Jurisdictions worked in: South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Mauritius
Languages Fluent in: English and Afrikaans

Vanessa’s recent experience includes:

• Assisting a global technology company with various investigations, risk and compliance reports and dispute resolution for a number of years.
• Assisting shareholders and directors of coal mining group company with successfully obtaining interdicts (injuctive relief) in the High Court to protect shareholder minority rights and enforce governance and thereafter the full settlement of the claims in favour of her clients in excess of R140 million.
• Successfully obtaining a number of interdicts (injuctive relief) in the High Court to protect global franchisors interests, rights and intellectual property in South Africa in compliance with franchising agreements.
• Assisting a financial services group of companies with dispute resolution over a number of years.
• Assisted various State Owned-Enterprises with dispute resolution, investigations, risk, environmental compliance, and governance matters. This work includes disputes arising from the state capture period.
• Assisted various State Owned-Enterprises with construction disputes resolution in the form of DAB adjudications, arbitrations and High Court applications.
• Assisted various State Owned-Enterprises with advice on dispute resolution regarding renewable energy projects.
• Advised numerous global and local clients with dispute resolution, due diligence reports for M&A transactions and internal investigations and reporting.
• Assisting a mining company with concluding a bid for a prospecting right which was purchased from Exxaro, including the negotiations and the preparation of the finance agreements, sale agreements and regulatory documents to the close of the transaction and the conversion to a mining right.
• Assisting a coal mining company with the negotiations and the settlement of a High Court review of a mining right awarded to the coal mining company and challenged by an international mining company.
• Assisting a mining company in the Water Tribunal concerning the powers and jurisdiction of the Tribunal to entertain appeals brought by certain classes of people. The matter also concerned the standing if appellants under the Water Act. (Gideon Anderson t/a Zonneblom Boerdery v. Department of Water &Environmental Affairs [2010] ZAWT 4).
• Assisting a diamond mining company in the review and the appeal (full bench) of a decision taken by the Department of Mineral Resource to convert an old order prospecting right into a new right. The case involved the proper interpretation and application of the Transitional Arrangements in the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.
• Assisted ZAR X in opposing a series of cases heard before the Financial Service Appeals Board which included various interlocutory applications and appeals brought in terms of the Financial Services Board Act by two competing stick exchanges and more recently the opposition of a pending review application in respect of an exchange license granted by the Registrar in terms of section 9 of the Financial Markets Act.
• Acting on behalf of a director in taking legal action against the company’s board of directors. This matter involves the interpretation of Section 75 of the Companies Act of 2008 on personal financial interests, section 76 of fiduciary duties and section 162 on delinquency.
• Assisted the Kgaswane Country Lodge in defending an appeal which commenced in the High Court and ended in the Supreme Court of Appeal regarding the authorization granted by the MEC of Agriculture for the construction of an eco-lodge in a protected area, under section 24G of the National Environmental Management Act (Magaliesberg Protection Association v. MEC: Department of Agriculture Conservation, Environmental and Rural Development, North West Provincial Government and Others [2013] 3 All SA 416 (SCA)
• Assisted a confidential property development company in reviewing a decision of the MEC involving the upholding of an appeal brought under section 43 of NEMA. This matter further involves the interpretation of section 3(3)(a) of the National Forests Act, which will shortly be heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal as well as interpretation of section 17(3) of the National Environmental Management Act of 1998, and at what stage of an environmental dispute an aggrieved citizen can compel the State into engaging a statutory conciliation or mediation process, which will shortly be heard by the full bench in the Grahamstown High
• Assisting various commercial property groups with advice regarding lease agreements, applicable legislation and successfully resolving many Magistrate and High Court matters.
• Assisted Westcliff Parktown Heritage Trust and SAHRA in resolving internal appeals and High Court interdict proceedings in terms of heritage legislation.
• Assisting a global consulting company with various contractual agreements and governance matters.
• Assisting various mining companies with all aspects of company secretarial work, commercial work providing legal advice on all aspects of the mining business, including assistance with a Social Labour Plan (SLP) and SLP Trust.