Draft VAT Amendments Issued for Valuable Metals Reverse Charge
General Fuel Levy Relief Adjusted and June 2026 Fuel Prices Announced
dtic Gazettes Retrospective Competition Act Merger Thresholds and Filing Fees
B-BBEE: Parliamentary Committee Briefed on ICT Sector Transformation and EEIP Dispute
Employment Services Amendment Bill to Introduce R100,000 Fines for Non-Compliance
Mastering Financial Statement Compilation: 2026 Regulatory Guide
CIPC Mandates Black and White Scanning for Document Submissions
CIPC Clarifies Grounds for BRP License Suspension and Revocation
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The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is progressing with the Decriminalisation and Regulation of Sex Work Bill, which seeks to repeal specific provisions of the Sexual Offences Act, 1957 and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007.
The Information Regulator has directed SARS to disclose former President Jacob Zuma’s tax records, citing the public interest override provision in the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The South African Law Reform Commission has published a report on alternative dispute resolution in family matters, recommending a draft Bill to regulate care and contact disputes. The South African Judicial Education Institute Amendment Bill [B26-2025] was tabled on 27 October 2025, targeting unproclaimed sections of the 2008 Act. The Information Regulator has issued a Fact Sheet clarifying the mandatory reporting requirements for security compromises under the Protection of Personal Information Act, No. 4 of 2013. The Information Regulator has released a procedural guide for reporting security compromises under the Protection of Personal Information Act, No. 4 of 2013. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has issued an amendment to the March 2024 uniform guidelines for the conferment of senior counsel and senior attorney honours.
The Information Regulator has issued a notice to over 100,000 organisations regarding the mandatory use of Form 2 for access to information requests under PAIA. A draft Constitution Amendment Bill has been gazetted for public comment, proposing to bar individuals removed from office for misconduct from serving in legislative bodies.
The Legal Practice Council has amended Rule 54.14.16 to mandate the compulsory automation of trust interest transfers to the Legal Practitioners’ Fidelity Fund effective 1 September 2025. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has gazetted the terms of reference and regulations for a judicial inquiry into criminality and corruption within South Africa’s criminal justice institutions. The Department of Justice & Constitutional Development has gazetted a correction notice for the Legal Services Ombud rules, replacing the version issued on 18 July 2025. Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has announced that a task team will report to Cabinet by August 2025 on the transition to full institutional independence for the South African judiciary. The Department of Justice & Constitutional Development has gazetted the explanatory summary of the General (Family) Laws Amendment Bill, 2025, which proposes amendments to the Divorce Act, No. 70 of 1979. The Presidency has established a commission of inquiry into alleged interference in the investigation and prosecution of Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) cases, with deadlines recently extended to January 2026. The Department of Justice & Constitutional Development has reinforced the application of the Legal Sector B-BBEE Code of Good Practice in the allocation of state legal work.
The campaign against corruption has just got a whole lot hotter. SA Litigation Funding Company (SALFCO) has announced two senior appointments as part of a programme to strengthen its team and expand its services as it prepares to take on several large cases involving civil and criminal claims.
The following laws were recently amended. Of note, the amendments to the Debt Collectors Act requires attorneys to register as debt collectors and subjects them to the same law as other debt collectors. The Magistrates Court Act has been amended to regulate the rescission of judgments in certain cases, the manner of issuing garnishee orders, and debt collection proceedings. The Superior Courts Act has also been amended to provide for the rescission of judgments by consent and the rescission of judgments where the judgment debt has been paid.
Following a complaint that Sun City prisoners in Johannesburg were waiting 20 hours a day between meals, the South Gauteng High Court, on Friday, ordered the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) to ensure that meals are properly spaced through the day. There may be no more than 14 hours between supper and breakfast. The judgment goes beyond prisoners’ rights to meals. Judge SM Wentzel paints a damning picture of a department repeatedly flouting the law and court orders. The prison population is double the capacity of the prison. It is designed to hold 1,339 inmates, but actually holds 2,812.
Things are getting hot when you get the former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela coming out with her thoughts on shady home repossessions and auctions. It is, as we have argued here for years, a national disgrace. We are pleased that the Portfolio Committee on Finance has been in touch with King Sibiya, Fred Arijs and others who have argued for legal reform in this area. Our prediction is this will become a central issue in the upcoming presidential elections. Now wouldn't that be great, along with jail time for the criminal bankers and their lawyers responsible for this outrage?
Five year-old Michael Komape drowned in a pit toilet at a Polokwane school in 2014. His family sued the Limpopo Department of Basic Education for R3m in damages, calling more than a dozen witnesses in a two week trial argued in November last year. It was a harrowing exploration of a dysfunctional government department that had the money to fix school infrastructure, but didn’t – returning unspent money year after year to the provincial treasury. The state offered the family R450,000 in compensation before the trial commenced, but this was rejected as too low. Judge Gerrit Muller threw out the family’s claim for damages of R3m – leaving the family effectively bereft.
Not all conspiracy theories involving courts and lawyers are false. Here, in the grimy halls of justice, the banks are daily flouting the law in ways that most people do not realise. But the tide is turning in favour of customers. A relatively small change to High Court Rule 46 means banks may no longer sell a property without a reserve price. It means properties must be sold at market prices. That in itself will go a long way to halting evictions and dousing the banks’ enthusiasm for foreclosure.
South Africa needs formal rules for class action suits. One of the problems class action litigants face is first being recognised by the court as a class. In this article written in The Conversation, Theo Broodryk of Stellenbosch University lays out a few ground rules for class action suits that would advance the cause of justice. 
The late Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, formerly Inkatha Freedom Party’s justice spokesman, was a Constitutional expert and an advocate for sweeping reform of our justice system. In this article he argued that the comraderie between competing lawyers prevents them from properly representing their clients. He also called for an end to the practice of using advocates as sit-in judges on exactly the same grounds - they are likely to go soft on their legal collegaues at the expense of justice. Sadly, Oriani-Ambrosini passed away in 2014 from a self-inflicted gun wound, his body wracked with cancer. He made an indelible impression on SA's Constitution and legal landscape. He called for an end to the split bar system of senior and junior counsel, one of the reasons why SA lawyers are among the most expensive in the world.
The Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act changes the way people and organisations are required to handle personal data. Drawing on legislation in force in Germany and the UK, the new Act imposes heavy penalties for abuses. This, says Sage South Africa, gives SA some of the strictest data protection laws in the world.The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Acts Online. Acts Online accepts no responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or fairness of the article, nor does the information contained herein constitute advice, legal or otherwise.
