Revenge porn on the rise: Legal recourse in South Africa

Legal Challenges and Remedies In the digital era we find ourselves in – with the web, social media, smartphones and the ‘screenshot’ – it has become much easier for people to engage in a phenomenon known as ‘revenge porn’. This term is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “sexually explicit images of a person posted […]

How to evict an illegal tenant

Eviction of Unlawful Occupiers: Legal Procedures and Protections Landlords who have tenants that they believe are occupying their premises illegally may not forcefully remove such tenants. The Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (No. 19 of 1998) provides for the prohibition of unlawful eviction and also provides proper procedures for […]

How binding are body corporate fines?

Understanding Fines in Sectional Title Schemes In an estate or sectional title scheme, it is challenging to ensure that everyone will stick to the conduct rules and to aid this, body corporates often fine the chancers. How far can the body corporates stretch their fining, and are these fines binding? Each body corporate may choose […]

Municipal debt invalid, the Constitutional Court has ruled

New Homeowners and Municipal Debt On 23 May 2017, the Constitutional Court heard an application for confirmation of an order of the High Court of South Africa, that declared section 118(3) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000, constitutionally invalid. On 29 August, in a ruling majority written by Justice Edwin Cameron, the court […]