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Our Constitutional Right of Access to Justice was dealt a major blow by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment handed down on 25 June 2021, which overturned the Gauteng Court judgment in Thobejane and the Eastern Cape judgment in Gqirana.
The Thobejane and Gqirana judgments were progressive in the expansion of Consumer Rights by holding that the Banks must proceed with legal action against Consumers in the Magistrates’ Court closest to the Consumer, where the monies owed falls within jurisdiction of such Magistrates and/or Regional Court. These two judgments ensured that Consumers were not forced to pay their attorneys and advocates the extensive legal costs that are incurred in order to defend legal actions instituted in the High Courts. Instead, Consumers must be able to defend the Bank’s actions in their nearby, local Magistrates’ Court at significantly less legal expense. In fact, aforementioned judgments gave consideration to the right of access to justice, particularly for Consumers that are already struggling financially, and held that it was an abuse of process for Banks to institute proceedings in the High Court when they could have proceeded in the Magistrates’ Court. Much to the delight of Banks, the SCA has gone in the opposite direction and held that a High Court is obliged by law to hear any matter that falls within its jurisdiction and has no power to exercise a discretion to decline to hear a matter on the grounds that another, less expensive court has concurrent jurisdiction. The tragedy is that unless this SCA decision is taken on appeal to the Constitutional Court by the self-same struggling Consumers that are unable to pay hundreds of thousands of Rand in legal costs, the door to access justice has been shut firmly in our faces. Nonetheless, our highly experienced legal team at Liddle and Associates Inc will continue to champion Consumer’s rights with both our directors regularly appearing in the Western Cape High Court to protect and safeguard our Clients’ homes and vehicles from being repossessed and sold in execution by the Banks.
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In the most recent developments in our law there are two central pieces of legislation that are actively changing how individuals access and protect their personal information, namely the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (“PAIA” hereinafter) and the Protections of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA” hereinafter). In terms of which it has become essential that every person who carries on a business, profession or trade, whether it is a sole proprietor, partnership, trust, company or otherwise familiarises themselves and understands the legal responsibilities and obligations placed on them in terms of this legislative framework.
We at Liddle and Associates Inc. would like to assist you by setting out a concise framework of the legal responsibilities and obligations imposed by PAIA and POPI on all public and private bodies who process personal information of individuals or corporate entities they work with in order to provide their services and carry out their business effectively. We regard the protection of personal information as integral in maintaining confidence between any business and their clients, employees, agent, designees and appointees. In the spirit of Ubuntu we aim to assist our fellow individuals and corporate entities to ensure that they are PAIA and POPI compliant, so that we may all evolve together and grow with dignity and compassion. The guidelines provided below must be read in conjunction with PAIA and POPI and should not be regarded as more than a summary. POPI compliance considerations:
PAIA compliance considerations:
General compliance considerations:
We always encourage any questions or comments, so that we may grow together in a meaningful and informed way. Feel free to contact our Information Officer with any concerns or suggestions. Information Officers’ Contact Details ROBYN BRONWYN ZIMMERMANN 0871383275 [email protected] The right to privacy is enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and everyone should know and understand that this includes a right to protection against the unlawful collection, retention, dissemination and use of their personal information. This right also encompasses your right to access your personal information and be informed of how your information in being collected, stored and processed. We at Liddle & Associates Inc. verily believe that each and every person should have peace of mind when it comes to the processing of their personal information and have set out to ensure that we treat your personal information with the utmost confidentiality, while keeping you informed.
In the most recent development there are two central pieces of legislation that are actively changing how individuals access and protect their personal information, namely the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 and the Protections of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013. In terms of which it has become essential that every person who carries on a business, profession or trade, whether it is a sole proprietor, partnership, trust, company or otherwise familiarises themselves and understands the legal responsibilities and obligations placed on them in terms of this legislative framework. We at Liddle and Associates Inc have updated our policies to ensure that our clients, employees, agents, designees and appointees’ personal information is processed responsibly and that they are made aware of their rights relating to their personal information. Copies of our policy documents are available from our offices during business hours. You can also access our updated policy document on our website, or by following the links below:
We always encourage any questions or comments, so that we may grow together in a meaningful and informed way. Feel free to contact our Information Officer with any questions, comments, concerns or suggestions. Information Officers’ Contact Details ROBYN BRONWYN ZIMMERMANN 0871383275 [email protected] |
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January 2022
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