The continuously evolving legal landscape surrounding cannabis use both at home and in the workplace presents significant challenges to employers.

On the one hand, you have your duty to ensure safe working conditions for all employees and others in the workplace, on the other you have the very strong employee rights to individual privacy and dignity enshrined in our Constitution. Navigating your way through these unsettled waters requires a delicate balancing act, as a recent Labour Appeal Court award of over R1m to a wrongfully dismissed employee shows… 

An order in terms of the Domestic Violence Act is a quick, simple and powerful protection for victims of domestic abuse of all kinds. 

But is it available to victims who are not only in a domestic relationship with their abuser, but also in a business or commercial relationship with them? It’s an important question, with many South African businesses owned and run by close family members. When disputes arise, they can be particularly bitter, as witnessed by a recent High Court dispute involving siblings, with allegations of sexual, verbal and psychological abuse, threats of murder, and stalking via drone surveillance. 

Many of us will either be involved in trusts as trustees or will contract with them as outsiders at one time or another – often in the context of a property transaction.

Beware! As a recent Supreme Court of Appeal decision starkly reminds us, trusts are strange creatures, and you need to tread carefully in dealing with them. We’ll look at questions of whether trustees must always act jointly and unanimously or whether it is enough for a majority of them to sign resolutions and documents. Our punchline is a strong warning note on what to look for when contracting with any trust.

“Suspensive” or “Resolutive” Condition?

You will find suspensive and resolutive conditions in many types of contracts, including property sale agreements and the like. A suspensive condition (a bond clause is a commonly-encountered example) provides that the contract is “suspended” until the condition is fulfilled - e.g. a sale becomes binding only when the buyer’s bond is granted. A resolutive condition is the exact opposite. It says that the contract is effective immediately, but will be retrospectively terminated if the condition is fulfilled – an example would be “this contract terminates if the seller fails to supply approved plans to the buyer by (due date).”