South Africa: Litigation, Contracts and Force Majeure

Transnet has declared its second force majeure since July. The event triggering the declaration was a fire that occurred on its conveyor belts at the Richard's Bay port ...

When signing a contract, one cannot predict whether certain circumstances will arise or not. No one expected the occurrence of COVID-19, yet it had a devastating effect on the global economy, leading to widespread unemployment.

2020 has seen the like of MS Teams, Zoom, Google Meet and WhatsApp becoming the new norm when doing business in a COVID-19 world and with many companies opting to continue...

It is a common occurrence for contractors to insure the performance of large construction projects. In fact in large projects this is a requirement.

On the 5th of March 2020, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that South Africa's first suspected case of COVID-19 had tested positive.

With various changes to Court processes as a result of the COVID19 pandemic, the use of common law offers of settlement in attempts to reduce costly and protracted litigation is more compelling now than ever.

On 23 March 2020, President Ramaphosa announced a nationwide lockdown commencing at midnight on 26 March 2020.

On 23 March 2020, the President of South Africa issued a statement informing the public that a nationwide lockdown would be enacted in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has, due to its high rate of transmissibility, unsettled many of us, forced us to distance ourselves socially, and to make adjustments to our way of life.