LEGAL PRACTITIONERS and Other Service Providers!

1 hour Response Time

WELCOME. SIYAKWAMUKELA.
WAMKELEKILE. WELKOM.

This is your FIRST STEP if you are looking for legal or professional support. We:

Guarantee a response within 1 working hour,
Are uncomplicated, friendly and professional,
Our fees are sensitive to the South African economy,
Have a team of professionals in all major Cities,
Function with integrity, attention to detail and are objective driven,
Use technology, innovation and internal processes to streamline your experience,
Strive to improve the sector we operate in.

SERVICES | AMASEVISI

In our ‘team’ we have Legal Practitioners (Lawyers & Attorneys) and other Professionals who offer parallel solutions. Our website menu items LEGAL PRACTITIONERS and OTHER PROFESSIONALS offer a summary of services and will help you decide which type of service provider to use. Please review both pages. Afterwards, if you are still not sure who to use please ask for guidance using the Immediate Action Form on the Contacts Page.

FREE OR FEE? SIMAHLA OKANYE UHLAWULE?

For free services you could engage with an organization such as legal-aid.co.za or visit justice.gov.za for free information. Depending on your issue any of the following organizations might be appropriate and mandated to help for free:

The National Consumer Commission,
CGSO,
CCMA,
Housing Tribunal,
For insurance or banking issues, you should contact the appropriate ombudsman.

If you are looking to hire a Professional we guarantee that the fees quoted will be reasonable and you will not be charged anything until you have accepted a quote or entered into an engagement letter. Payment options will be communicated and might include hourly, per project, fixed rate or retainer. See a Cost Guideline HERE. The use of a Legal Practitioner or Court should be engaged with only once you have exhausted all amicable and free options, or if the matter at hand needs legal guidance and an expert to expedite a solution.

E-CONSULTS

An E-Consult is an effective way to receive expedited support for select, once off or ad hoc matters. Please visit the menu item for more information on this process. CLICK HERE

OPERATIONAL DAYS & TIMES

South African Working days. No public holidays.

Monday-Thursday from 09h00-13h00 and 14h00-16h00.
Friday 09h00-13h00.

E-BOOKINGS

BOOK NOW

News Update - August 2018

- Featured article by LAWYERS-ONLINE.CO.ZA - August 2018

Same Day reply.

072 847 6416 | info@lawyers-online.co.za

Here at Lawyers Online we strive to provide our readership with frequent legal information that is both useful and relevant.

In today’s newsletter we take a look at two very interesting topics currently in the news.

The new clause with regards to temporary employment service (TES) providers.
Is a court order necessary in order to terminate municipal services?

The Constitutional Court has made a judgement regarding the roles and responsibilities of temporary employment service providers, after a three year debate.

To put this simply I will leave out the technicalities and summarise what this actually means.

In previous years it was deemed that both the temporary service provider and the client were responsible for the employee where there were disputes and other situations defined by the Labour Relations Act.

Now, the Constitutional Court has made a judgement, which is that the client will assume responsibility for employees earning R17 119.00 or less per month following three months of employment.

This doesn’t mean that the TES provider assumes automatic responsibility after three months of employment. It just means that unless otherwise stipulated in the TES/client contract the client takes responsibility for any liability defined by the LRA.

Most definitely something to be aware of and look into with the way employers prefers to make use of contractual and temporary services.

Moving on to the second part of this newsletter, knowing whether or not a court order is necessary to terminate municipal services for none-payment of municipal charges is good knowledge to have. It happens often enough and people seldom know what exactly the law says about this.

Unfortunately, the article from which the information is sourced has contradicting opinions…layers and their standpoints… However, fortunately, a conclusion is clear.

Again, in attempt to speak like the average person and not in tongues, as do highly specialised lawyers, I will simplify and generalise.

The first thing to understand is that the person or entity being deprived has a remedy in South African law based on the mandament van spolie for the immediate restoration of the thing being taken away.

Therefore, If an individual or entity is being deprived of something, which includes the supply of electricity and water, it will commonly first be considered in court to which an order must be granted authorising the taking. In this conclusion, taking something without a court order is, therefore, normally considered unlawful, unless, of course, legislation authorises it.

However, Judge Bosielo (Judges Lewis and Petse concurring) opined in para 16 that to pursue matters in which court orders are obtained to authorise termination would result in a loss of valuable time and incurrence of legal fees unnecessary. The above is paraphrased for simplicity; it is by no means a direct quote.

At para 27 he further concluded that having considered all the relevant legislation it is clear to him that no statutory instrument requires a municipality to obtain a court order to authorise the discontinuation of a municipal service. The above is paraphrased for simplicity; it is by no means a direct quote.

In conclusion, until another ruling either in SCA or a higher court, a municipality may disconnect the municipal services to a property without first having to obtain a court order authorising the discontinuation.

For further information about our services please feel free to contact us.