Latest News & Developments
Nhlakanipho Mtshali's case drew the attention of Judge Robin Mossop, who deemed the initial penalty excessively harsh for the minor offence of shoplifting items worth R170.
Rail agency now claims trains can be safely employed for ‘narrower’ purpose
The SA contingent will be hoping for a better showing at the year’s second major, after only one player from the Rainbow Nation made the weekend at The Masters at Augusta last month.
Their suspensions emanate from a wide-ranging probe into the financial affairs of the Master’s Office by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which started in 2020.
The recently refurbished Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court will officially be opened tomorrow.
The SIU confirmed that it had received a complaint and that the allegations were still being assessed after Jared was interviewed
The Minister’s plan includes increasing the number of matters which must be finalised in four months from 65% to 80%.
The minister’s decision to place the 150-year-old distant learning institution under administration followed a recommendation by an independent assessment by Professor Themba Mosia in May this year.
SA tax authorities have been on their toes since the country was greylisted. It has been tightening and strengthening its laws in order to adhere to the FATF recommendations.
South Africans are growing their digital wealth. A recent survey by Singapore cryptocurrency exchange TripleA estimated there to be 5. 8 million cryptocurrency owners in South Africa. Of these, 46% each hold more than R10 000 in crypto assets, while 12% own more than R100 000.
At the recent South African Institute of Taxation (Sait) Tax Indaba, trusts were on the agenda again. In conversation, the message of the South African Revenue Service (Sars) was loud and clear – new measures they have put in place are aimed at giving Sars the assurance that trusts are run as separate entities (such as companies) on a real-time basis and not on an ad hoc basis in an attempt to prove compliance.
According to 2022 statistics from the Master of the High Court of South Africa, more than 70% of South Africans do not have a will and are unaware that this could leave their dependants and families in dire straits when they die. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is promoting National Wills Week from September 11 to 15, in line with its mandate to empower households and small businesses to be financially resilient. The week is dedicated to increasing awareness of the importance of having a valid will.
The Western Cape High Court has ruled that there was insufficient evidence to show that a man who died in hospital from Covid-19 had intended to revoke his will and write up a new one in which he left everything to a farming trust instead of his three children.
The Guardian’s Fund (GF) is a statutory trust established in terms of Chapter V of the Administration of Estates Act, 1965. The GF consists of all money received by the Master of the High Court under the Act or any other law or pursuant to an order of a court or any money accepted by the Master in trust for any known or unknown person. The Guardian’s Fund falls outside the statutory definition of a trust in South Africa but appears to fall within a wider, more general sense of the ambit of a trust.
Your children could be in for a long wait for benefits if they are dependent on the establishment of a testamentary trust on your death, writes Theoniel McDonald
Traditionally, people in a willy-nilly fashion accepted trusteeship, whether it was as a friend or as their client’s accountant, attorney or financial adviser. However, generally speaking, and specifically after the recent legislation changes, one must carefully consider their appointment as trustee of a trust. If you are not in a position or prepared to be actively involved in the management and administration of the trust, you should rather decline acting as trustee or resign if you have been appointed as one.
A Cape Town widow is faced with losing her home after the Western Cape High Court ordered the Master of the High Court to decide on the manner and conditions of the sale of the Hout Bay property to pay her late husband’s creditors.
For some time, but especially after the recent introduction of tighter measures on South African trusts (similar to measures already introduced in many other countries), estate planners and trustees are (and should be) evaluating whether ‘their’ trusts still serve a purpose. It is a well-known fact that many trusts registered in South Africa were never activated as originally envisaged. Given the fact that many trustees face a penalty of up to R 10 million and/or five years imprisonment, it may be a good time to review the trust. Many trustees have gotten away with labelling trusts as ‘dormant’ trusts in an attempt to excuse themselves from having to comply with trust laws.
The project was started in 2009 and it should have been completed by 2016, changing the landscape of the township of Mamelodi.
Given the recent introduction of rather onerous measures applicable to trustees, many are desirous to immediately resign in an attempt to avoid any liability, especially given fines introduced for the first time in the Trust Property Control Act (the Act) of up to R 10 million and/or 5 years imprisonment. Two important aspects have to be addressed when you consider resigning as a trustee – one, what does one have to do to resign, and two, at what date will the resignation be effective?
A disbarred attorney who withdrew R522 759 from a dead man’s bank account has had his estate placed under provisional sequestration by the Western Cape High Court.
A trustee convicted of any offence as a result of not acting in terms of the amended TPCA laws will be liable to a fine of up to R 10 million, or imprisonment for up to five years, or to both such fine and imprisonment.