Commercial Mediators Network
International Business in Cape Town

contract, workplace and construction disputes.
A network of internationally accredited cape town based professionals trained in facilitative mediation with particular experience in sectional-title, .

We have all worked for large corporates and small businesses and some of us now run our own businesses and so we understand the context within which many commercial (and personal) disputes. This is soon to be introduced in South Africa but many people are unaware of what a positive change this will be. We are collectively amazed that more people are not aware of the power of mediation. the enormous costs associated with litigation (both financial and emotional) All our mediators have also been accredited by UK-based Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), Europe’s top mediation agency. Mediation involves certain skills and attributes and is best entrusted to a person who has received the appropriate formal training and accreditation. In conflict, you always have a choice: how will you choose to deal with it? People in conflict each need something from the other person. There are only three ways for them to get it: either they agree among themselves, through a process of negotiation; or they have someone else decide it for them; or they request someone to assist them in reaching a solution jointly. It requires integrity, courage, foresight, restraint and persistence from all sides. And it’s ineffective in creating sustainable solutions. Litigation is often an ineffective way to solve a problem. Our adversarial legal system exists for society, not for the people involved in conflict. Cases often turn on a minor legal technicality that has little or nothing to do with the underlying concerns of the parties. In litigation, whether a solution is sought through the courts or through Arbitration invariably involves a decision that is imposed upon the parties. What’s most important to the client is usually something not even raised in a lawsuit. And that is why the third solution, where the parties request an independent and trained mediator to assist them through a process of mediation, can often be a more satisfactory way of reaching agreement and resolving disputes. We have personally experienced the power of mediation, the power of agreement-oriented processes to help individuals, businesses, organizations and families constructively address conflict to reach their own best sustainable solutions. Mediation is intended to bring two or more parties together to clear up misunderstandings, find out concerns, and reach a resolution. During the mediation, each side will present its view of the issue, and the mediator will work with each party in- joint meetings and side caucus to attempt to work out a settlement. All private meetings are confidential in order to encourage full participation. At the end of the process, the mediator will assist the parties in arriving at their own solution to the issue: that is, the mediator does not impose a decision on the parties, but he/she attempts to help the parties to consider a variety of options and to find creative solutions acceptable to the parties.