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LEGAL OPINION FOR SHANE
Issue: Whether the seller complied with the prescribed mode
of acceptance, and if not, whether a valid contract of sale
was concluded.
Applicable Legal Principles
In South African contract law, for a valid contract to be
concluded, there must be a valid offer and an acceptance of that
offer, which results in consensus ad idem (a meeting of the
minds). If the offeror prescribes a specific mode of acceptance,
then acceptance must take place in that prescribed manner for a
valid contract to arise — unless the mode is merely directory
and not peremptory.
In Hawthorne v Desrosiers 1901 TS 491, the court held that if a
specific mode of acceptance is required, and that mode is not
complied with, no valid contract comes into existence unless the
offeror waives the requirement or the offeree substantially
complies in a manner that achieves the same result.