IRM1501
ASSIGNMENT 2 SEMESTER 2 2025
UNIQUE NO.
DUE DATE: 19 SEPTEMBER 2025
, Global & Local Investments Advisors (Pty) Ltd v Fouché ([2020] ZASCA 8; 2021 (1)
SA 371 (SCA)), delivered on 18 March 2020:
1. Facts �
Mandate: In November 2015, Mr Fouché gave Global & Local Investments
Advisors (Global) a written mandate to invest and manage his funds with
Investec in a Corporate Cash Manager (CCM) account.
Instruction requirement: The mandate required that all instructions be sent via
fax or email with the client’s signature.
Fraudulent emails: Between 15–24 August 2016, fraudsters hacked Mr
Fouché’s Gmail account and sent emails to Global, requesting transfers totaling
R804,000. The emails ended with informal closings like “Regards, Nick” but bore
no actual signature.
Execution: Global complied, transferring R100,000, R375,000, and R329,000 to
various FNB accounts.
Dispute: Upon discovering the transfers were unauthorized, Mr Fouché
demanded repayment, asserting breach of mandate.
2. Legal Question ⚖️
Did Global breach the mandate by transferring funds based on fraudulent email
instructions—particularly, was the typed “Nick” at the end of the emails a valid electronic
signature under s 13(3) of the ECT Act?
3. Reasons for the Decision �
1. Mandate interpretation
ASSIGNMENT 2 SEMESTER 2 2025
UNIQUE NO.
DUE DATE: 19 SEPTEMBER 2025
, Global & Local Investments Advisors (Pty) Ltd v Fouché ([2020] ZASCA 8; 2021 (1)
SA 371 (SCA)), delivered on 18 March 2020:
1. Facts �
Mandate: In November 2015, Mr Fouché gave Global & Local Investments
Advisors (Global) a written mandate to invest and manage his funds with
Investec in a Corporate Cash Manager (CCM) account.
Instruction requirement: The mandate required that all instructions be sent via
fax or email with the client’s signature.
Fraudulent emails: Between 15–24 August 2016, fraudsters hacked Mr
Fouché’s Gmail account and sent emails to Global, requesting transfers totaling
R804,000. The emails ended with informal closings like “Regards, Nick” but bore
no actual signature.
Execution: Global complied, transferring R100,000, R375,000, and R329,000 to
various FNB accounts.
Dispute: Upon discovering the transfers were unauthorized, Mr Fouché
demanded repayment, asserting breach of mandate.
2. Legal Question ⚖️
Did Global breach the mandate by transferring funds based on fraudulent email
instructions—particularly, was the typed “Nick” at the end of the emails a valid electronic
signature under s 13(3) of the ECT Act?
3. Reasons for the Decision �
1. Mandate interpretation
