In the fashion sector, legislative regulation is taking different forms across nations. The impacts are obvious: mounting textile waste in the Global South, ongoing garment worker exploitation and unfair competition for local industries which threatens economic stability. South African consumers have expressed dissatisfaction with the SA Revenue Service’s announcement that clothing imported through e-commerce platforms such as Shein and Temu will attract VAT from September 1 2024, and full customs duties of 45% from November 1 2024. This type of government reaction is not limited to SA, as countries clutch at tax systems to protect local industries from alleged affordable fast fashion.
As web scraping has evolved, so too have the legal and ethical challenges surrounding its use. While it is not illegal in SA, the legality of web scraping depends on the nature of the content accessed and how it is used, and we explore this further.
A recent Supreme Court of Appeal judgment highlights the unpleasant long-term consequences which can arise when families do business together without carefully thinking through what they are doing and without properly documenting their transaction. The take-home is keep a paper trail, even if it’s your family.
The retail sector in SA has experienced significant distress in the past year, with several high-profile retail businesses entering business rescue proceedings, highlighting the growing financial pressures faced by companies in the sector. We take a look at how every challenge is also an opportunity and private equity firms are uniquely placed to step in and acquire distressed assets at attractive valuations, assisting to turn them around in the process
More on these stories and others, available in this month's Business Law & Tax.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.