According to ECTA, there are some instances where an electronic signature other than a standard electronic signature may be required and include circumstances where the law requires that an agreement or document must be in writing and signed.
In such instances, the document can only be signed with an advanced electronic signature as defined by ECTA.
In South Africa, an advanced electronic signature is only required for:
(1) a suretyship agreement and (2) signing as a Commissioner of Oaths.
There are some documents that are excluded entirely by ECTA. For example, ECTA excludes the following from being concluded electronically, whether or not an advanced electronic signature is used by the parties to sign:
- agreements for the sale of immovable property;
- long-term leases of land exceeding 20 years;
- signing of a will; and
- bills of exchange.
When you use Adobe, a pop-up window helps you to verify a digital signature with information about the date and time the document was signed, the full names of the signer, the certificate information, its issuer and the expiry date so this method would suffice.
