December and January have always been prime months for selling residential property in South Africa, and if you are a “Festive Season Seller”, here are two really important tips for you. Plan your financesUnderstand and plan for all the financial implications, not just the legal ones.Prepare a cash-flow forecast so that you know what you will receive and when, and what you will have to pay and when. Your forecast will tell you what funds you must have available at all
“Are we being good ancestors?” (Jonas Salk) What do you plan to give your family this Festive Season? Now’s the time to think beyond the brightly wrapped gifts under the tree and get started on an estate plan which will leave your loved ones the lasting gift of financial freedom. Estate planning involves a lot more than just executing a valid will, but let’s start off with a reminder that a will must always be your top priority. Your will is the heart
“This is a running down case: literally” (Extract from judgment below) The scene is Cape Town’s iconic Sea Point Promenade. An elite runner participating in a race knocks down a pedestrian out for a Sunday walk, causing serious injuries. The pedestrian sues both the runner and the race organiser for damages of R718,000. The outcome is another reminder to us all to be aware of our surroundings at all times – a moment’s inattention can change everything in a split second. As
Before you close up for the year, remember that if you are a “designated” employer, your Employment Equity Act (“EEA”) Report is due on 15 January 2023. Failure to comply carries substantial penalties so don’t miss this deadline. You are likely to be a designated employer if either – You have 50 or more employees, or Your annual turnover equals or exceeds your particular industry’s threshold. See the table below for details. (Source – Schedule 4 to the Employment Equity Act) There’s good news for
“You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.” (Maya Angelou) December holidays are a time for winding down, recharging your batteries and sharing some quality family time. But it can also be stressful. There’s a reason we often talk about the “Silly Season”. Don’t let the pressure get to you! Relax, take a deep breath, and read “10 tips to reduce festive season stress” on
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” (Douglas Adams) Here’s yet another reminder from our courts on the danger of not complying strictly with every provision in a property sale agreement. Don’t be like Douglas Adams and listen to the deadlines go whooshing by – missing a property sale deadline is a mistake, probably an expensive one. The deadline set by every bond clause is no exception… Sale’s a dead duck. Who gets the R600,000
“Marriage is a matter of more worth / Than to be dealt in by attorneyship” (Shakespeare) Wedding Season is well and truly upon us, and if you (or anyone near and dear to you) is busy planning for marriage (note that we are talking “civil marriage” here, “customary marriages” and “civil unions” are beyond the scope of this article), you will have a long “To Do” List to work through. Venue, invites, catering, flowers, service, this, that, the other. The list goes
“For many, many people, I’m a firm believer that 60 is the new 50.” (Carolyn Aldwin, director of Oregon State University’s Center for Healthy Aging Research) As even the youngest Boomers (the generation born between 1946 and 1964) approach the “Big Sixty”, an increasing number of employees will be thinking about whether or not they want to retire. And an increasing number of employers will be wondering whether to ask them to stay on or to retire them (and if so,
“The Constitution guarantees that administrative action will be reasonable, lawful and procedurally fair. It also makes sure that you have the right to request reasons for administrative action that negatively affects you.” (Department of Justice and Constitutional Development) Bureaucratic decisions can and do have far-reaching consequences for us, both financially and in our personal lives. It’s good to know therefore that whenever your rights are affected by any such decision, you have access to the protections set out in PAJA (the
No matter how good your product and your service levels, the hard reality in business is that customer issues will arise. Perhaps they will be genuine problems or perhaps they are just misperceptions, but either way you need to act quickly and effectively to resolve them. Particularly in these times of online reviews making or breaking reputations so quickly and easily. Here’s a tried and tested method to boost customer satisfaction generally, to change complaints into compliments, and to resolve all