Suspensive conditions: SCA clarifies when prescription starts
Until the suspensive condition is met, the right to performance is suspended and the prescription clock does not run.
#SupremeCourtofAppeal
SCA rules municipalities liable for unrepaired hazards after toddler drowns
The judgment confirms that municipalities can be held legally responsible when known public dangers, such as an uncovered stormwater drain, lead to injury or death.
SCA clarifies legality of ‘on-the-road fees’ in vehicle finance agreements
The Court says credit providers must ensure full transparency in disclosing the nature, cost, and financing implications of these charges.
Draft amendments narrow taxpayers’ ‘bona fide inadvertent error’ defence
The proposal restricts the ‘bona fide inadvertent error’ defence under the understatement penalty regime to cases where the tax shortfall is a ‘substantial understatement’.
SCA: Retirement fund agreement for municipal staff is illegal
The majority finds the accreditation mechanism effectively coerced funds to amend their rules or risk losing employer contributions – undermining trustees’ fiduciary duties under the PFA.
Trustees now have ‘clear guidance’ on dependency and benefit allocations
Dependency is assessed at the member’s date of death, and trustees must conduct active investigations and apply a principled equitable allocation process.
ConCourt clarifies scope of section 30P of the PFA proceedings
The Adjudicator breached audi alteram partem by making adverse findings about a Fund’s investigation without giving it a substantive opportunity to respond.
Apex court clarifies timing of dependency test for death benefit payouts
The Constitutional Court rules that whether someone qualifies as a dependant must be determined as at the date of a retirement fund member’s death, not when the fund decides how to distribute the benefit.
Tax disputes: compliance and the interests of justice trump rigid timelines
The Supreme Court of Appeal found in favour of SARS despite it ignoring a 45-day timeline for more than a year.
Funds must fully verify dependency before allocating a death benefit
The Constitutional Court finds that a fund relied on unverified, one-sided information and failed to establish the extent of factual dependency.
FirstRand welcomes core ruling in UK commissions case
The group may have to adjust its R3.3bn litigation provision to accommodate the criteria of the regulator’s proposed redress scheme.
Ithala warns court ruling could shut bank before liquidation appeal
The repayment administrator and the Prudential Authority appealed a High Court ruling that allowed Ithala to continue operating while liquidation proceedings are pending.
Close corporation liability: participation in gross abuse, not mere membership, is key
The Supreme Court of Appeal confirms that a member’s ownership stake alone does not trigger personal liability for a close corporation’s debts.
SCA confirms validity of a tax opinion when it is correct in fact and law
Supreme Court rejects SARS’s argument that the expert’s opinion was tainted by self-interest because of the fee he would earn.
SCA: purchasers bear the risk of cyber-fraud when paying by EFT
If a buyer transfers funds after relying on altered invoice instructions, the contractual obligation remains unfulfilled until the seller’s nominated account is actually credited.
SCA remits case dealing with protection of insurance benefits from insolvency claims
At issue is whether a death benefit received by a surviving spouse is protected from the creditors of an insolvent joint estate.
SCA upholds pre-commencement tax debts in business rescue
The Supreme Court of Appeal confirms that re-quantifying a tax debt post-rescue commencement doesn’t create a new, preferential liability – cementing SARS’s place as a concurrent creditor under an approved rescue plan.
