well known that litigation in any court can be a protracted battle. It is a journey that litigants have to be prepared for, both mentally and financially. In the midst of it all, one should weigh up the principles (the subject matter) of the dispute and the commercial advantages of finding a resolution to the matter.
Goods, transported on a vessel, are deemed, in terms of the Customs and Excise Act, 91 of 1964 (“the Customs Act”) to be imported when the carrying vessel enters a South African port.
The Property Practitioners Act 2019 (“the Act”) Act was passed in April 2019 and is awaiting the President’s signature. The Act introduces provisions which regulate property practitioners in the business of: bond broking, home inspecting, facilitating sale or lease agreements, selling of timeshares or fractional titles, property management, property development, auctioning, letting or hiring, assessing or valuating and bridging finance.
Port State Control or “PSC” directs the way in which a port state exercises authority over foreign ships when those ships are in waters subject to its jurisdiction. Their authority to do so emanates from both domestic and international law.
As 1 January 2020 approaches the number of articles and memoranda published in relation to “IMO 2020” proliferates.
The Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (“DAFF”) recently issued a notice to exporters and the South African Association of Freight Forwarders that the DAFF is being inundated with notifications of non-compliance by trading partners with ISPM15.
The local shipping press has quoted an assurance from Ms Siyamthanda Maya, the managing director of South African Marine Fuels (SAMF), that South Africa will have low sulphur fuel available offshore with effect from 1 January 2020.
The Director General of the Department of Water and Sanitation has extended the duration and application of the general authorisation for waste related activities until a new general authorisation for such activities is gazetted.
According to local ships’ agents, offshore bunkering operations are still restricted to daylight hours, subject to the exception allowed by the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) that bunkering operations may complete at night provided that hoses are connected before sunset.
Being dispossessed of property be it movable or immovable without due legal process constitutes unlawful conduct. Similarly, some corporeal rights (entitlement to use a thing which has no physical identity but exists in law) are also capable of being dispossessed. The law has remedy to restore possession of such property or incorporeal rights which have been dispossessed.
Shepstone & Wylie have recently acted in a matter where a vessel was refused entry to USA ports on the grounds of non-compliance of wood packaging materials with the International Standards For Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 (ISPM 15).
Although it is not yet compulsory for an employer to provide a retirement fund to which employees can contribute, many South Africans are fortunate enough to have some exposure to a pension fund, provident fund or retirement annuity fund at some point in their lives – either as a member (enjoying the benefits of these retirement savings on leaving the fund) or as a beneficiary (such as a widow, child or other dependent of a member who passed away).
Transnet has obtained a court interdict to stop the illegal strike action by employees at the Ngqura Container Terminal. The interdict also orders workers to increase performance levels.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, 6 July 2019, an oil spill took place during offshore bunkering operations in Algoa Bay, off the ports of Ngqura and Port Elizabeth. Approximately 200 to 400 litres of fuel was spilled into the sea.
It has been reported that industrial action in the form of a “go-slow” by labour at several of South Africa’s ports is hampering operations including ship movements.
There has been some confusion within the South African legal profession in relation to the concepts of direct and consequential damages. The diverse terminology used by legal professionals has only served to exacerbate the uncertainty.
Employers often want to change the way they run their businesses and this often requires employees to accept a change to terms and conditions of employment.
Employers often seek clarity regarding a situation which does not occur often in the year, but when it does, gives them headaches: Am I obliged to treat the Monday, following a Sunday on which a Public Holiday happens to fall as a public holiday as well, or do I treat that Monday as a public holiday instead of the Sunday?
Durban shipping and trade journalist Terry Hutson has reported in Africa Ports & Ships Newsletter that Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has provisionally lifted its ban on fishing, commercial diving and other marine activities in the Port of Durban, which ban was applied after sewage was discovered flowing into the port from the local municipality’s sewer reticulation system.
Difficulties often arise when trusts enter into agreements for the purchase or sale of property. It is trite law that trustees must act jointly when acting on behalf of the trust and so we are often asked if all the trustees need to act on behalf of the trust, for example to sign the agreements, and, if not, whether the appointed delegated person needs to be a trustee of the transacting trust.
A zoning scheme (“zoning”) records all land use rights on properties in its area of jurisdiction. Zoning specifies the limitations and prohibitions regarding the manner in which a property may or may not be used. In addition, zoning may specify the sizes, bulk, and placement of buildings.
The much anticipated and long overdue Carbon Tax Act came into effect on the 1st of June 2019 and marked the commencement of the first phase of the Act, which will continue up until 31 December 2022.
It has been reported in Africa Ports & Ships Newsletter that late last night, Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) announced that it had successfully brought court action interdicting the union members from embarking on today’s planned strike.
It has been reported in Africa Ports & Ships Newsletter and FTW Online that the rehabilitation of the inner caisson which divides the Port of Durban’s Prince Edward Graving Dock into two sections, allowing two smaller vessels to be docked simultaneously, is progressing well.
Terry Hutson has reported in Africa Ports & Ships Newsletter that the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has advised the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) that it will re-approach its listing process following discussions in London.
Terry Hutson of Africa Ports & Ships Newsletter has reported on the announcement by Transnet National Ports Authority that it intends introducing a helicopter service at the Port of Cape Town to transfer marine pilots onto and off visiting vessels.
There has been much jubilation and murmuring regarding the use of cannabis since the ground-breaking Constitutional Court judgement in the case of Minister of Justice and Correctional Services v Prince and Others.
Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) banned in-water hull cleaning in South African ports some years ago.
Durban shipping and trade journalist Terry Hutson has reported in Africa Ports & Ships Newsletter that Transnet SOC Ltd, the state-owned holding company of South Africa’s National Ports Authority, has issued a “stop work” instruction in relation to the main marine construction works to deepen and lengthen berths 203, 204 and 205 at the Durban Container Terminal.
Terry Hutson has reported in Africa Ports & Ships Newsletter that the Mozambican port of Maputo has just taken delivery of another two new Liebherr mobile LHM 550 harbour cranes aimed at improving productivity and in response to increasing demand.
Liesl Venter of Freight & Trading Weekly has reported that according to Mr Sobantu Tilayi, the acting CEO of the South African Maritime Safety Authority, the organisation has been in discussion with the IMO over the issue of compliance with the STCW Convention since 2013.
The Court in Oregon Trust v BEADICA 231 CC (74/2018) [2019] ZASCA 29 was faced with the issue of whether the enforcement of terms of lease agreements concluded between the parties, leading to their termination and the resultant eviction of the Tenants, was contrary to public policy as being unconscionable.
Durban shipping and trade journalist Terry Hutson has reported in Africa Ports & Ships Newsletter that Transnet National Ports Authority has suspended all diving operations within the Port of Durban and prohibited all angling activities due to a severe sewage discharge stemming from the failure of pumps at the local municipality’s pump station.
After weeks of political campaigns rallying through the country in last minute efforts to secure votes, the elections finally fell upon us on the 8th of May 2019.
It has been reported in FTW Online and Terry Hutson’s Africa Ports & Ships Newsletter that the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) issued a circular in February expressing its intention to remove from its register or “White List”, all countries that are non-compliant with the International Convention of Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-keeping for Seafarers (the STCW Convention).
Durban shipping and trade journalist Terry Hutson has reported in Africa Ports & Ships Newsletter on the announcement by the Transnet board of directors that the contract of the acting group chief executive, Tau Morwe, will not be further extended.
The general rule in terms of the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937 (“the Act”) is that ownership of property is transferred to a new owner by means of a title deed being registered with the Registrar of Deeds.
The amendments to the Income Tax Act (“the Act”) addresses the issue of South African residents holding shares in a foreign company through foreign trusts.
The Property Practitioners Act B21-2018 (“the New Act”) has recently been adopted by parliament. The New Act will replace the Estate Agencies Affairs Act 112 of 1976 (“the Old Act”).
The South African Maritime Safety Authority (“SAMSA”) has recently published two Marine Notices, being numbers: 8 of 2019, to advise of the global implementation of the MARPOL Annex VI limit of 0.50 mass per cent concentration (0.50% m/m) sulphur content in fuel oil, for all ships, from 1 January 2020
The Railway Safety Regulator (“RSR”) has published for comments a determination regarding the category and type of notifiable railway occurrences to be managed in an operator’s safety management system (“SMS”). (GN 118, GG 42217, 8 February 2019, p25)
On the 5th of February 2019 the Standing Committee on Finance (National Assembly) finalised the Carbon Tax Bill. The Bill was formally introduced in parliament last year November by the Minister of Finance.
Typically, when purchasing immovable property (“the property”), the bank or other financial institution lends money to the purchaser on security of a mortgage bond to be registered over the property, for the purpose of financing the purchase price of the property.
While the Socio-Economic Development (“SED”) element only counts for a maximum of 5 points on the Scorecard in the generic Codes of Good Practice published in terms of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (“BBBEE“) Act, this element is not as simple to implement as it appears.
Throughout South Africa, there are still properties, often large properties, that are held by Permission to Occupy rights (“PTOs”). We often come across these rights in former rural areas including those that are now used for commercial or industrial purposes.
President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, has declared 8th May 2019 a public Holiday throughout the republic of South Africa.
Durban shipping and trade journalist Terry Hutson has reported in today’s Africa Ports & Ships Newsletter that at a sod-turning ceremony on 21 February 2019, work officially commenced on the Port of Ngqura’s future liquid bulk terminal.
On 14 February 2019 the President assented to the Competition Amendment Act, 18 of 2018 (Amendment Act). The Amendment Act will begin on a date to be proclaimed by the President in the Government Gazette. And this is not just another amendment act.
Freek van Rooyen, Partner at Shepstone & Wylie’s Johannesburg office, and customs and excise specialist, represented Levi Strauss in a dispute with SARS.
The Constitutional Court has confirmed that there is no requirement that an employee be given an opportunity to make representations prior to a precautionary suspension.
In Sasol Oil v CSARS [1] the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the Tax Court, confirming the historic principles of substance over form by taking into account all the evidence holistically, instead of approaching it piecemeal. It must be noted that it was a 3:2 split in judgment.
Durban shipping and trade journalist Terry Hutson has reported in Africa Ports & Ships Newsletter that Transnet SOC Ltd, the state-owned holding company of South Africa’s National Ports Authority, has issued a “stop work” instruction in relation to the main marine construction works to deepen and lengthen berths 203, 204 and 205 at the Durban Container Terminal.
It has been reported in FTW Online that the Mozambican port of Maputo, which handled a record 19.5 million tonnes of cargo last year, expects to see its cargo handling capacity grow to 26.5 million tonnes after it completes the rehabilitation of berths 6, 7, 8 and 9 in the latter half of the year.
Guardianship of a child has nothing to do with whom or where a child resides, as some may think. Guardianship relates only to assisting the child in legal, contractual and administrative matters, including safeguarding their property, as well as giving or refusing consent required by law in respect of a child.
The effective date for the implementation of the default regulations to the Pension Funds Act, 1 March 2019, is around the corner and retirement funds are scrambling to ensure that they will be compliant by that date (and those that aren’t, should be!).