Affected businesses will naturally now be asking who is legally responsible, and whether there’ll be any compensation. These are important questions, but legally, the answers will be complex.
There will likely be a settlement between Victoria and the games organisers for breaching the contract. But the Commonwealth Games may be the ones to suffer long-term reputational damage.
Millions of South Africans exchange billions of rands annually but disputes involving these transactions hardly ever appear before the country’s courts.
Samuel Becher, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Legally, consumers are expected to read any online contracts they enter into, but companies have no obligation to offer readable agreements. As research shows, most are incomprehensible.
When an African grey parrot named Rocco made purchases via his owner’s Amazon Alexa voice assistant, it raised questions about who was legally responsible for footing the bill.
A purported contract between Sinclair and an anchor demanded a huge penalty if the employee quit. While many asked if that’s legal, a more interesting question is why more companies don’t do the same thing.
South African commercial law courses do not address the question of what norms and procedures govern business relations in indigenous African communities.