MC Botha Inc.

16/01/2026

‘Household tariffs may increase further.’

16/01/2026

Nersa has yet again been held liable for flawed and unlawful decisions, impacting unfairly on industrial electricity users. The Johannesburg High Court this week ordered the energy regulator to re-do the 2024/2025 tariff determinations for 4 municipalities before 30 June, with Nersa conceding that its actions were unlawful.
We are proud to have represented the applicants in this matter, playing a role in holding authority to account on behalf of business.

‘Household tariffs may increase further.’

10/12/2024

Our offices will close on 13 December 2024 and will reopen on 7 January 2025.

If you need legal support please contact your attorney directly.

09/12/2024

Reining in municipal powers – municipalities can only enact by-laws on matters that they have the right to administer. Of interest is the recent Constitutional Court (CC) judgment that two Mpumalanga municipalities had overstepped their constitutional and legislative authority in enacting by-laws that put conditions on property transfers outside the scope of their powers as local government. The matter was taken to the apex court by Glencore and other mining companies.
The judgment is important for providing clarity on the scope of municipalities to make by-laws that may infringe on constitutional rights or contradict national legislation.
Read the full judgment at https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2024/25.html
Talk to us for help unravelling by-laws and protecting the rights of business against over-reaches of authority.

https://www.concourt.org.za/index.php/judgement/575-govan-mbeki-local-municipality-v-glencore-operations-south-africa-pty-limited-and-others-emalahleni-local-municipality-v-glencore-operations-south-africa-pty-limited-and-others-cct-189-22-cct-191-22

05/12/2024

In a ruling that provides certainty to industrial consumers about their rights when Nersa or other state actors fail to discharge their duties, we obtained an interdict in the High Court preventing Jo'burg City Power from disconnecting electricity supply to our clients, four large industrial power users. They were threatened with disconnection due to non-payment of City of Johannesburg electricity tariffs that were declared unlawful by the court three years ago, and have yet to be rectified. (They have continued to pay what they calculate as the lawful portion of their electricity bills.)
Another milestone in our drive to represent the interests of business against unlawful actions of authority.

Large power users obtain interdict in five-year battle.

01/09/2024

When Should Your Company Be Cautious of AI?
Read more: https://buff.ly/4dZkxOu

Using powerful data analytics and pattern recognition, Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the latest buzzword in every business on the planet. If you looked hard enough, you could probably find an AI solution for every application a business could need (and a few no business could ever need!). Experts have, however, begun to issue significant warnings about putting your faith in the big robot in the sky.

Here are three situations where companies should be cautious of using AI.

23/07/2024

We have opened a branch in St Francis Bay to service local businesses and industry in the Kouga region with practical, innovative and business-focused legal solutions. Contact us on +27 41 100 0080 or email [email protected] for a law firm that understands business and thinks out-of-the-box.

18/07/2024

Congratulations to our associate Reade Foong on his admission as Attorney of the High Court this week. We're proud of you and glad to have you on board for the journey with MC Botha Inc.

10/06/2024

SA legal expert appointed to SADC’s top illegal fisheries control body

Prof Hennie van As, Director of the Centre for Law in Action and head of South Africa’s Fisheries Law Enforcement Academy, FishFORCE, at Nelson Mandela University, has been appointed as a legal expert to the first Board of Directors of the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) Fisheries Monitoring Control and Surveillance Coordination Centre (MCSCC), established in 2023.
The Board was appointed by the SADC Ministers of Agriculture, Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture for a period of two years, starting on 1 June 2024.

The Maputo-based MCSCC is a joint effort of the 14 SADC member states to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the region, protect small-scale fisheries and secure the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on fish and other living resources from the Indian Ocean and inland freshwater sources.
“Being on the board of the MCSCC will enable me to accelerate the work, recommend laws and policies related to regional fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance; approve and monitor budgets; evaluate action plans; and provide guidance on how best to collaborate in cross-border and international fisheries crime control. This is essential in view of the increase in illegal activities associated with fisheries,” says Prof van As, who is also an admitted advocat and professor of Public Law.

According to research released at the end of October 2022 by the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC), Africa is losing an estimated US$25billion per year to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing run by organised crime syndicates. In South Africa, it is estimated that the country is losing at least US$60 million a year due to abalone/perlemoen poaching alone. This is according to the wildlife trade-monitoring organisation TRAFFIC.
Read the full story here: https://news.mandela.ac.za/.../SA-legal-expert-appointed...’s-top-illegal-fi

18/03/2024

Kindly note that our offices will be closed on 21 March and 22 March 2024.

Please contact your attorney directly, should you have any urgent matters.