Do you know how basic contract strategies and clauses can play a major role in minimising unavoidable risks?

Businesses and individuals lose funds every day due to poor contract management strategy and policies. Poorly-negotiated contracts and associated damages sometimes lead to business collapse, not only for large corporations but also small and medium enterprises.

This six-hour course, held over two days, provides useful insights into effective contract finalisation skills and will help you understand the full extent of the associated contractual risks into which you are entering.

When and where?

4 to 5 May 2026, 09:00 to 12:00 SAST

This course will be held remotely, most likely on Zoom - exact details will be sent to registered participants a few days before the course.

Course outline

The course offers a smart mix of theoretical legal principles and practical guidelines into finalising contracts as well as risk management in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). These agreements or contracts can be across different industries; from the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) to the telecommunications sectors; from simple goods and services procurement agreements to sophisticated engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contracts in the energy and extractive industries.

The course will provide a useful practical guide for a contract’s life cycle, with the goal of not only managing associated contract risks or saving costs, but also avoiding needless contract disputes over project delays and cost claims. 

The course will be best suited to those who already understand the general principles of the law of contract.

The course will cover:

  • Risk assessment mapping for contracts
  • Risk allocation and transfer mechanisms
    • Agreements to negotiate
    • Indemnities
    • Warranties
    • Breach clauses
    • Force majeure
    • Penalty clauses
    • Interest clauses
    • Jurisdiction
    • Enforcement
    • Data management and AI
    • IP ownership and AI
    • Confidentiality
    • Boiler plate clauses - assumptions and risks
    • Dispute resolution
  • Dynamic contract drafting
  • Stress test for contract clauses
  • Traditional contract life cycle management
    • Contract templates
    • Contract milestones
    • Management of penalties or damages
  • Contract life cycle management in the age of AI
    • AI-assisted contract templates
    • AI-assisted contract milestones
    • AI-assisted management of penalties or damages
    • AI ethical considerations in contracts
    • Natural Language Processing tools (NLPs) to analyse contracts and identify risks
    • Balancing technology and human judgment

Who will benefit from this course?

The course will be suitable for people who already have an understanding of the general principles of contract law, especially small and medium scale business owners, corporate executives, attorneys, state counsel, compliance officers, corporate lawyers, government procurement officers, contract analysts and specialists, contracts engineers and risk managers.

Presenter

Sinikiwe Mzezewa is a legal scholar and lecturer specialising in commercial law, with a strong research focus on the socio-legal approaches to contracts. She holds a PhD in Commercial Law and an LLM in International Trade Law from the University of Cape Town, as well as an LLB from the University of Venda. 

She currently lectures law of contract, insolvency and company law at Varsity College, Cape Town. Previously, she held academic positions at the University of Cape Town, where she lectured and convened commercial law courses. 

Beyond academia, Sinikiwe has experience in learning design and content development, having worked with Africa Legal to create structured, interactive legal education materials.

How much?

R3,300 per person

Certificate

A digital certificate of attendance from UCT will be issued to those who attend the full course.

Please note that the digital certificate can only be viewed on a secure portal. It cannot be downloaded or printed. You will have the option of ordering a hard copy of the certificate at your own cost, including the cost of the courier fee. More information is available here.

No certificate will be issued without the full course fee having been received. Please allow up to three weeks after the end of the course for certificates to be processed.

How to sign up

Complete and submit the registration form. You will then be given the payment information. Please note that registrations will not be accepted until payment has been made.

One or two days before the course, we will send you the Zoom link. You will need to register and use a password to enter the virtual classroom.

Registrations close three days before the course starts.

Download the brochure.

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