Recent issues have revolved around courts clarifying foundational principles in response to modern commercial and technological challenges. The most significant development came from the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Ibex RSA Holdco Ltd and Another v. Tiso Blackstar Group (Pty) Ltd and Others, colloquially known as the Steinhoff case. This case concerned a forensic report by PwC into accounting irregularities at Steinhoff. The SCA formally adopted the "dominant purpose" test for litigation privilege, holding that a document is only privileged if its primary purpose was for legal advice or litigation. The court found that the PwC report was not privileged because its dominant purpose was to finalize financial statements. The case also highlighted implied waiver, as the SCA held that Steinhoff's publication of an 11-page overview of the report waived privilege over the entire document.

Other pressing issues include the urgent need for e-discovery modernization, as highlighted by a Request for Comment from the Rules Board for Courts of Law on 27 May 2024. Cybersecurity breaches also pose new challenges, with 2024 statistics indicating that 42% of large law firms experienced data breaches, creating risks that forensic reports may lose privilege if shared for business rather than legal purposes. Finally, enhanced regulatory enforcement, such as the Financial Sector Conduct Authority's 2024 Regulation Plan and the strengthening of the Competition Commission's powers (Sasol Gas v. Competition Commission), continues to test the boundaries of privilege in investigatory contexts.