So many people who come to see me fail to understand the extent of their risk as shareholders and directors. Few of them ask about their being the Public Officer, but that’s because they have probably no knowledge of their appointment.
Most of their fears are the result of SARS’ low level staff believing that they have powers far beyond the law. So let’s deal with each of them in turn.
SARS
Here we go again! If it’s not SARS, or the IDC then it’s the Master of the High Court. They all constantly change the game apparently on the whim of someone in authority. The Master’s office in Johannesburg has a new Assistant Master and she’s a stickler for the rules (that’s probably why she got the job, because her predecessor was great at cutting corners, which suited us well). It seems that several years ago, somebody issued a set of rules that (contrary to Contract Law which governs Trust Deeds), we cannot replace one trust deed (which is a contract…