Now that South Africa is under lockdown for the next 21 days, as
part of an organisation's business continuity efforts,
businesses will, to the extent possible, continue to run remotely.
Two common legal issues that arise from remote working are:
- the electronic signing of agreements and instructions; and
- whether meetings can take place using technological means.
In this article, we touch on both issues.
Electronic signatures
Section 11 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions
Act, 2002 ("ECTA") provides for the
legal recognition of data messages and states that
"information is not without legal force and effect merely on
the grounds that it is wholly or partly in the form of a data
message". Section 12 of ECTA further provides that "where
it required that a document must be in writing that requirement is
met if the document is in form of a data message, and accessible in
a manner usable for subsequent reference." This means that a
document in an
