In view of the impending implementation of the Portable Gratuity Retirement Fund (“PRGF”), the Minister of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training has issued The Workers’ Rights (Portable Retirement Gratuity Fund) Regulations 2020 (the “PRGF Regulations”), deemed effective as from January 1, 2020. The implementation of the PRGF was, by a decision of Cabinet on December 13, 2019, postponed from 1 January 2020 to 1 April 2020 ...
With effect from 14 March 2020, Rwanda’s Ministry of Health and other governmental bodies have issued several measures that will be implemented in order to mitigate the risk of the coronavirus (COVID-19). This was turned into an almost total lockdown with immediate effect by a communiqué issued by the Office of the Prime Minister on 21 March 2020 and which will be in force during a two-week period (with possibility of extension) ...
This article is an updated version of the article published on 16 March 2020. On 15 March 2020, South African President Ramaphosa announced the declaration of a national state of disaster, as a result of the recent events surrounding the rise in coronavirus (COVID-19) infections in South Africa. The declaration of a national disaster was made in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (the "DMA") ...
In the wake of the rapid developments to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Temporary Relief Scheme (“C19 TERS”) in the past few weeks, it is critical that employers remain informed and up-to-date on the latest processes in place. The C19 TERS was established to compensate employees who have lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, through the Unemployment Insurance Fund (“UIF”) ...
Application of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (the "OHASA")? Several health and safety obligations (both general and specific) towards employees are imposed on an employer or user in respect of the "workplace". The term "workplace" is also defined broadly in the OHASA as "any premises or place where a person performs work in the course of his employment" ...
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is changing the way we live, interact and conduct business. The Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (“B-BBEE”) world in South Africa is no different. All companies undergoing a B-BBEE verification are required to permit their B-BBEE verification agencies to conduct on-site inspections and personal interviews as part of the verification process ...
On 23 and 24 March 2020, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (the “Minister”) published Regulations under section 78(1) of the Competition Act, 1998 exempting the banking and retail property sectors respectively from certain provisions of the Competition Act in order to limit the impact of the ongoing national state of disaster announced on 15 March 2020 ...
Some reports claim that as many as one third of people around the world are subject to some degree of lockdown to stem the coronavirus (COVID-19) rate of infection. As a result, businesses everywhere are facing unprecedented circumstances that most of us would agree could never have been imagined, and certainly not anticipated, in negotiating a contract ...
Directions pertaining to the communications sector were issued on 26 March 2020 by the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies (the "Minister"), to ensure the smooth operations of the electronic communications sector – as essential services – during the national state of disaster period. You can read our previous article relating to the Directionshere ...
On 27 March 2020, the South African Revenue (“SARS”) announced much needed value-added tax (“VAT”) relief on the importation of “essential goods” as part of the coronavirus (COVID-19) tax relief measures. Section 7(1)(b) of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991 (“VAT Act”) imposes VAT on the importation of any goods into South Africa by any person. In terms of section 7(1), VAT is imposed at the standard rate of 15% ...
With South Africa currently under a nationwide lockdown, practical challenges arise for parties to existing (or new) commercial transactions that are scheduled to “close” during this period. While physical closings are (generally) not currently possible, depending on the type of transaction and the closing deliverables involved, this challenge need not delay closing ...
The UK’s highest court recently ruled that Morrisons, a supermarket group, was not vicariously liable for the criminal act of an employee with a grudge who leaked the payroll data of about 100 000 members of staff. Many companies sighed in relief on hearing that the Supreme Court of Appeal did not hold Morrisons vicariously liable ...
Given the recent regulations published under the Disaster Management Act, 2002 and the State of Emergency Act, 1997, certain restrictions have been imposed by the South African Government to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) threat. These restrictions prohibit certain activities and compel limiting factors on certain businesses, such as educational institutions and businesses selling liquor. In addition, there are a number of protocols that have been issued by various agencies ...
Directions pertaining to the communications sector were issued on 26 March 2020 by the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies (the "Minister"), to ensure the smooth operations of the electronic communications sector – as essential services – during the disaster period to combat the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in South Africa ...
In keeping with the promise of government to introduce fiscal measures to address the negative impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on business, the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) released Binding General Ruling (VAT) 52 (“BGR 52”), dated 27 March 2020, that extends the prescribed time periods relating to the exportation of movable goods from South Africa ...
In light of the declaration of a national state of disaster as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it is now likely that schools and further learning institutions in South Africa will remain closed for the foreseeable future (even after the national lockdown period) and online teaching will be inevitable. However, privacy, data protection and security are critical when teachers and learners are working remotely due to the higher risk of personal data breaches ...
On 19 March 2020, the Minister of Trade and Industry (the “Minister”) published two Regulations under section 78(1) of the Competition Act, 1998 (as amended) (the “Competition Act”), pursuant to the National State of Disaster declared on 15 March 2020 (the “National State of Disaster”).Both of the Regulations are effective immediately. The first creates a block exemption for the Healthcare Sector ...
On 23 March 2020, the President of South Africa issued a statement informing the public that a nationwide lockdown would be enacted in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002. The lockdown commenced at midnight yesterday, 26 March 2020, and is set to end at midnight on Thursday, 16 April 2020 ...
In stark contrast to earlier media reports as to what would constitute “essential services”, the Regulations published in terms of the impending coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown are far from clear and explicit when it comes to ICT, including datacentres, fibre optic infrastructure, towers and antennae ...
On 9 April 2020, in light of the amendments to the coronavirus (COVID-19) TERS Directives, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (“UIF”) released four new memoranda of agreement (“MOAs”) to be used when employers apply for the COVID-19 Temporary Relief Scheme (“TERS”). It has also issued a revised application procedure. A MOA records the terms and conditions for the implementation of the TERS by the UIF and any employer who submits a claim under the TERS ...
President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his address to the nation on Sunday, 15 March 2020, declared a national state of disaster and introduced a numberof measures to curb the spread of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19). As of 19 March 2020, South Africa has recorded 150 confirmed cases of COVID-19 ...
