Thesis (LLM. (Development and Management Law)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / We live in a Fourth Industrial Revolution(4IR) era where people exchange goods and
services through the internet. Such transactions and communications are regulated by
the
Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (ECTA)
25 of 2002. The ECTA
however amongst others, excludes the execution of testamentary wills from its
application thus leaving no room for electronic wills. The execution of a valid will in
South Africa is governed by the
Wills Act 7 of 1953. Against this background, the study
investigates whether the presence of enhanced 4IR innovations and methods have
the potential to render the
Wills Act obsolete and how the exclusion in the ECTA will
contribute towards the formation of legal gaps in the law of succession. In confronting
these questions, the study seeks to create a synergy between the two
abovementioned statutes. The formalities of a valid will are contained in section 2(1)
of the Wills Act, it can be deduced from them that a will should be in writing and
signed by the testator and two witnesses. Any will not complying with the formalities
is dependent upon the discretion of the High Court for validity as per section 2(3) of
the Wills Act. The cases of
MacDonald v The Master 2002 5 SA 64 (N) and
Van der
Merwe v The Master 2010 6 SA 546 (SCA) have confronted issues that relate to wills
executed in electronic formats. The study interrogates the meaning of ‘writing’ and
‘signature’ and their significance and probes whether they can be fulfilled using
electronic means. A comparative approach is adopted to establish the status of
electronic wills in the USA and UK. The USA has promulgated legislation to deal with
electronic wills and the UK has initiated the process of adopting their own electronic
wills legislation in response to the 4IR. With the lessons learned from these
jurisdictions the study makes recommendations on how synergy can be created
between the Wills Act and the ECTA.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ul/oai:ulspace.ul.ac.za:10386/4182 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Mahlaela, Theresia |
| Contributors | Monyamane, P. L. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | v, 74 leaves |
| Relation |
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