Page 47 - The Circle of Life

In the old days (and maybe still where you live) same sex marriages was

unlawful and would have fallen under this clause and thus illegal. Even
consensual sex would have been seen as indecent assault since only a woman
could be raped. This is still the case in many African countries and the police

take great delight in arresting foreigners for this type of thing.

Fourthly the contract must be physical possible and the performance must be
determinable and possible when you sign it. Otherwise it is not enforceable.

Fifthly and lastly the formalities of the contract must abide by the law. We will

look at this aspect in great detail in the chapter about marriage. For instance the
law says you need two competent witnesses. If you don't have them your

marriage is void. Always remember if the law or a contract or even I use the
word "must (not maybe)" it means you have to comply to be legal. There is no

scope for argument about it and it is an objective test. Did you or did you not?
Simple, and if not the formalities were not followed and now you are in trouble

with the law.

Basic laws of delict

Delict is the horror of the third year law student and caused more failures than

any other subject! It is all about the circumstances in which one person can
claim civil compensation from another for harm that has been suffered. It is also

known as a "civil wrong" as this got nothing to do with criminal law but all with
the word compensation. It is not rocket science (nothing in law is) but you need

to understand the basics for every word has a very specific meaning. Let us first
look at what the law calls "damages" and how that is differentiated for not all

damages are the same.

Special Damages

You want compensation (usually money) to rectify the wrong done to you. Thus

we find claims for what we call special damages meaning medical costs and or
loss of income and the cost of repairs. These damages are easily determined

since you have receipts for them. You know the doctors charged you x amount
and thus you special damages is x amount. In breach of promise cases this will

be costs for the reception already arranged and paid.

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