Christina Pretorius

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The constitutional and legal requirements when assigning contracts with organs of state

By Christina Pretorius and Zinhle Mdluli on March 10, 2023 Posted in General

Breaking up with organs of state: It’s not you, it’s the treasury instruction. In instances where companies have entered into long-term or existing perpetual contracts with an organ of state, a commercial need to assign such contract may arise. Assigning state contracts to another party is a complex matter that requires careful consideration of legal … Continue reading

Give the board an alternative

By Christina Pretorius on June 21, 2022 Posted in General

This blog was co-authored by: Zinhle Mdluli, associate designate Section 75 of the Companies Act states that if a director has a personal financial interest in a matter that has been tabled at a board meeting, that director has a duty to disclose their interest and any known material information relating to the matter and … Continue reading

A brief guide to ESG

By Christina Pretorius on March 30, 2022 Posted in General

This blog was co-authored by: Bongubuhle Sibanda, candidate attorney There has been a global trend encouraging the integration of environmental, social and governance issues to be part of the business strategy and reporting practices of companies. While the concept of ESG is broad, the component parts of ESG can be broken down as follows – … Continue reading

Constitutionality of the public school four week break

By Thabang Dikgale and Christina Pretorius on August 3, 2020 Posted in General

Following the President’s address on 23 July 2020, the re-closing of public schools for four weeks has left most questioning why public schools are forced to take the four week break and private schools are not. Although grade 12’s will only be taking a week break and grade 7’s two weeks, this blog is focused … Continue reading

External companies cannot have prescribed officers

By Christina Pretorius and Susan Bisset on June 16, 2020 Posted in General

An external company is not a company as defined in the Companies Act, and it cannot therefore have prescribed officers with the obligations and liabilities imposed by the Act. Prescribed officers are employees or other persons who, although they are not directors, exercise executive control over a significant part of a company’s business or participate … Continue reading

COVID-19: Is a government announcement law?

By Christina Pretorius and Susan Bisset on April 28, 2020 Posted in General

Since the declaration of a national state of disaster in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africans have been presented almost daily with announcements, as well as regulations and directions issued in terms of the Disaster Management Act (DMA). Regulations and directions are formal law, but a regulator does not have the legal authority to … Continue reading

Government and banks offer debt relief for businesses affected by COVID-19

By Susan Bisset and Christina Pretorius on April 6, 2020 Posted in Banking

As South African businesses suffer the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and national lockdown, small businesses can apply for debt relief from most of the major South African banks and several state programmes. The Department of Small Business has announced multiple interventions to assist small businesses. In addition to tax subsidies and incentives for compliant … Continue reading

Permits required for persons leaving home to perform essential services during South African lockdown

By Christina Pretorius on March 25, 2020 Posted in General

Further regulations regarding the implementation of South Africa’s COVID-19 lockdown were released on the evening of 25 March, just over a day before the lockdown takes effect at 24:59 on 26 March. The lockdown applies to everyone within the borders of South Africa, and seeks to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The new … Continue reading

King IV and BEE – previously voluntary, now mandatory in the amendments to the JSE Listings Requirements

By Alessia Maxwell and Christina Pretorius on July 13, 2017 Posted in General

The Financial Services Board amendments to the JSE Listings Requirements (board notice 52 of 2017) which are now in effect, are primarily focused on two aspects: They include certain of the obligations set out in the King Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa, 2016 (King IV) as mandatory obligations in the Listings Requirements (the … Continue reading

Annual returns – not to be overlooked!

By Christina Pretorius and Emma Forbes (UK) on October 11, 2016 Posted in General

Annual returns – this may sound more like a tax requirement but is in fact a Companies Act 2008 requirement that every company must adhere to. The annual return is the submission of the amount of a company’s turnover for the previous year. Each year, companies are required to file this information with the Companies and … Continue reading