South African contract law is ‘essentially a modernised version of the
Roman-Dutch law of
contract’, which is itself rooted in
canon and
Roman laws. In the broadest definition, a
contract is an agreement two or more parties enter into with the serious intention of creating a legal obligation. Contract law provides a legal framework within which persons can transact business and exchange resources, secure in the knowledge that the law will uphold their agreements and, if necessary, enforce them. The law of contract underpins private enterprise in South Africa and regulates it in the interest of fair dealing.