- exercisable voting rights;
- economic interest (being a right akin to dividends); and
- net value (i.e. the
Excluding Preference Shares from BEE Ownership Calculations and the Rule
Drones in South Africa’s Draft Airfreight Strategy (2025): What Changes, Why It Matters
This blog is co-authored by Eric Geldenhuys, candidate attorney.
The Department of Transport’s Draft Airfreight Strategy, 2025 puts drones at the centre of a more efficient, and inclusive logistics system and signals concrete regulatory reforms that will reshape how unmanned aircrafts operate. The draft strategy maps the next phase of South Africa’s drone law evolution
The South African Empowerment Framework: It’s Not All BEE Out There
- Ownership;
- Management control;
- Skills development;
- Enterprise and supplier development; and
Restraints of trade in franchise agreements: What a new judgment means for your business
24 October 2025
Galito’s Mobile (Pty) Ltd v Tetz Investment (Pty) Ltd and Others, High Court (Limpopo Division), (unreported) 22 October 2025 tested the enforceability of restraint of trade clauses in a franchise agreement after a franchise relationship broke down. The court dismissed the franchisor’s bid to prevent former associates from operating as a competitor
Tenders should not always be awarded to the highest-ranked bidder
In a judgment handed down on 1 October 2025, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the lack of collective capacity of the highest-ranked bidder across multiple related tenders was an objective consideration that justified the award of some of the tenders to the next-ranked bidders.
The matter arose from seven tenders issued by the
Competition regulators clamp down on vertical restrictions across Africa
Co-authored by Adriaan Lourens (candidate attorney) and Mohammed Dada (candidate attorney)
Earlier this year, the Committee responsible for Initial Determinations (CID), the adjudicative arm of the COMESA Competition Commission (CCC), approved a significant settlement reached between the CCC and a large multinational beverage company. This settlement follows an investigation by the Secretariat, the investigating arm
Structuring for a joint venture bid
Joint venture bids are now common in competitive procurement, in both the public and the private sector. More and more, buyers ask bidders to join forces so they can pool skills, show stronger balance sheets, and meet set ownership rules, such as minimum local ownership or participation by minority or SME partners. Getting the structure
Prescription for contractual claim runs from fulfilment of suspensive conditions
In September 2025, the Supreme Court of Appeal found that extinctive prescription only begins to run on a contractual claim once a suspensive condition is fulfilled and not from the date of signature of the agreement.
The respondent trust purchased a property from the appellant subject to a suspensive condition requiring the consent of the
Substance over Form: Gut-Testing Your BEE Structure
Increasingly we are seeing small businesses introduce Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) ownership arrangements where there is obviously no intention for that arrangement to have substance. When the ownership is questioned or tested, the businesses often respond with surprise, indignation, and shock.
In the evolving landscape of BEE, businesses often focus on ticking boxes to
Settlement Agreements: No Second Chances
This blog is co-authored by Lesedi Dube, candidate attorney.
The finality of full and final settlement agreements is highlighted in an August 2025 judgment in the High Court. The court found that a settlement agreement between the applicant and respondent could not be rescinded on the basis of alleged prior non-performance of contractual obligations discovered