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No-one Deserves to Live in Fear: You Can Do Something About It

Learn about the various steps a victim of domestic violence can take to protect themselves from their abuser, including filing a protection order.

LegalWise South Africa applauds High Court ruling that blocked IDs is invalid

LegalWise South Africa welcomes the judgment handed down on 16 January 2024 by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, whereby it declared that the Department of Home Affairs’ conduct of placing markers on identity numbers and identity documents is unjust, invalid, and inconsistent with our Constitution.

LegalWise Challenges Unlawful Blocking of Identity Documents in the Gauteng High Court

LegalWise South Africa's Impact Litigation Unit (ILU) will be represented in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria on Wednesday 20 September 2023, to seek an order declaring that the Department of Home Affairs' current practice of blocking identity documents is unlawful and unconstitutional.

LegalWise South Africa launches its Impact Litigation Unit

LegalWise, the pioneer of legal expenses insurance, has launched an Impact Litigation Unit (ILU) as a vehicle to drive positive social change for all South Africans. LegalWise will now amplify and extend the right to access to justice to not only include its Members, but also other vulnerable individuals within the broader South African society.

Electoral Commission of South Africa: a brief overview

Local Government elections (“municipal elections”) are held every five years to elect councils for all districts, metropolitan and local municipalities within our nine provinces. The president of the Republic of South Africa announced that the municipal elections will be held on 1 November 2021.

Labour Law: Understanding the New Earnings Threshold

South African labour law provides for an annual earnings threshold used to establish whether certain protection provided by labour law will apply to an employee or not. Many employees do not know what this earnings threshold actually means and what impact an increase to this earnings threshold will have on them.

Video Consultations – Making the Law More Accessible

LegalWise is pleased to announce the launch of their new face-to-face video consultations. LegalWise Members can now enjoy face-to-face consultations on Zoom. The launch is a tangible step to improve access to legal services and in so doing the new service plays a small but meaningful role in breaking down the geographic and physical barriers to justice.

Changes to the LegalWise Membership Agreement Effective from 1 July 2024

LegalWise has made changes to some of their benefits, limits, restrictions and exclusions based on feedback they’ve received from their Members, their Network of Lawyers and their employees. They’ve also used this update as an opportunity to introduce new benefits on the GoldPLUS and Platinum Membership options.

Claiming back maintenance after negative paternity test: what does the law say?

Peter had been paying child maintenance towards a child who was believed to be his. He has paid the maintenance for 11 years without a maintenance order in place. He just supported the child under the impression that he was the father. After a paternity test, Peter discovered that he is not the biological father of the child and now wants to claim all the child maintenance money back from the mother of the child. Can Peter legally claim back the child maintenance, and if so, who can he claim the child maintenance from?

Lock-down offences: Clearing your criminal record

The Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 was enacted with the object of managing the severity of disasters, amongst other things. It was under this legislation that the country could be placed under lock-down during the Covid 19 pandemic. Under the same law, lock-down regulations were created with regards to the conduct of all persons in South Africa during that period. Failure to adhere to the regulations had dire consequences, including criminal prosecution and possibly a criminal record. The pandemic has eased, the regulations are no longer enforced and a way out for those who already acquired a criminal record under the lock-down regulations has come.