Where a squirrel found its way onto a power station’s electrical transformer triggering an electrical arc that killed the squirrel and caused damage to the municipality’s property of $213 524, the court denied the municipality all-risks insurance cover because of an exclusion for ‘loss caused by arcing or by electrical currents other than lightning’. The court found that the loss was caused by arcing even though something else (ie the squirrel) triggered the arcing. This is…

On 21 December 2018 the government published their Draft Expropriation Bill 2019 for comment by 21 February 2019. As the laws will affect all of us you should read it and consider commenting. The Bill only relates to registered rights and will therefore mainly affect land rights and mineral rights. The government has said that the law will not be enacted until after the constitutional amendment process is completed. The Bill is intended to give an…

The prescribed rate of interest has been changed with effect from 1 January 2019 to 10.25% per annum. The previous rate was 10%. According to the Prescribed Rate of Interest Act, interest on debts where no rate is prescribed is calculated at the repo rate plus 3.5%. The prescribed rate of interest applies to all debts unless a different rate is set by law, by trade custom or by agreement between the parties. The parties can…

The England Appeal Court has held that a father’s claim against a clinic for breach of contract for damages suffered as a result of raising his child who was born by IVF to his estranged wife without his consent were not recoverable due to legal policy. The child was conceived via IVF using the gametes of the father and mother who had stored their embryos at the clinic for their future use. The father instituted…

In mid-January 2019, the SARB published its Consultation Paper on Policy Proposals for Crypto Assets, amid a growing interest, investment and participation in crypto assets by financial institutions and individuals and an estimated market capitalisation of about US$200 billion for crypto assets globally. Crypto assets are digital representations or tokens that are accessed, verified, transacted and traded electronically by a community of users. The name is telling. The SARB classifies them as assets and…

Personalised medicine is set to revolutionise the manner in which patients are diagnosed and treated. It involves genetic testing and a consideration of an individual’s health risk factors and genetic information and tailoring medical treatment accordingly. Such testing could lead to quicker diagnosis and treatment, but it does not come cheaply. It is unclear whether private medical aid schemes and state-funded healthcare institutions will cover the costs and to what extent. Apart from the costs…

Section 59 of the Customs and Excise Act 1964 provides that the seller of goods may recover the amount of duty paid on the goods in addition to the contract price ‘in the absence of agreement to the contrary’. The fact that the sale in Starways Trading v Pearl Island Trading was said to be ‘ex-warehouse’ was not a provision to the contrary. The effect of section 59 is to impose implied terms in relation to the…