Business
Lanseria airport is to be improved by an investment of R1bn plus over the next five years.
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Your employee is convicted of a criminal offence. How do you as employer deal with this? Does the fact of conviction automatically entitle you to discharge that employee? You might find this helpful: https://www.webberwentzel.com/News/Pages/the-interplay-between-criminal-law-and-labour-law.aspx
Economy
Our MTBPS has come and gone; somewhat depressing as it outlines an economy on autopilot. The malaise affecting our economy has not been addressed. The gentle pruning of cost alone will not stimulate our economy and a tax shortfall surely awaits us; hence the projected debt to GDP ratio going to levels which will be unsustainable if we do not grow. Sustainable growth, which creates jobs, appears to be out of reach. Depressing.
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On the face of it going in the right direction, is a report on a blended finance infrastructure fund to be hosted by the Development Bank of Southern Africa. The intent appears to be a public/private sector initiative aimed at addressing the public-sector inability to plan and implement.
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You’ve gotta love this: Zim is midst an economic disaster and the answer is… new banknotes!
Property
Cape Town will be buoyed by a R14bn Harbour Arch mixed-use precinct boasting a 5.8 ha site with an intended 19800 0 m² of usable space.
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STAG is engaged in a DET/Development Bank/EU-funded project that is planned to bring 2000 beds to the University of Fort Hare.
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FNB reports a small reversal in the generally declining trend of holiday home buying. A swallow or harbinger of summer? Some 2.5% of total residential property is bought as holiday homes.
An article by Rawson Properties in Property360 suggests that the 2-year commercial property contraction is at an end and that one should buy now. Au contraire, Rode says that the poor prognosis of our economy does not guarantee real capital appreciation for some time. For my money I would go with the latter – they are not selling anything.
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I have reported on BetterBond stating that bond applications are up: an article from Property Professional on 31 October says that the total number of bonds granted was up by 19.2% y-o-y for September. This growth is primarily in the half to one million Rand sector and is attributed to an increase in affordability and the increase of take-home pay over inflation.
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CSOS: section 6 (9) of the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act provides that a body corporate or owner, who is unable to obtain a special or unanimous resolution, may approach the Ombud for relief. The difficulty with this provision is that it does not indicate on what grounds the adjudicator must declare that the resolution can be enforced, despite the lack of support. For more (or less clarity) on this, ask me for an article on the subject by v/d Merwe, US.
Practice
A colleague drew my attention to this case – I have not yet been able to find it on Saffli: Absa had brought an application to foreclose on a home loan on the strength of the bond not being serviced. The defendant based his defence on Absa having sold his loan (a process known as securitisation) and thus not having the necessary locus standi (he made this assumption as Absa was not able to produce the original signed documents). The bank responded by stating that the originals had been lost. Judge Sher reportedly took a hard line on the application of Rule 32 (2), which provides that, in an application for summary judgement on a liquid document, a copy of that document shall be annexed. Whilst the defendant is not off the hook, Absa has been dealt a klap that will smart.
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If you marry a person who turns out to be gay, are you entitled to compensation for emotional pain, drama and financial prejudice? Possibly, but if you want to see how not to go about this, take a look at the following link: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-10-31-cape-town-woman-wants-r9m-after-discovering-husband-of-six-years-is-gay/?
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Have you seen the proposed amendments to the Magistrates’ Courts rule 54 dealing with actions against partners or a person carrying on a business in a name other than his own, an unincorporated company or syndicate? If not, ask me for a copy.
State versus itself: it happens often that different branches of the state becomes indebted to each other. An example is third tier government owing money for electricity; the Ingonyama Trust taking on municipalities and so on. I hold an article by de Villiers, UJ on the duty of organs of state to co-operate. Ask me for a copy
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Property mogul, Roux Shabangu, took the “Land bank” to the cleaners after signing as surety for a loan which was outside the statutory mandate of that entity. Take a look: http://www1.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2019/42.html
One wonders who the attorneys for the Land Bank were?
Quotables
“A budget tells us what we can’t afford, but it doesn’t keep us from buying it.”
William Feather (ex the Daily Maverick)
Comment
Why do Jamaicans run faster (doing 3.75 times better than Russia which lies second) than anyone else? Is it because they are tall, differently built, and so on?
Researcher Yannis Pitsiladism suggests that there are social factors behind this excellence being:
- pre-existing role models;
- championships which provide a major boost to running excellence;
- proximity to the USA which gives Jamaicans access to better resources;
- Jamaican diet and public health programs;
- the low costs of running and running practice combined with combative individualism.
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Why are protests by workers taking second place to consumer protests? The answer, it is suggested, is that the latter is organised via the net and mobilises people with common interests, such as buying fuel.
Lighten up
Newlan’s Truism: An “acceptable” level of unemployment means that the government economist, to whom it is acceptable, still has a job.
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Q: How many central bank economists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Just one — he holds the light bulb and the whole earth revolves around him.
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John Kenneth Galbraith on himself. As a boy he lived on a farm in Canada. On the adjoining farm, lived a girl he was fond of. One day as they sat together on the top rail of the cattle pen, they watched a bull servicing a cow. Galbraith turned to the girl, with what he hoped was a suggestive look, saying, “That looks like it would be fun.” She replied, “Well… she’s your cow.”
Still looking for your dream home. Feel free to give one of our developers a call today.
Tom Eastwick – The Gates, Hilton and Garlington, Hilton | 072 297 2699 | tom@devdirect.co.za
Janet Channing – Waterford Residential Estate, Howick | 082 570 5834 | janet@devdirect.co.za
#retirement #gatedestate #luxuryliving #midlandsliving
Author: Dr Daan Steenkamp – Attorney