Legal Articles and Guides

The Auditor-General has confirmed that the Defence Department has been invoiced to the tune of R260m for Heberon Interferon-Alpha-2B, an unregistered medical drug from Cuba.

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said the power utility had recovered more than R1bn from companies that played a role in state capture, notes a TimesLIVE report.

Shareholders who instituted claims against Steinhoff will probably only receive payments from 2031 if the company is liquidated. A report in Die Burger says this scenario is detailed in an explanatory note from the company that had to be issued to seek support for its proposed court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement to settle claims.

Absa Bank is pressing criminal charges against an employee who has subsequently been suspended for illegally accessing and sharing customer information with third parties, the bank said yesterday, according to a Business Day report.

A Cape Town company that has been found guilty by the B-BBEE Commission of violating the B-BBEE Act by fronting black employees as shareholders to obtain fishing rights, claims it had no intention to defraud anyone.

According to revelations in a City Press report, Edwin Sodi’s Blackhead Consulting is still doing big business with government. It says that on top of the controversial R255m Free State asbestos tender, Blackhead Consulting also allegedly received R517m worth of tenders from the Gauteng provincial government from 2014 to date.

The COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown in South Africa has brought the legal considerations of force majeure into sharp focus across multiple industries, particularly in engineering and construction circles.

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has imposed a R122.9m fine on Markus Jooste for insider trading on the day of the collapse of the Steinhoff share price in December 2017 when admissions of ‘accounting irregularities’ and his sudden resignation came to light, but there's every reason to believe he will appeal the matter, possibly all the way to the Constitutional Court, which would drag it out for years.

SAA is again in the line for liquidation following the failure by government to secure the R10.1bn required to fund the business plan by yesterday's deadline.

Edcon has announced that the sale of parts of the Edgars business in SA to Retailability (Pty) Ltd has been implemented, with all approvals from regulatory authorities and all conditions precedent either fulfilled or waived.

With our economy in trouble and the ongoing pandemic and lockdown damaging more and more businesses by the day, sales by distressed companies and traders are likely to rocket. If you are a prospective buyer here, be aware of one particular danger lurking in the wings for you.

Regrettably the pandemic still shows no sign of going away any time soon, and the social distancing it has brought to our “new normal” leaves companies with a dilemma. How can you comply – safely and lawfully – with the Companies Act’s stringent requirements for the holding of Annual General Meetings and (where needed) interim General Meetings?

Hospitality group Ma-Afrika Hotels, together with Stellenbosch Kitchen and Insurance Claims Africa (ICA), are likely to wait at least a month for a ruling in the high-profile business interruption cover battle against JSE-listed insurance giant Santam, following the Western Cape High Court reserving judgment on the matter yesterday.

The business rescue process is under constitutional attack by creditors of the Optimum Coal Mine who want the company liquidated, notes Rapport.

Cape Town restaurateurs embroiled in a legal fight to lift the ban on alcohol are angry that the government has succeeded in delaying their case in the Western Cape High Court.