South African documents —
explained in plain language.
SmartDocAI is a three-module document intelligence platform built for South Africans navigating the legal and administrative systems that affect their lives, their businesses, and their families. Estate administration. Business contracts. CCMA labour disputes. Each module solves a different problem. All three run on a shared platform.
Under 60 seconds per document. Grounded in South African law — not global templates. POPIA-compliant. Bank-grade security. Live at smartdocai.co.za.
Security — addressed first, not last
Your documents are legally sensitive. Treated accordingly.
Estate documents contain the financial details of a family's entire life. Business contracts contain commercially sensitive terms, pricing, and ownership structure. CCMA documents contain employment history and dispute details. SmartDocAI was designed around the sensitivity of these documents from the first line of code — not retrofitted with security after the fact.
TLS 1.3 in transit
No legacy protocol fallback on any endpoint
AES-256 at rest
Column-level encryption for all PII in the shared database
Row-Level Security
Your documents are invisible to every other account — including staff
POPIA compliant
Information Officer registered. Data residency: South Africa
Document text not stored
Only analysis results saved. Original document cleared from processing
Right to deletion
Any analysis and all associated data deleted within 14 days on request
Shared security baseline — all three modules
- Production infrastructure on ISO 27001 certified cloud provider
- Web Application Firewall (WAF) on all public-facing endpoints
- Multi-factor authentication mandatory for all staff accounts
- All data stored in South Africa — no cross-border data transfer
- SOC 2 Type II readiness assessment underway
- ISO 27001 certification roadmap: 2026
- Annual independent penetration test
- Log retention: minimum 12 months
Document handling specifics
- Document text processed for analysis and cleared from processing environment
- Only analysis results stored — original document is not retained
- Document content scrubbed from server logs before they are written
- No document text accessible to SmartDocAI staff
- No document content used to train or fine-tune AI models — ever
- Per-user, per-document row-level security in shared PostgreSQL database
- Right to deletion — data removed within 14 days of request
- POPIA consent captured and logged before any analysis is stored
Three modules. Three South African problems.
Each module starts with a real problem South Africans face — not a product category.
The three modules are distinct by design. Different colours, different tones, different audiences. The estate module is emotionally warm — you are dealing with grief. The business module is commercially direct — you are dealing with risk. The CCMA module is urgent — you are dealing with a deadline. The technology underneath is the same. The human context is not.
Estate Administration
"When your spouse passes away, the paperwork does not stop."
South African estate administration is a 12-month process. Most families navigate it alone.
A surviving spouse in South Africa faces dozens of documents, multiple institutions, and laws most people have never heard of — while grieving. Banks freeze accounts. The Master of the High Court issues unfamiliar forms with strict deadlines. Most families do not know their rights. Institutions often do not volunteer them.
SmartDocAI tells you exactly what each document means, what you are legally entitled to, and what every institution is legally required to do. Eight document types across all six phases of SA estate administration — analysed in plain English, built on the Administration of Estates Act.
Documents analysed
Real South African example
Situation
A Johannesburg widow was told by her bank that she needed Letters of Executorship to access any funds.
The law
Section 13(1) of the Administration of Estates Act gives a surviving spouse access to up to R125,000 from the deceased's accounts without Letters of Executorship. Most banks do not volunteer this information.
The outcome
She waited four months for Letters of Executorship before a family member discovered Section 13(1). She could have accessed the funds in weeks.
SA legislation applied
- Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965
- Pension Funds Act 24 of 1956
- Estate Duty Act 45 of 1955
- Income Tax Act — IT144
- POPIA
Business Contracts
"Before you sign — know exactly what you are agreeing to."
The most expensive mistake a South African SME owner makes is signing a contract they did not understand.
South African business contracts are written by the other party's lawyer. A commercial lease, a suretyship, a shareholders agreement, a franchise agreement — each contains risks that are invisible unless you know what to look for. An attorney review costs R3,000 to R30,000. Most SME owners sign without one.
38 SA business contract types across 5 pipelines. 14 structured outputs per analysis. Red flags calibrated against South African commercial norms — not US or UK standards. The beneficium excussionis, the Basson test for restraints of trade, the BCEA earnings threshold — understood and applied. In under 60 seconds.
Documents analysed
Real South African example
Situation
A Cape Town restaurant signed a 5-year commercial lease with a "market-related" rent escalation clause.
The law
The landlord raised rent by 28% in year three. Standard SA commercial leases fix escalation at 8–10% annually. "Market-related" gives the landlord unlimited discretion.
The outcome
R14,400 per month in additional rent for the remaining two years — R345,600 in avoidable cost. The clause was flagged in the standard SmartDocAI analysis.
SA legislation applied
- BCEA 75 of 1997
- LRA 66 of 1995
- NCA 34 of 2005
- Companies Act 71 of 2008
- CPA 68 of 2008
- POPIA 4 of 2013
- Insolvency Act s.34
CCMA & Labour Disputes
"You have just been handed a CCMA document. Here is exactly what it means."
CCMA deadlines are not like other deadlines. Missing the 30-day referral deadline is permanent.
A dismissed South African employee has 30 days from the date of dismissal to refer their dispute to the CCMA. Not 31. Not 35. 30. Missing this deadline does not delay the case — it may close it permanently. Condonation is discretionary. CCMA commissioners regularly refuse it. Most people do not know this until it is too late.
Seven CCMA and labour dispute document types. Statutory deadlines calculated to the exact date — not a range, not an estimate. The complete CCMA process explained in plain English, built on the Labour Relations Act. Whether you are the dismissed employee, the employer, or the retrenched worker — you will know exactly where you stand and exactly how long you have.
Documents analysed
Real South African example
Situation
A Pretoria employee was dismissed on 14 March. He received his dismissal letter on 22 March and assumed the 30 days ran from the date of the letter.
The law
The 30-day clock under Section 191(1)(b)(i) of the LRA starts on the date of dismissal — 14 March — not the date the letter arrived. He had until 13 April, not 21 April.
The outcome
He filed on 19 April. His referral was 6 days late. His condonation application was refused. His right to challenge the dismissal was gone.
SA legislation applied
- LRA 66 of 1995 — s.191, s.145, s.186
- BCEA 75 of 1997 — s.41 (severance)
- Employment Equity Act
- NMW Act 9 of 2018
One platform. Three modules.
The modules are interconnected. The database is shared.
Each SmartDocAI module runs on the same technical backbone — the same FastAPI backend, the same Supabase PostgreSQL database, the same vector store, the same AI analysis pipeline. Credits are shared across modules. A credit purchased for the estate module can be used for a business contract or a CCMA document.
The interconnection reflects a real-world truth: the same South African facing estate administration may also need to review a contract for the sale of a business asset from the estate — or may be dealing with an employment dispute at the same time. The platform was designed to serve the person, not just the document type.
Row-level security at the database layer ensures that cross-module data sharing never compromises privacy. Every user sees only their own analyses, regardless of module. No cross-contamination is architecturally possible.
Outputs shared across all three modules
Shared Frontend
Next.js App Router · Vercel
smartdocai.co.za · /estate · /business · /ccma
ESTATE
Estate Administration
BUSINESS
Business Contracts
CCMA
CCMA & Labour Disputes
Shared Backend
FastAPI · Celery · Python
Unified API — module routing by endpoint prefix
AI Analysis Pipeline
Anthropic Claude Sonnet
Hybrid classifier + LLM analysis + structured output schemas
Shared Data Layer
Supabase
PostgreSQL + RLS
pgvector
Semantic search
Credits shared across modules · Row-level security per user
Technical architecture
What runs under the platform.
A deterministic classification pipeline followed by structured LLM analysis. The classifier identifies the document type — the LLM analyses it within the context of that specific document type. SA-specific rules are applied at the classifier level, not the prompt level.
Document Processor
Text extraction · Normalisation · Length check · Language detection
Keyword Scoring
Pattern matching against 38+ SA document type signatures
Embedding Similarity
pgvector cosine similarity against document type embeddings
LLM Fallback
Claude resolves ambiguous classifications with confidence score
Output: document type · confidence score · module routing
ESTATE
Estate Administration pipeline
SA-specific rules applied
BUSINESS
Business Contracts pipeline
SA-specific rules applied
CCMA
CCMA & Labour Disputes pipeline
SA-specific rules applied
Structured LLM Analysis — Anthropic Claude Sonnet
Pydantic output schemas · SA legislation context injected · Red flag calibration per document type
Stage 4 — Output Assembly
Risk score
Red flags
Obligations
Timeline
Missing clauses
Readiness verdict
SA legislation panel
Plain language summary
Storage
Supabase PostgreSQL
Analysis results only · RLS per user · Original document cleared
Delivery
Next.js dashboard
PDF export · Ask the Document chat · Obligation timeline
Why South African-specific matters
A global AI tool cannot tell you what is unusual in a South African commercial lease.
Most AI contract and document tools are built on US, UK, and European legal frameworks. They can tell you a clause is one-sided. They cannot tell you it is unusual by South African commercial standards. The difference matters significantly.
Business module — SA-specific
- A commercial lease with unlimited rent escalation is unusual. Standard SA leases fix escalation at 8–10% annually.
- An employment contract without a BCEA-compliant overtime clause may be unlawful for employees below the earnings threshold.
- A sale of business without a Section 34 Insolvency Act advertisement is voidable by creditors. This requirement exists nowhere else.
- The beneficium excussionis, beneficium divisionis, and in duplum rule are Roman-Dutch law principles. No US-trained AI knows them.
Estate module — SA-specific
- Section 13(1) of the AEA gives a surviving spouse access to R125,000 without Letters of Executorship. Most banks do not say so.
- The Section 4(q) spousal rollover can eliminate estate duty entirely — it is routinely missed.
- S37C pension fund benefits are NOT part of the estate. Including them in the IT144 calculation is the most common tax error.
- Estates below R250,000 qualify for a simplified Section 18(3) procedure. Most families do not know this exists.
CCMA module — SA-specific
- The 30-day referral deadline runs from the date of dismissal — not the date the letter was received. Most employees do not know this.
- Con-Arb (Form 7.13) can save weeks by combining conciliation and arbitration on the same day.
- Automatically unfair dismissal (pregnancy, union membership, whistleblowing) attracts up to 24 months' compensation.
- A CCMA arbitration award can be certified and enforced by a Sheriff attaching assets after 6 weeks — without further court action.
All modules module — SA-specific
- SA citation format, court hierarchy weighting, and legislation references are applied at the analysis level — not the display level.
- Red flags are calibrated against SA commercial norms, not global averages.
- Dispute forum routing is SA-specific: CCMA, Labour Court, RHT, NCT, Small Claims Court.
- All costs and thresholds use current South African Rand figures and statutory minimums.
Tech stack
What it is built on.
Frontend
Next.js 15 App Router · TypeScript · Tailwind CSS · Vercel
Backend
FastAPI · Python · Celery · Redis
Database
Supabase PostgreSQL · pgvector · Row-Level Security
AI — Analysis
Anthropic Claude Sonnet · Pydantic structured output schemas
AI — Classifier
Keyword scoring + OpenAI embeddings + LLM fallback (hybrid)
AI — Chat
Ask the Document — Claude with full document context injection
Storage
Supabase Storage · POPIA-compliant document handling
Payments
PayFast — South African payment gateway
Export
PDF generation · DOCX export · White-label PDF for accountant partners
Security
WAF · TLS 1.3 · AES-256 · ISO 27001 infrastructure · SOC 2 readiness
Live at smartdocai.co.za
Real documents.
Real South African law.
Estate administration. Business contracts. CCMA labour disputes. Three modules, one platform, built on the legal and administrative systems that affect South Africans at the most important moments in their lives and businesses.