PVL3702 Assignment 1 Semester 2 2022

PVL3702 Assignment 1 Semester 2 2022 PVL3702 - Law Of Contract On 5 August, X sends a written offer by post to Y, to purchase Y’s ROLEX watch for R20000 (twenty thousand rand). One of the terms in the offer is that the offer will lapse on 20 August. In response to this offer, Y writes her letter of acceptance and posts it to X on 15 August. On 17 August Y changes her mind and decides that she no longer wants to sell the ROLEX watch as it is a limited edition. Y then calls X by telephone on 18 August and informs X that she (Y) is withdrawing her acceptance and that her postal acceptance should be ignored. On 21 August X receives Y’s written acceptance that was sent by post. X seeks your advice on whether a legally binding contract was concluded between X and Y. Discuss and substantiate fully. The question deals with when and where an acceptance takes effect. The general rule to determine such an issue is the information theory. In accordance with this theory, the offeror must learn of the offeree’s acceptance for the acceptance to have legal effect. And where a time limit has been prescribed for the acceptance to take effect, the offer automatically lapses if it has not been accepted within the prescribed time period (Dale Hutchison and Chris Pretorius Contract 56). According to A to Z Bazaars (Pty) Ltd v Minister of Agriculture1 you must ask has the offeror prescribed any formalities of a valid acceptance ,if the offeror has prescribed a specific mode of acceptance, the acceptance must take this mode to be valid. The general rule is that a contract comes into being only when the acceptance is communicated to the mind of the offeror. The information theory, which is the general rule in our law, states that the agreement is concluded when and where the offeror learns or is informed of the acceptance – in other words, when the offeror reads the letter of acceptance. The information theory is the general rule, however there are exceptions to the general rule which may apply. One such exception which may apply relates to postal contracts,