Everyday terror in South Africa drives film success.

Rain hammers down on a Johannesburg night as a woman pulls up outside a suburban house, steps from her car, the engine running, and rings the bell. A man runs across the street, jumps into the vehicle and begins to reverse. The woman turns around and screams - her baby is in the back seat. She lunges for the driver's door. The thief points his revolver and fires. A bullet enters the mother's belly and she collapses on to the ground. Her car and baby vanish into the night. This is a scene from Tsotsi - a South African film that last Sunday won the Oscar for best foreign film - and a rendering of the quintessential South African crime, the carjack.

The film's success has brought international attention to a form of armed robbery that evokes particular dread. Thousands of motorists are ambushed at gunpoint each year in South Africa. The lucky ones are left by the roadside, shaken and without their cars. The unlucky ones are abducted, raped and murdered. Last week staff from the British High Commission attended the National Hijack Prevention Academy, a private course run by former police officers, which advises diplomats and other clients on how to respond if ambushed. ‘Business is fantastic, sad to say, because it means there is a need for this sort of course,’ according to one of the instructors.

Tsotsi is the story of a young thug from the Johannesburg township of Soweto who finds redemption after kidnapping his carjack victim's baby. It is the latest in a new wave of South African films that explore crime and other contemporary issues rather than apartheid, said Guy Willoughby, a cultural commentator and writer. ‘Car hijacking is an especially rich subject. It is the meeting point between the affluent and poor worlds, the exact moment when you are vulnerable and the third world strikes.’

Carjackings peaked at more than 16,000 cases in 1998, prompting one entrepreneur to market a car with a flame-thrower. The annual rate has subsided, with 12,434 reported last year, and commentators say it shows South Africa is maturing and adapting to post-apartheid realities. The middle class was badly shaken by a surge in violent crime that accompanied democracy and the end of apartheid in 1994. ‘In the late 1990s, there was so much hysteria, almost a national panic. Hijacking was seen as an existential threat to the middle class,’ said Antony Altbeker, a carjacking specialist. ‘But now people have come to terms with it more.’

South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg, was once the crime capital of the country but it has experienced a dramatic drop of 35% in the past two years. But for a few days last week hysteria returned when a gunman shot a pregnant woman twice in the stomach while she was sitting in a car, killing her unborn child. It was then alleged that the incident was faked as a carjacking to cover up what was a murder. The woman's husband was charged with murder for organizing the attack. There is evidence that many carjackings are fronts for other crimes such as murder or insurance fraud. In the latter, owners sell their cars to criminals and then claim they were robbed. When BMW introduced a lie-detector test with its own insurance scheme, the number of claims fell, said Mr Altbeker.

Yet no one disputes that Tsotsi shows a real problem. Last Saturday three armed men ambushed the film's director of photography, Lance Gewer, outside his Johannesburg home and made off with his car. The vehicle and Mr Gewer's plane ticket to LA for last Sunday's Academy Awards were recovered hours later. It is thought that 40% of the vehicles stolen are bound for ‘chop shops’, clandestine sites where parts are dismantled and sold, said Mr Altbeker. Another 30% are re-registered, often with the help of corrupt police or transport ministry officials, and sold in South Africa. The rest, particularly luxury 4x4s, are exported and often end up in eastern Europe.

Carjackings tend to peak on Fridays, when motorists are more relaxed. Some carjackers work alone, others are foot soldiers used by a network of syndicates headed by senior gangsters. A syndicate broken up last year had 22 members, including three junior police officers, who specialized in targeting women drivers for their jewellery. About a fifth of carjacking cases involve physical harm, including rape.

The film's writer and director, Gavin Hood, said that being the first South African film to win an Oscar ‘tells me and all of us at home that we can do it’. ‘What we want, like everybody else, is just to tell our stories,’ said the white South African, insisting that his aim had been not only to depict post-apartheid despair and violence but to tell a universal morality tale. ‘This hopefully encourages more South African filmmakers to just keep telling their stories.’

 

Module 2

BUSINESS LAW

Business is affected by legal issues.

Business cannot be run without taking into account a lot of laws and regulations, codes and standards.

 

Contracts.

This unit highlights the core vocabulary and information about the contract law. Companies usually have their in-house lawyers with them at the table of negotiations as part of the team as well as strategic-thought leaders.

Key words: breach of contract, severable contract, distribution agreement, loan agreement, legal contract.

 

1. Before you read the passage, talk about these questions.

a) What type of information does a contract usually contain?

b) Why would you work with an attorney when writing/drafting a contract?

 

2. Listen and read the text. What will the successful applicant deal with?

Smith and Stanwell ATTOrnEYS

seek a business attorney to join our team

 

The candidate must have extensive knowledge of legal contracts. Our firm works with many manufacturers. You must be able to draft i requirements contract and a distribution agreement. Often, clients seek a standard agreement of sale, but a severable contract may be needed as well. Further, you must be able to recognize an adhesion contract or a breach of contract and fight for our clients if they have been wronged. This includes implied contracts.

It will be up to you to maintain and update contracts of employment, to guarantee that our clients are following all legal guidelines. Some companies may require a bilateral contract! a unilateral contract when working with outside Agents.

Finally, you must have the financial and legal knowledge to assist clients with business loan agreements.

Send your resume to the address below:

Smith and Stanwell • 105 Mountain Ave. • Pelton, Wl

 

Reading task.

3. Read the job advert and mark the following statements as true (T) or false (F).

1) The new attorney will work mainly with manufacturing companies.

2) The job does not involve representing clients in dispute.

3) Knowledge of loan agreements is not necessary.

 

Vocabulary task.

4. Match the words (1-6) with the definitions.

1) agreement of sale; 2) implied contract; 3) loan agreement;

4) contract of employment; 5) bilateral contract; 6) unilateral contract

a) a legally binding agreement between employers and employees;

b) a document that details the terms and conditions of a purchase;

c) an agreement for one party to pay for another party’s work;

d) a contract with terms that have not been explicitly stated or written;

e) a contract between a lender and a borrower;

f) a contract in which both parties exchange promises to perform certain things.

5. Choose the word that is closest in meaning to the underlined part.

1) The employer was sued for giving a(n) ……. that unfairly favors one party over the other.

A adhesion contract

B bilateral contract

C contract of employment

2) Both companies signed a legally binding agreement involving two or more people.

A adhesion contract

B legal contract

C loan agreement

3) Len accused the company of failing to perform …. as required by a valid contract.

A a contract of employment

B a bilateral contract

C breach of contract

4) Johnston Industries signed a contract comprised of several separate contracts.

A requirements contract

B severable contract

C bilateral contract

5) The company signed a(n) agreement to distribute and sell manufactured items.

A distribution contract

B breach of contract

C severable contract

6) Is this the contract between a manufacturer and a buyer to provide all necessary supplies?

A requirements contract

B breach of contract

C severable contract

 

Listening task.

6. Listen to a conversation between a client and a legal assistant. Mark the following statements as true (T) or false (F).

1) The client wants to discuss two different matters.

2) The client wants to sever an implied contract.

3) The assistant has confirmed an appointment with the attorney.

7. Listen again and complete the conversation.

Assistant: Sure. What is this 1___________?

Client: I need to have some legal contracts 2 ________ _________.

Assistant: Okay. Are there any details that I should give her 3 ___________?

Client: We need a 4 ___________ for one of our partners. We’ve been working with an implied contract.

Assistant: I’ll 5 ________ _________ _________.

Client: And I’m afraid that one of our other partners may be in breach of contract.

Assistant: That’s too bad. I’ll tell her that, too.

Client: Does she have any 6 _________ this week?

 

Speaking task.

8. With a partner, act out the roles below based on Task 7. Then, switch roles. USE LANGUAGE SUCH AS:

What is this regarding?

Are there any details...?

Does she have any free time...?

Student A: You are an assistant at a law firm. Ask student B about:

• contracts needed

• a convenient time to meet

Student B: You would like to see a contract lawyer. Discuss the services you need with Student A.

 

 

Writing task.

9. You are a legal assistant writing a message about your phone conversation with a client. Use the information from Task 8 to write a short e-mail for the contracts attorney. Consider:

What kind of contract does he or she need help with?

When would she like to meet, with the attorney?