eDiscovery in SA – THE book, predictions, Zondo Commission and HP sauce!

First of all, I have to talk about my book, A Guide to eDiscovery in South Africa, published by Lexis Nexis, which is now out. My friend and co-author Advocate Ismail Hussain SC wrote Chapter 7 on eDiscovery and Court case management giving lots of practical advice to lawyers and I am responsible for the remainder. I am so, so proud of this book and, believe it or not, am already collecting material for its second edition. I am absolutely honoured that the Foreword has been written by Judge Jody Kollapen, High Court Judge and Chair of the South African Law Reform Commission. We have tried extremely hard to write this book in understandable language rather than technology jargon and have provided a Glossary of Terms by way of reference. Overall, I just hope that it helps attorneys, General Counsel, advocates, judges, in-house legal teams, law lecturers and law students in SA to better understand and prepare for eDiscovery. Here is the link to the Lexis Nexis store if you have not yet ordered your copy.

Enjoy and do not hesitate to contact me if I can advise or assist in any way. The book will be formally launched via a webinar on 30 March.

In my previous post I spoke about predictions, expectations and hopes for eDiscovery in SA in 2021.    

We are only three months into the year but let us take a look at what I said. First one is true because my book is out! I spoke about POPIA and there is nothing to suggest that it will not come onto force on 1 July 2021 and we have already seen the Information Regulator flex its muscles in connection with WhatsApp and Facebook.

I said that we would see more use of eDiscovery technology in SA and that has already happened with the exciting news concerning the Insiox Group and their partnership with RelativityOne, the global leading eDiscovery software solution. This is an absolute first for South Africa, a complete game changer in the eDiscovery in SA and I am absolutely delighted. I rarely speak about particular solutions but as a long-time fan and user of Relativity I have watched its development very closely for years.  It is the global market leader but even more exciting is the development of RelativityOne which is cloud based and is where all of the R&D investment of Relativity is going. They will continue to support the server-based solution, but it will no longer be an option to acquire. This makes the bold mover by Insiox even more exciting as it is groundbreaking and I predict will have a domino effect here in SA.

 I did predict that we would see the first prosecutions stemming from the Zondo Commission. I still hope that is the case but note my comments later in this post.

 Finally, I said that I hoped for some positive movement by the Rules Board to bring eDiscovery into the Uniform Rules. I am hearing tales that something has happened, if not eDiscovery then a step towards it, but I cannot write about this until I know more. Watch this space very soon.

All in all, it has been a truly great start for eDiscovery in SA and my next prediction is that there is definitely more to come.

From living in South Africa for almost seven years now I have come to learn something about how things work, especially when it comes to the Government! Therefore, I am now developing very uneasy feelings about the Zondo Commission, its ability to complete its work and what happens afterwards. Readers know that my great interest in the workings of the Commission stems from the knowledge that they are using eDiscovery technology, as well as my interest as a SA resident. No, it is not the nonsense surrounding the former President Zuma that is bothering me (although that is just plain ridiculous and he should be imprisoned for contempt, except he will be a martyr!), it is about the disturbing recent news concerning funding. First was the report saying “no more funding” after the most recent extension for the Commission from the High Court, although the Minister did concede that the Commission must finish its work. Part of the problem for the delays and expense is the difficulties surrounding people such as Zuma and others which have hampered the workings of the Commission. Next was the worrying report that the investigation teams and lawyers had not been paid for several months due to shortage of cash. I will not get into the politics other than to say that this country so desperately needs to see this Commission finish its work and to see prosecutions and/or litigation surrounding its anticipated findings. Yes, there are priorities for Government money, especially with Covid -19, but apart from the good people of South Africa, who have suffered the most over the years because of mismanagement and fraud within SOE’s, we will be a laughing stock across the world.  It would send a message that corruption is alive and well in SA and would be highly detrimental for foreign investment.

You will be wondering why I have mentioned HP sauce in the title of this post. Well, there are many English people, including me, living or visiting SA and HP sauce is a vital part of an Englishman’s food intake. It transpires that the licence to have HP sauce on supermarket shelves in SA has not been renewed by Pioneer Foods. This is a national disaster, and I am thinking of urging the UK Government to remove Mrs Balls chutney from UK supermarket shelves by way of retaliation. What does it have to do with eDiscovery – nothing except I think and write better when my wellbeing is cared for!

Terry Harrison

[email protected]

+27 (0)748347818

www.terryharrison.coL

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