An agreement may be varied and cancelled via email, statesthe case of Spring Forest Trading v Wilberry (725/13) [2014] ZASCA 178.

Where an agreement provides for a variation or cancellation to be reduced to writing and signed by both parties, an email will meet the requirement of writing, and the typewritten names of the parties at the foot of their emails which are used to identify the parties will constitute signatures.

The case where a signature is requirement by agreement must be distinguished from the situation where a signature is required by law. Where the law does not specify the type of signature to be used, an ‘advanced electronic signature’, i.e. a signature which results from a process accredited by an Accreditation Authority, must be used.

Publication Name: Variation and Cancellation of an Agreement by Email

Date: May, 2015