Latest Issue - June 2020

Living annuities and divorce: Are non-member spouses being deprived of accrued retirement benefits? Accounting

Are non-member spouses being deprived of accrued retirement benefits? The law, as it is currently applied, enables retirement fund members, married in community of property, to deprive their spouses of 'their' retirement benefits that accrued before the parties divorce. Before the divorce, retirement fund members can purchase living annuities with accrued retirement benefits, which will ensure that non-member spouses do not have access to these benefits. It is unfortunate that while there appears to be some statutory regulation for pension interests when spouses are divorcing, the same is not true for living annuities purchased through retirement benefits in South Africa. The current legal position enables retirement fund members, through living annuities, to arbitrarily deprive their non-member spouses of the assets which they are entitled to share, in accordance with the matrimonial property system applicable to the marriage.

Part 1

There are two main trends that currently influence, and will continue to influence, finance deals in Africa. The first trend is the move towards sustainable financing, and the role South Africa is likely to continue playing to facilitate sustainable investment deals. The second main trend is the need for country-specific knowledge when putting together deals in, for example, Lusophone Africa, which is much less uniform than its shared language of Portuguese would suggest.

Estate planning during a pandemic: are your affairs in order? COVID-19 Financial Law

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has disrupted lives and continues to wreak havoc on the global economy, has seen a sudden and dramatic shift in the way we live.

To pay or not to pay in the context of COVID-19 COVID-19 Property Law

To pay or not to pay has become an imperative question asked by retail tenants in the context of rental due pursuant to lease agreements. The question is raised in the wake of an extension of the lockdown as announced on 9 April by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

COVID-19 law enforcement incompetence and brutality not a new thing COVID-19 The Law

It is often said that the best time to fix a leaking roof is in winter when there are no storms or heavy rains. This has proved to be true as South African law enforcement agencies inabilities have been exposed by the COVID-19 outbreak.

COVID-19 Lockdown gently nudges court procedure into the 4th Industrial Revolution COVID-19 The Law

The COVID-19 pandemic has tested our time-honoured court system. Initially, most court work was curtailed, but it has since adapted valiantly. This period may be an unlikely but promising opportunity for the courts to catch up with technology.

Who did what in May 2020 . . .

SA Exchange Listed M&A

Barloworld, through its wholly-owned subsidiary KLL, issued a material adverse change (MAC) notice to Tongaat Hulett in terms of the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) signed in February. Barloworld is of the view that the conse- quences of the global pandemic is likely to cause the EBITDA of the starch busi- ness for the financial year ending March 31 2021 to be 82.5% or less of the EBITADA of the sale business for the financial year ended March 2020. Since the parties are unable to reach an agreement on whether a MAC has occurred, the SPA provides for the matter to be referred to an independent accountant. This process is expected to take approximately six to eight weeks.

Introduction - June 2020 TOP STUDENT 2014 WHERE ARE THEY NOW

Life is full of curve balls but seldom are they as dramatic as the COVID-19 pandemic. The global impact of this particular virus is well known; its reach and the consequences continue to unfold and the only thing of which we can be certain is that our world is unlikely ever to be quite the same as the one we knew before the pandemic blotted the landscape.

A quiet personal reflection on self-esteem and feeling worthy TOP STUDENT 2014 WHERE ARE THEY NOW

A few weeks ago in May, it was Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK, and I wanted to write something positive and encouraging about mental health and wellbeing.

TOP STUDENT 2014 TOP STUDENT 2014 WHERE ARE THEY NOW

without prejudice posed five questions to The Class of 2014:
Has being a top student helped so far?;
Where are you working, as what and is this what you anticipated when you graduated?;
Where do you see yourself in 2024?; Do you think COVID-19 will affect your career in the long run?
and What are you reading at the moment? These are their responses.

View Issue Feature