Daan’s Snippets – 12th May 2025

Property

Trends

• Not much regarding property has made the news of late: the Daily Investor reported rising demand for holiday apartments in the Garden Route area. Most properties there are free-standing, but the recommendation is that those wishing holiday accommodation buy into sectional schemes which are generally more affordable, and which offers lock-up and go facilities with minimal maintenance.

Last year some 16% of home purchases were for homes within security estates.

• Ooba notedthat Tshwane recorded the highest annual house price growth in January and February, with a 10.6% increase. KZN saw a 6.1% increase. The Western Cape grew by a modest 3.9% but still holds the highest average purchase price.
• Bryanston/Sandton home prices also seem to be doing well.
• Whether this is a trend that us lesser mortals would note is debatable but, it is said that luxury penthouse living appears to be gaining momentum in South Africa. The premium for such a residence is some 40 to 50% higher than other units in the same building.
• The first black-owned and managed REIT listed on the JSE (Rebosis) has lost that status owing to failure to submit compliance declarations.

News

• The hoo-ha caused by the very steep Cape Town tariff increases has led to a reconsideration by that city of its tariffs!

A very interesting debate followed on the above issue, dealing with the so-called Laffer curve – the inflection point, where increased taxes no longer produce increased income. Whatever the outcome of the above tariff increases, most of South Africa seems to be hovering at this point, tax wise.

• I looked this up – Tshwane had charged the highest rate for rates for residential properties, compared to other metros in the past. Why the Tshwane rates appear cheaper than Cape Town, is that properties in Cape Town are generally more expensive there than elsewhere.
• I recently wrote on buying new or second-hand residential property; the following deals with the topic again, but my previous analysis gave a timeline/graph which was useful in making this decision: https://dailyinvestor.com/property/86591/buying-a-new-versus-secondhand-home-in-south-africa/
• In a similar vein, more on rent or buy: https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/young-south-africans-prefer-renting-over-buying-as-the-rental-market-soars-473039a
• As a remedy to the cost of entering the property market, a local group is calling for fractional ownership as model for such entry. Yes, this sounds good but are you prepared to share living space and (a rose by another name) enter into a partnership from which you cannot extricate yourself easily: https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/is-fractional-ownership-the-key-to-affordable-housing-in-south-africa-140896a
• The construction mafia has become a nationwide network holding the construction sector to ransom – to the extent that that sector has seen its contribution to our economy decline by 33% over the past eight years. Our government has declared this unacceptable but one does not see many prosecutions.
• The SABS had published safety regulations for electric fences some two years ago. I confess that I had not checked but the following article refers to maintenance and checks: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/security/593666-important-information-for-people-with-electric-fences-in-south-africa.html Non-compliance may lead to insurance claims been rejected – do consider this.
• A note to sellers: how to best invest in home upgrades to increase your house value: https://www.moneyweb.co.za/in-depth/looksee/smart-money-moves-where-to-invest-in-your-home-for-the-biggest-returns/
• Johannesburg has announced a ‘bomb squad’ to tackle issues stymieing service delivery and development. Not a moment too late, but one wonders why the municipal officials, charged with the job, aren’t just given a serious kick in the butt?
• How to apply for a bond: https://www.myproperty.co.za/news/market-and-opinion/3-essential-tips-for-home-loan-success-02-05-25
• Lastly, entry into the Reside Awards 2025 (recognising impactful residential developers, property professionals and pioneers) is now open: https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/entries-for-the-ppra-and-csos-member-awards-extended-for-the-reside-awards-2025-039965

Law

• Above is a note on fractional ownership. A similar answer to the same problem is termed co-living/ownership; do look at the risks of such ownership in this link: https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/urban-innovation-or-economic-despair-the-rise-of-co-living-in-south-africa-584140a
• Sandwith published a note on property defects and one’s entitlement to cancel a purchase as a result of such defects: https://www.dotnews.co.za/Code/online.aspx?qry=yKPR5eDKNlaukY9Ps7iCgw38fnX8VR0DHcC5JwpANaTwwpKJqzZpBV6RmTZEVxOsexYiwySJXl_jyyDGejHm6JyvBqHGaliihn6cWPyUhTU=-NOPAD
• Whose responsibility is the repair of structural defects in a sectional title scheme: https://www.paddocks.co.za/paddocks-press-newsletter/debunking-the-structural-misconception-in-sectional-title-schemes/
• A group of companies installed water metres within gated communities without the consent of the Johannesburg municipality/water and were penalised. The officer who issued the penalties was not empowered to do so. https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPJHC/2025/437.html
•  

Practice

News

• The RAF was taken to task in the High Court for contentiously ignoring all the court orders issued… Is this news?
  • Minister Creecy emerged from her dressing room to warn that she would institute a financial misconduct case against the fund’s board; again, is this news?
  • The RAF difficulty in assessing especially general damages, backlogs and the like, has led it to propose a standard formula on an automated platform for calculating the losses of road accident victims. This has led to Adams and Adams proposing efficiency suggestions to that entity – which will, no doubt, be ignored.
• The specialist Insolvency Courts, implemented in Gauteng, and the mandatory mediation introduced there, are intended to reduce the backlog in court cases. If successful, you are one would expect this to be introduced elsewhere in South Africa also – although specialist courts only function where the demand for those services are high.
• The Mashatile bodyguards were cleared of the N1 assault in an almost two-year disciplinary hearing. The only details available of the hearing is that the video recording of the events was questionable; at face value, a hardly credible finding.
• Liquidations of companies in South Africa are down by 8% for the first quarter, according to Stats SA. Those most affected were the financing, insurance, real estate and business services industries. However, compulsory liquidations, as opposed to voluntary liquidations, are up.
• The recent LSSA annual conference, legal ethics were discussed, which was echoed in newspaper reports on RAF duplicate payments to especially smaller practices. Against the background of the hundreds of outstanding cases against practitioners, this focus is to be welcomed, but one cannot really see the situation improving without better training and enforcement. Whilst not directly on point, the latest reporting on a judge, involved in a sexual harassment scandal, adds momentum to the argument that our profession has lost its way. Perhaps those evergreen jokes on dishonest lawyers are truer than we would have them be?
• This week past the LSSA newsletter took the LPC to task over its handling of the Dali Mpofu accusations, claiming that institution a ‘lamentable failure’. Whilst harsh, the fact is that the LPC has failed our profession on many levels.
• The SIU, publicly rejecting an opinion by an SC, allegedly whitewashing a corruption probe into a deep cleaning and sanitisation tender within the Johannesburg municipality, is ammunition to legal practice critics.
• Increasingly, we see the rule of law applied literarily; in this case, the Prez being ordered to provide reasons for his decision to assent to the NHI act. Undoubtedly the proffered reasons will appear sound but remain contentious. That our state (read ANC) cannot afford to lose this case, became abundantly clear at the much-reported-on fielding of four SC’s, together with eight juniors, by our Minister of Health, in the latest High Court confrontation.

Hard news

• The much reported on recent High Court judgement, holding that prison inmates should have the use of personal computers, may be found at https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2025/7.pdf
• What are the essentialia of a contract? One of them is price and, if the price is not finally determined, there is no contract: https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2025/48.pdf
• The interpretation of servitudes rarely make the Concourt; in this case it fell to be decided whether a garden servitude was praedial or personal. The discussion here focuses on little-known law and is certainly worth a read – 48 et seq: https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2025/6.pdf
• In the case that follows, the Master removed liquidators on the basis of the failing in High Court applications; the Bloemfontein High Court reinstated them as the master had failed to take a binding creditor’s resolution into consideration: https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAFSHC/2025/118.html
• Fronting; be careful, if you go into this territory you are taking in a partner who has rights: https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPJHC/2025/441.html
• Social grant beneficiaries exploited by an insurer: https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPJHC/2025/442.html
• The LPC’s Disciplinary Committee chastised: https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAWCHC/2025/188.html

Conveyancing

1. A body corporate may disconnect the electricity of a non–paying owner: https://businesstech.co.za/news/property/823626/warning-for-people-living-in-complexes-and-other-sectional-titles-in-south-africa/
2. A bank is liable if it pays to the wrong recipient: https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/companies-and-deals/standard-bank-told-to-pay-back-the-money-in-fake-executor-case/
3. A gentler take on the new expropriation act: https://cilreyn.co.za/2025/04/09/how-the-new-expropriation-act-shapes-land-acquisition-in-south-africa/
4. A right to reclaim a deposit after a breach can prescribe: https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAKZDHC/2025/17.html
5. The remedies available to a neighbour in a sectional scheme subjected to encroachment, CSOS cost and fairness: https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAKZDHC/2025/24.html
6. Can an individual litigate in public interest in an encroachment on to public land? https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAWCHC/2025/190.html

Comment

The effect of the rule of law doctrine in this country was mentioned above – a position often criticised by politicians as substituting law for the will of the people. A recent article, which I think is worth a read, dealt with this issue. Do take a look at the following:

• https://worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index/global
• https://dailyfriend.co.za/2025/04/30/justice-is-like-air-and-clean-water/

Lighten up (all old..)

Q: When lawyers die, why are they buried in a hole 24 feet deep?

A: Because deep down, they are all nice guys.

∞

A gang of robbers broke into a lawyer’s club by mistake. The old legal lions gave them a fight for their life and their money.

The gang was very happy to escape. “It ain’t so bad,” one crook noted. “We got R500  between us.”

The boss screamed: “I warned you to stay clear of lawyers… we had R2000 when we broke in!”

∞

The NHS has announced that it will no longer be using rats for medical experimentation. In their place, they will use lawyers. They gave three reasons for this decision:

1. There are now more lawyers than there are rats.

2. The medical researchers don’t become as emotionally attached to the lawyers as they did to the rats.

3. No matter how hard you try to find something , there are no things that lawyers won’t do.

Contributed by:
Daan Steenkamp Attorneys
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