On 7 October 2026 the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld a hate speech finding against a client for racist statements made to his investment adviser in a meeting, a WhatsApp message and a phone call. Private, one-to-one and between two white people was no defence, and no IT expert was needed to prove the WhatsApp message. A judgment every practitioner who advises clients, or employs people, should know.
On 5 October 2026 the Supreme Court of Appeal restored a manufacturer's damages after a Full Court had held that an unpaid deposit meant the contracts never came into effect. Payment and security clauses regulate an agreement already concluded; they do not suspend it. Storage costs for goods the buyer refused were recoverable too.
On 7 July 2026 the Constitutional Court set aside a vexatious litigant order as overbroad and struck down an order that made a mental health assessment a precondition to litigating. The route when a litigant's capacity is in doubt is Rule 57 and a curator ad litem, not an order from the bench.
On 5 October 2026 the Supreme Court of Appeal held that a surety's deposit with the bank set off his R6 million liability on the day the demand fell due, while an identical surety lost the same defence because the mortgage bond it gave said "without set-off". A judgment about what you sign, when a debt is due, and raising a defence late.
The Constitutional Court set aside a final sequestration order on 11 September 2026 because the High Court skipped the established two-stage insolvency enquiry and found acts of insolvency that were never alleged in the founding affidavit. A short, sharp lesson for anyone who drafts or opposes sequestration applications.
On 5 October 2026 the Supreme Court of Appeal held that section 63(2) of the Insolvency Act bars a trustee's fellow director from charging the estate for work done at the trustee's firm, that a new firm invoicing for that work later acquires nothing, and that an incorporated practice is a partnership for the section's purpose. Every attorney who sits as trustee, or whose firm acts for one, should read this.
The Constitutional Court held on 29 June 2026 that interest on general damages assessed at judgment date ordinarily runs from judgment, not from service of summons. Every delictual claim on your books, and every settlement you are negotiating, just changed in value.
