Jonathan is a partner in our Johannesburg office and a member of the Dispute Resolution Department specialising in Commercial Litigation and International Arbitration.

His expertise extends to transactional disputes, contractual claims, mining-related disputes and urgent High Court proceedings. Jonathan has also worked extensively in the food and beverage sector and has successfully defended South Africa’s largest brewery in litigation and arbitration proceedings.

Jonathan has worked on a number of cross-border disputes in both the litigation and arbitration fields, which involved the following jurisdictions in addition to South Africa: Botswana, France, Nigeria, Tanzania and the United Kingdom.

He is a qualified mediator accredited by both the Africa Centre for Dispute Settlement and the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution in the United Kingdom

Jonathan has BA and LLB degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand and an LLM degree from the University of Edinburgh. The key focus of Jonathan’s LLM degree was international arbitration and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.

Relevant Experience

• Represented an African mining consortium in International Arbitration proceedings instituted in the International Chamber of Commerce.
• Acting for a multinational corporation against the South African Government in respect of the Lockdown Regulations imposed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Successfully defended South Africa’s largest brewery against a multi-million Rand damages claim in arbitration proceedings.
• Defending a non-profit sports club against historical land access claims brought in the High Court, and on appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal, arising out of alleged servitudinal and other access rights.
• Acting for a large corporate taxpayer in litigation proceedings against the South African Revenue Service.
• Defending a multinational information technology company against alleged breaches of a commercial lease agreement.
• Represented one of the country’s largest beverage manufacturers in commercial and contractual disputes across its range of operations.
• Obtaining an urgent interdict against a Botswana publication and pursuing a damages claim against the same publication in respect of defamatory remarks made about a high net worth South African citizen.

• Chambers and Partners: International Arbitration 2022 Guide: South African Chapter
• Chambers and Partners: International Arbitration 2021 Guide: South African Chapter
• Chambers International Arbitration Guide, 2020: South African Chapter