Contract Law

The law of Contract has been viewed as the most important area of Business Law. This type of law is classified under the law of obligations.

Contract(s) deal with agreement(s)/promise(s) between person(s), of which the law will enforce. Contract law is generally governed by South African Common Law. If an agreement/promise is breached, the law provides remedies to the harmed party, often in form of monetary damages, or in limited circumstances, in the form of specific performance of the promise made.

In order for a contract to be binding and valid in law, certain requirements have to be met, it should be noted to this extent that all the requirements must be met, if one or more are missing, the contract will be void, and the courts will refuse to enforce it. These requirements are as follows:

1. The parties must have contractual capacity, and
2. The parties must have serious intention to contract, and

• The parties must communicate their intention to each other, and

1. The parties must be of the same mind, and
2. The agreement/promise must be lawful, and
3. Performance of the contractual obligations must be possible, and

• The agreement must comply with all the formalities required by law for that particular kind of contract, and
• The agreement must be certain in its terms.