Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (Act No. 25 of 2002)Chapter III : Facilitating Electronic TransactionsPart 1 : Legal requirements for data messages13. Signature |
| (1) | Where the signature of a person is required by law and such law does not specify the type of signature, that requirement in relation to a data message is met only if an advanced electronic signature is used. |
| (2) | Subject to subsection (I ), an electronic signature is not without legal force and effect merely on the grounds that it is in electronic form. |
| (3) | Where an electronic signature is required by the parties to an electronic transaction and the parties have not agreed on the type of electronic signature to be used, that requirement is met in relation to a data message if— |
| (a) | method is used to identify the person and to indicate the person's approval of the information communicated; and |
| (b) | having regard to all the relevant circumstances at the time the method was used, the method was as reliable as was appropriate for the purposes for which the information was communicated. |
| (4) | Where an advanced electronic signature has been used, such signature is regarded as being a valid electronic signature and to have been applied properly, unless the contrary is proved. |
| (5) | Where an electronic signature is not required by the parties to an electronic transaction, an expression of intent or other statement is not without legal force and effect merely on the grounds that— |
| (a) | it is in the form of a data message; or |
| (b) | it is not evidenced by an electronic signature but is evidenced by other means from which such person's intent or other statement can be inferred. |