South Africa: Corporate and Company Law

OAPI closed out 2025 with a series of important developments aimed at strengthening intellectual property protection across its 17 member states.

On 13 February 2026, the Minister of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004, published the draft National Norms and Standards for the recognition of Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures for public comment.

The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition ("The Minister") issued draft proposed amendments to the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Codes ("B-BBEE Codes") on Friday 30 January 2026.

The ambition of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is transformative: creating a vast single market and unlocking trillions in consumer and business spending by 2030.

IT governance is a structured framework aligning IT investments with business goals and managing associated risks effectively.

As 2025 comes to an end, I have taken time to reflect on what my team and I at SNG Grant Thornton have learned this year, and what we believe organisations should be watching as they plan for 2026.

Projects in Africa (notably in the Agri-space) struggle to reach financial close and scale not because of a lack of demand or technical promise...

When a company has more than one shareholder, a shareholders' agreement is one of the most important documents it can have.

A buy-and-sell agreement is a legally binding contract that protects both a business and its co-owners when one of the owners dies, becomes disabled, retired or wishes to exit the company.