Author: Taylor

Land use planning laws came into existence and evolved over the course of the 20th century, but environmental laws were only enacted later in the century. Today  there are a number of environmental laws that apply: The National Environmental Management Act (“NEMA”), 1998 (Act 107 of 1998), the National Environmental Management Amendment Act, 2003 (Act…

Introduction: Long-standing legal conventions in South Africa prohibit husbands from adopting the surname of their wives after marriage. In a recent ground-breaking ruling however, two husbands won the right to assume the surname of their wives, paving the way for further steps towards gender equality in South Africa. Background: The High Court case JJ and…

The United Nations defines human trafficking as the transfer, transportation, harboring, recruitment, or receipt of people through deception, fraud, or force and to exploit them for profit.  In South Africa, The Prevention and Combating of Trafficking Persons Act 7 of 2013 is the primary piece of legislation directly dealing with this form of organized crime…

VIOLATIONS OF THE POPIA ACTIn the digital age, where personal information is a valuable commodity, safeguarding privacy has become paramount. South Africa recognised this need by enacting the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) in 2013, with enforcement beginning in July 2021. POPIA aims to regulate the processing of personal information, ensuring that individuals’ privacy…

While 2023 was the worst year of load-shedding ever experienced in South Africa the forecast for 2024 is even worse.  A consequence is that questions have arisen regarding the responsibilities of a landlord during load-shedding and we have had several queries from desperate tenants and landlords trying to ascertain their respective rights and responsibilities.  There…

June and December months are usually the busiest in family law practices due to parents fighting about the minor children’s holiday contact arrangements. I often tell my colleagues that I turn into Solomon in June and December, unfortunately having to divide the children in half. Holiday contact arrangements are usually regulated by Mediation Agreements, Rule…

Writer of Roman Dutch Law, Johannes Voet, defined a servitude as follows: “A servitude is a right belonging to one person, in the property of another, entitling the former to exercise some right or benefit in the property or to prohibit the latter from exercising one or other of his normal rights of ownership.” Servitudes…