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        <title>Polity.org.za | Webber Wentzel</title>
        <description><![CDATA[Webber Wentzel was awarded African Law firm of the Year at the 2019 African Legal Awards. We were praised by the panel of judges for our deal presence across Africa, as well as for our commitment to access to justice.]]></description>
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            <title>(A)I rest my case: AI and the future of online dispute resolution</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/ai-rest-my-case-ai-and-the-future-of-online-dispute-resolution-2026-07-07</link>
            <description><![CDATA[If there is one thing organisations know well, it is that disputes are expensive. The expense extends beyond legal fees, to management time, damaged relationships, and strategic distraction. A supplier dispute that should take weeks can consume months of senior attention, and for multinationals juggling cross-jurisdictional matters, the logistical burden alone can dwarf the value of the underlying claim.     This is the problem Online Dispute Resolution (ODR), powered by artificial intelligence, is increasingly being asked to solve. The promise is compelling: faster resolution, lower cost, greater consistency, and a process that scales. But before any corporate legal team rests its case in favour of AI-enabled ODR, it is worth understanding exactly what it is, where it works, and where it can go wrong.]]></description>
            <author>Thabi  Shomolekae</author>
            <category>Webber Wentzel</category>
            <pubDate>Tue, 07 Jul 2026 09:49:00 +0200</pubDate>
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        <editor>Creamer Media Reporter  </editor>
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            <title>Cash is still king: the SARB's Cash Smart Strategy</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/cash-is-still-king-the-sarbs-cash-smart-strategy-2026-06-29</link>
            <description><![CDATA[In a fast-evolving digital payments landscape, cash still continues to play a critical role in the South African economy. In June 2026, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) published a position paper entitled "Towards a Cash Smart Society" (the Position Paper). The Position Paper sets out the SARB's position on the future role of cash in South Africa and outlines its Cash Smart Strategy. It follows on from the SARB's 2025 Cost of Cash Study. The SARB has identified the following core challenges within the cash ecosystem, which the Cash Smart Strategy is intended to address:]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>Webber Wentzel</category>
            <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:09:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>Register or face prosecution: The 90-day water deadline every business needs to know about</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/register-or-face-prosecution-the-90-day-water-deadline-every-business-needs-to-know-about-2026-06-10</link>
            <description><![CDATA[On 24 April 2026, the Minister of Water and Sanitation published Government Notice 7408, requiring all unregistered water users to register within 90 days of publication, placing the deadline at approximately 23 July 2026. The notice carries criminal sanctions for non-compliance and affects a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, forestry, mining, industrial manufacturing and commercial operations reliant on water abstraction or stream flow reduction activities. It also arrives against the backdrop of the National Water Amendment Bill, 2026 (the Amendment Bill), which proposes far-reaching structural reforms, including the prohibition of private water trading, the introduction of a “use it or lose it” principle and expanded ministerial reallocation powers. What's happening]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>Webber Wentzel</category>
            <pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2026 08:52:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>AI, intellectual property and governance: Why the real conversation belongs in the boardroom</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/ai-intellectual-property-and-governance-why-the-real-conversation-belongs-in-the-boardroom-2026-05-28</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer something financial institutions are preparing for. It is already embedded in how decisions are made, how products are designed and how risk is managed. Whether through fraud detection, algorithmic trading, customer engagement or compliance monitoring, AI is steadily reshaping the financial services sector. Much of the conversation around AI still focuses on innovation and capability, what these systems can do, how quickly they can be adopted and how they can improve efficiency. Beneath that, however, a more consequential conversation is emerging, centered on ownership, accountability and governance.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>Webber Wentzel</category>
            <pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 09:26:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>Africa’s white-collar crime landscape: How cross-border reality is reshaping risk, regulation ...</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/africas-white-collar-crime-landscape-how-cross-border-reality-is-reshaping-risk-regulation-and-corporate-responsibility-2026-05-27</link>
            <description><![CDATA[White-collar crime in Africa is no longer a predominantly domestic concern; it has expanded to an international stage, so too has the corporate exposure that comes with it. As capital crosses borders, data moves at the speed of light and corporate structures become more complex, economic crime has kept pace, becoming more sophisticated, more multinational and increasingly difficult to investigate and prosecute within the confines of a single legal system. This is particularly acute in Africa, where rapid economic integration including through frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is accelerating cross-border commercial activity and, with it, cross-border criminal exposure.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>Webber Wentzel</category>
            <pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 08:49:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>South Africa’s payments regulatory framework: Third Draft of Authorisation Framework ...</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/south-africas-payments-regulatory-framework-third-draft-of-authorisation-framework-published-for-comment-2026-05-22</link>
            <description><![CDATA[The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has published the third version of its proposed amendment to the payments regulatory framework.  The amendments focus on two key instruments, a draft exemption notice that would exclude certain payment activities from constituting “the business of a bank”, and a revised draft Authorisation Framework set out in a draft directive introducing a comprehensive activity-based regulatory regime. Stakeholders have until 15 June 2026 to submit comments, marking a final opportunity to influence what is expected to become a foundational framework for the future of payments in South Africa.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>Webber Wentzel</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2026 12:48:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>Outcomes-based bonds as Africa's most powerful tool for solving the water crisis</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/outcomes-based-bonds-as-africas-most-powerful-tool-for-solving-the-water-crisis-2026-05-18</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Across the African continent, water infrastructure is under increasing strain. The compounding pressures of accelerating urbanisation, decaying legacy systems, climate change and chronic underinvestment in public infrastructure over decades mean that both the public and private sectors must urgently mobilise towards solutions. The African Development Bank estimates that the continent's water and sanitation infrastructure financing gap runs to tens of billions of dollars annually. Already constrained public budgets, development finance institutions and multilateral lenders cannot close that gap alone. Private capital markets, with their scale and appetite for yield, represent the most significant untapped source of infrastructure finance on the continent.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>Webber Wentzel</category>
            <pubDate>Mon, 18 May 2026 14:29:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>Draft national AI policy: What it means and what to do now</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/draft-national-ai-policy-what-it-means-and-what-to-do-now-2026-04-21</link>
            <description><![CDATA[The publication of South Africa's Draft National AI Policy (Draft Policy) marks a turning point for organisations that develop, deploy or rely on artificial intelligence (AI). Beyond signalling the emergence of formal AI regulation, the Draft Policy introduces new expectations around governance, ethics, accountability and sector-specific oversight. The Draft Policy, published by the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), states its underlying policy imperative as the development of a comprehensive, inclusive and ethically grounded national policy that ensures responsible innovation, protects the public interest and advances socio-economic transformation.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>Webber Wentzel</category>
            <pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2026 11:47:00 +0200</pubDate>
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