CV fraud is rampant and upfront checking of all claimed qualifications and references is of course always your first and best line of defence.

If, however you do get caught out, take some heart from a recent High Court decision that an employee, who had forged a degree certificate and falsified his university academic record, had to repay to his employer every cent he had earned as a result of his fraud. 

Not only did the Court order the deceitful employee to repay eight years’ worth of salaries amounting to over R2.2m, but it also allowed the employer to access his pension fund (such funds are normally protected from all creditor claims) for the purposes of making recovery.

When we come to the part in contracts that asks for our “domicilium citandi et executandi” address we tend to be pretty casual firstly about choosing which address to use, and then about telling the other party when we change address down the line.

That’s a big mistake, as a recent court case shows. The buyer of a car was sued for R108k, and the summons was served on a security guard at his old address in a security complex.

When the debtor’s bank account was frozen after the creditor took a default judgment against him, he asked the High Court to set aside the judgment. The outcome is a warning to us all - take the “domicilium” part of all agreements seriously! 

We’ve all heard (but perhaps not all of us have remembered!) how online BEC (“Business Email Compromise”) scammers worldwide have been particularly targeting property transactions because of the substantial amounts of money involved.

Beware – it’s not just conveyancers and property buyers and sellers who are being targeted, but also anyone involved in high-value transactions, property-related or not. In South Africa, for example, inverter installations are currently big business courtesy of Eskom’s woes, and online criminals have taken note.

We discuss how these scams work, how to spot them, how to avoid them, and the legal aspects of who is responsible (and who must bear the loss) if you are scammed.

“Finally, we pay tribute to the millions of South Africans, whose resilience and courage during these times of pandemic and economic hardship, is an inspiration to all of us who have the privilege to serve in the public sector.” (From the 2022 Budget Speech)

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has invited the public to share suggestions on the 2023 Budget he is expected to deliver on Wednesday 22 February 2023.

Go to National Treasury’s “Budget Tips for the Minister of Finance” page and fill out the online form. 

“Waive the benefit of excussion”

Here’s a phrase you will often find in suretyship documents. You as surety “waive the benefit of excussion” (“beneficium ordinis seu excussionis”). By waiving the benefit, you allow the creditor to demand full payment from you without first trying to recover from the principal debtor (the person or entity who actually incurred the debt). In other words, if the debtor defaults, you are immediately as much in the firing line as the debtor itself.