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Posts from 2026

Articles published during this year.

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The Difference Between a Letter of Demand and a Summons

A letter of demand is often the first step in resolving a dispute, while a summons starts formal court proceedings. Knowing the difference can help you protect your rights and avoid unnecessary legal costs.

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The 72 Hour Clause in an Offer to Purchase: What It Means and Why the Wording Matters

The 72 hour clause allows a seller to keep marketing a property while a purchaser's suspensive conditions are still being met. Used correctly, it protects both parties. Used poorly, it creates disputes that end up on an attorney's desk.

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The Connectivity Cartel: Why South Africa's Telecom Giants Need Starlink to Fail

Why is South Africa still without Starlink while 26 other African countries have access? This opinion piece explores the role of regulation, competition, rural connectivity, and whether delays are protecting empowerment goals or entrenched market interests.

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The New Cold-Calling Rules: What Every Estate Agency Principal Needs to Know

If you run an estate agency in South Africa, the way you reach potential buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants changed on 15 April 2026 - and the change is bigger than most principals realise. The Consumer Protection Act has been amended to introduce a national "Do Not Contact" register, and the new regime applies imm

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You Can Move Your Property Into a Company (Tax-free!) - But There’s a Catch

Most people don't realise you can transfer a property you personally own into a company without paying a single rand in transfer duty. It sounds too good to be true. It mostly isn't. But there is one condition that catches people off guard, and if you get it wrong, it could cost you far more than the duty you saved.

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Sectional Title Scheme: Who Pays When the Roof Leaks?

Water is coming through your ceiling. The body corporate says it is your problem. You say it is theirs. Neither of you is budging, and in the meantime the damage is spreading. This is one of the most common disputes in sectional title schemes - and it has a clear legal answer, even if no one in your complex seems to kn

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Debt Does Not Always Disappear When You Think It Does

A lot of South Africans believe that if they ignore a debt for three years, it vanishes. Some debt collectors know this too, and they are counting on you not understanding exactly how the clock works. This article explains when your debt genuinely prescribes and goes away, when it does not, what that "written off" note

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Your Conveyancer Got the Transfer Right. But Who Set Up Your Scheme?

Developing a property with a body corporate, homeowners' association, or any form of shared governance structure is not just a conveyancing exercise. It is a legal architecture project. And the gap between getting the title deeds right and getting the governance right is exactly where developers run into trouble, somet

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Occupational Rent: What It Is, Who Sets It, and When It Becomes a Dispute

The OTP is signed, the bond is approved, but registration is still weeks away. Meanwhile, the buyer wants to move in. The seller wants compensation for the delay. Welcome to occupational rent - one of the simplest concepts in a property transaction, and one of the most reliably contentious when it has not been handled

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Read Before You Type: WhatsApp Messages, Evidence, and Binding Contracts in South African Law

That WhatsApp message you sent last Tuesday confirming the deal? It may already be a contract. The one from your director promising to pay next month? It may just have handed your creditor a liquidation order. South African courts are no longer treating digital messages as informal communication. This article explains

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Can You Airbnb Your Unit? What the Rules Actually Say

The idea sounds simple enough: you own a flat in a complex, you list it on Airbnb when you are not using it, and you earn some extra income. Thousands of South African property owners have done exactly that. Many of them did not realise that their body corporate had the legal power to stop them, fine them, or take them

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Compliance Certificates in a Property Transfer: The Complete Gauteng Guide

A Certificate of Compliance is a formal document issued by a registered professional confirming that a specific installation on a property meets the legal and safety standards applicable to it. The purpose is protection in both directions: the seller is protected from future liability claims, and the buyer takes transf

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