Legal Articles and Guides

The net is closing in on lawyers who are allegedly swindling hundreds of millions from the Eastern Cape Department of Health and the Road Accident Fund. A Daily Dispatch says Zuko Nonxuba and Milile Mpambaniso are among the attorneys who have lodged millions of rands worth of claims on behalf of victims, some of whom are apparently not even aware of the claims.

The inevitability of death doesn’t detract from the shock and distress that it brings to the grieving survivors, and much as we don’t like to plan for these things it will help at least a little to know what to do in practice after a death.

Applications brought by banks are clogging up the High Courts, leading to long delays in the delivering of judgments. GroundUp says the situation was highlighted in a case before the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) which ruled that Magistrate's Courts should be the first port of call for banks seeking judgments against their clients.

Varsity College has approached the courts to have wording in the Attorneys Act and the Legal Practice Act declared unconstitutional, says a report in The Mercury. This follows an impasse with the KZN Law Society over the body’s refusal to have the institution’s LLB graduates admitted for articles. The institution has filed a Rule 16A notice with the High Court asking that it declare the use of the word ‘university’ in both Acts unconstitutional.

From February next year, litigants – especially big corporates and financial institutions – will no longer simply be able to haul the public before the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) when it is convenient for them. A Pretoria News report says a full Bench – led by Pretoria Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba – ruled that from 2 February, civil actions, where the monetary value claimed was within the jurisdiction of the Magistrate’s Courts, should be instituted in those forums.

Council members of the Law Society of SA (LSSA) have called for lawyers to balance public and professional interests when voting for candidates for the new Legal Practice Council. The council members reaffirmed their commitment to transformation in the sector and are confident that the Legal Practice Act would bring about necessary change, notes Daily News.

Controversial attorney Ronald Bobroff claims that fleeing SA had nothing to do with wrongdoing and everything to do with his and his son’s lives being in danger. Bobroff and his son, Darren, fled to Australia at a time when they were facing arrest by the Hawks and possible prosecutions by the NPA.

Pietermaritzburg attorney Rashid Patel has appealed to the KZN Law Society to assist in rooting out the problem of magistrates acting inappropriately. The Witness reports Patel has written to the society wanting it to engage with its members to find out their experiences in the lower courts. This follows an article published at the weekend by Sam Sole, for the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism, about KZN’s Regional Court President, Eric Nzimande.

Varsity College has found itself in a quagmire because the KZN Law Society refuses to allow its LLB students to register to serve their articles, says a report in The Witness. The college contends it has all the relevant accreditation to offer the degree but the society maintains that ‘only a university’ may do so. This follows amendments to relevant legislation last September which no longer classifies Varsity College as a university.

So you’ve decided to buy your first house – exciting! There’s nothing like owning and living in your very own dream house, and if you choose wisely your home could well be one of your most important investments ever.

Commission-discounting real estate agencies, mainly owned by lawyers, are savaging the traditional agencies in the Eastern Cape over the latter’s high commission rates, ranging from 7% and sometimes up to 10%, depending on the complexity of the deal. As the fight gets nasty, the likely outcome will be commission cuts by all agencies, says attorney Laila Conlon, whose legal firm incorporates Conlon Prop, a 3.5% agency, notes a Daily Dispatch report.

Two months after the ‘Frankel Eight’ changed the law to remove the 20-year time limit on prosecutions for sexual assault, the group has set its sights on altering other abuse legislation, notes a Saturday Star report. The eight spent years persuading the justice system to hold billionaire Sydney Frankel accountable for allegedly abusing them when they were children. But Frankel died in 2017, before he could be taken to court.

Legalbrief notes that the level of former President Jacob Zuma’s desperation to get rid of Mxolisi Nxasana as NDPP – presumably so he could appoint a pliable replacement – can be deduced from the following quotes from the majority judgment

State attorneys who collude with unscrupulous lawyers in elaborate scams to defraud the government have cost taxpayers more than R80bn by deliberately losing lawsuits against the state and settling claims out of court. A Sunday Times report notes the looting, which government officials claim may exceed R100bn, is being investigated by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU).

The Western Cape provincial Standing Committee on Transport and Public Works will tomorrow hold its first public hearings into the National Land Transport Amendment Bill aimed at regulating e-hailing services, which include Uber and Taxify.