Legal news and commentary from the offices of Simon Dippenaar
What happens when you have a problem with an online transaction? E-commerce has been on the rise for a number of years. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the rate of take-up among consumers, as lockdowns made it difficult or impossible to visit physical shops. But e-commerce has been around since 1994 (the first recorded transaction was […]
DeFi has not gone away, but is it gaining traction? In 2023 we wrote several articles about decentralised finance – “DeFi” for short. Its regulation and legal status lacked certainty at that time since the concept was new and the technology rapidly evolving. We revisit DeFi to see what has changed in two years. The […]
What are the legal implications? The sophistication of artificial intelligence (AI), along with its application, is increasing almost on a daily basis. The UK has announced the world’s biggest trial of breast cancer screening and diagnosis using AI in place of the second radiologist (mammograms are normally assessed by two human doctors). If successful, this […]
How AI is revolutionising legal disputes Artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for years, but most of us only became consciously aware of it with the launch of ChatGPT in November 2023. Since then, the prominence and use of AI have spiralled. Recently we heard about the Chinese-made AI chatbot called DeepSeek, which overnight hit […]
Despite increased vigilance, cybercrime continues to grow In a recent webinar on cybercrime, an audience poll revealed that over 50% of participants had experienced a financial scam of some sort. This does not mean all fell victim and lost money. We are all much more aware of scamming techniques and much more alert to suspicious […]
Open justice is a fundamental right In a democratic society, justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done. The right of the public to scrutinise and understand the workings of the law is a key principle of our constitutional framework. Transparency and accountability build trust and confidence in the justice […]
Know your rights around these seasonal hurdles As predictable as tourists in Cape Town, roadblocks are a festive season feature. Recently, an email has made the rounds advising recipients to check their traffic fines and pay them to avoid being arrested in a roadblock. There is a lot of misinformation in circulation about this topic, […]
South Africa is not immune from human trafficking Human trafficking is an all-too-common occurrence in the modern world. Musician Sean “Diddy” Combs currently faces charges of sex trafficking and racketeering in New York, and two people in Glasgow have been arrested in connection with human trafficking offences just recently. Here in South Africa, kidnapping and […]
Why confidentiality matters One of the pillars of democracy is a free press. We discussed the importance of access to information recently. In an open society, we take access to information for granted, and journalists tend to be respected. A principle of ethical journalism is confidentiality, and the protection of confidential sources is a widely […]
The importance of access to information As South Africans, we live in a democratic society and we take access to information for granted. While we may sometimes experience frustration with government obfuscation, most people agree that we have the right to be informed and we have the means to access that information, such as our […]
Cybercriminals are finding new ways to scam and con you Remember those halcyon days when the biggest consequence of having a cell phone stolen was the inconvenience and the potential loss of your photos and contacts? It’s hard to believe that was only around 10 years ago. If your phone is stolen now, the damage […]
Environmental crime is more than just poaching How often do you think about the environment? With the global increase in climate-related events, such as the recent catastrophic floods in Spain, the answer might be “quite a lot”. But you probably don’t think of the environment in terms of crime. In fact, environmental matters are highly […]
