Social media is to us what electricity was to the Victorians, a technology that has the potential to completely revolutionise everything in our society. Not just a few things – everything. But while most of us are happily updating and posting and hashtagging, there’s a monster lurking in the social media closet: social media in the workplace and personal privacy. While companies and staff using social media can open up markets and connect people to businesses, what you and your employees do online can damage your company’s image, lose you business, or end up with you landing in court.

The legal system in South Africa is mature and sophisticated, but as with any new technology, it’s still getting a firm grip on how to deal with cases involving posts on social media. Says Johan Botes, director of Employment Law at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Inc, “The beauty of our Roman-Dutch common law system is that we can use principles that have been established centuries ago and apply them to modern problems.”