On 5 June 2017, the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors, the audit regulator in South Africa, implemented mandatory audit firm rotation (MAFR) with effect from 1 April 2023 in response to concerns regarding auditor independence in South Africa. The introduction of MAFR has been met with criticism from many stakeholders due to the adverse effects many believe the implementation of MAFR will have on audit quality and auditor independence. To date, there have been limited studies which focus on the impact of audit quality and auditor independence on audit practitioners in South Africa as a result of the implementation of MAFR but, to the best of my knowledge, no studies have assessed how the effects on audit quality and auditor independence will impact the ability of directors to discharge their statutory duties under section 76 of the Companies Act 71 of 2008 (‘the Act’ or ‘Companies Act’). This thesis first provides readers with a brief background of MAFR, followed by an overview of the statutory duties of directors as contained in the Act. I then subsequently assess how MAFR will affect audit quality and auditor independence before considering the impact this will have on the ability of directors to discharge their duties effectively. One of the duties of the directors is to produce the financial statements which are not false or misleading. Audit quality and auditor independence help directors produce financial statements which are not false or misleading, as determined under section 29 of the Act. As shown in this thesis, the enforced rotation of auditors results in situations which affect audit quality through the loss of client-specific knowledge which the outgoing auditor has developed over time. Furthermore, the enforced rotation of South African audit firms does create difficulties for multi-national entities which have their various entities audited by the same network of audit firms. These concerns, together with the concerns related to the cost of switching auditors and the threats posed to audit quality and auditor independence related to the initial discounts on audit fees offered by audit firms to new audit clients, poses serious concerns that directors will not be able to comply with section 29 of the Act. However, the introduction of a new audit team does provide instances which offer improvements to audit quality and auditor independence which may assist directors to produce financial statements which are not false or misleading. Lastly, I provide recommendations in terms of alternatives to MAFR, examining the existing measures which are already in place in South Africa to promote audit quality and auditor independence.

A focus of the study will be on the South African banking sector, comparing it with the CSR practices of Australian banking sector. The reason for this comparative analysis stems from the similarities that are prevalent between the two countries, although they have different designations, with one country as a developing country and the other as a developed country respectively. Both countries were once colonies. Australia was ruled by British and South Africa was ruled by Dutch and British. Both countries' financial sectors are well regulated and developed. Similar rules regarding disclosing information are applied in both countries' listed companies. The listed companies in both countries are required to disclose their social and environmental information in addition to their financial information

Companies play a very important role in the economy of any country. A country's economic growth and development depend largely on whether or not its regulatory environment is conducive for enterprises to thrive. In recognition of the important role companies and businesses generally play in an economy, several developing countries have, in recent years, been carrying out reforms intended to enhance the ease of doing business in their respective countries. Zambia has been no exception. Some of the issues that are widely accepted as having an influence on the ease of doing business include the cost and length of dispute resolution for businesses. Therefore, it is unsurprising that some reforms aimed at, among other things, expediting and lowering the cost of commercial dispute resolution have taken place in Zambia. For example, the commercial list of the High Court was established in 1999with a view to expediting the resolution of commercial disputes. However, the cost of commercial dispute resolution remains of concern. The dissertation explores the Zambian Companies Act dispute resolution framework in a bid to consider its standing vis-à-vis enhancing Zambia's competitiveness in so far as the ease of doing business is concerned. It posits that the Companies Act resolution framework does not help Zambia's quest to enhance the ease of doing business on the dispute resolution front because it is predominantly anchored on recourse to court. A comparative study of current trends in company law dispute resolution is undertaken, which reveals a shift from reliance on the courts as the predominant dispute resolution forum to tribunal based dispute resolution. The dissertation ultimately recommends the establishment of a Companies Tribunal for Zambia as a measure that would contribute to lowering the cost of commercial dispute resolution - at least in the context of the Companies Act - and enhancing the ease of doing business in Zambia.

This dissertation aims to focus on whether the parties to an international sale contract on CIF Incoterms varied in the oil and gas industry, specifically the petroleum sector, achieve the objective of linking the passing of ownership in the petroleum products1 sold from England to South Africa, to the passing of risk in those petroleum products by indicating such intention in their contract of sale?

The European Union (EU) and Faroe Islands, a small self-governing archipelago under the sovereignty of Denmark, both belong to the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC). NEAFC is a regional fisheries management organisation (RFMO) which is responsible for the management of, inter alia, Atlanto-Scandian herring. NEAFC parties have a long-term management plan in place for Atlanto-Scandian herring. Based on recommendations from the International Council for the Exploration of Seas (ICES) the parties set a total allowable catch (TAC) for the herring and divide this among the contracting parties each year. At the 2012 consultations between the NEAFC parties the Faroe Islands requested a larger share of the TAC. The Faroe Islands left the consultations after the other parties repeatedly refused this request. It was granted a share of the TAC by the other four states in its absence. It then set its own catch quota far above this allocated share. In response the EU put in place port state measures to prevent Atlanto-Scandian herring from entering the EU. This included an import ban and a ban on the use of EU ports by Faroese vessels. The EU took this action under Council Regulation (EC) No. 1026/2012 (Shared Stocks Regulation) which allows measures to be imposed against third countries that allow non-sustainable fishing of common or straddling stocks. This includes measures taken against RFMO partners for non-compliance with RMFO laws, as RFMOs are generally set up to conserve straddling fish stocks. This Regulation was promulgated in line with a number of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) such as UNCLOS and the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA). The Faroe Islands challenged the Shared Stocks Regulation and the specific Implementing Regulation imposing the port state measures in both the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and a Tribunal constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). However the matter was settled before either of these tribunals could hear the case. The dissertation interrogates whether the EU Regulations are consistent with WTO law, specifically the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), using the facts of the Atlanto-Scandian herring dispute. Chapter I sets out the background to the dispute, and explains the concepts of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and port state measures. Chapters II and III of the dissertation consider the consistency of the EU Regulations with the GATT. Chapter II finds that the EU Regulations contravene one or more of Articles I, V and XI of the GATT (the substantive provisions). Chapter III considers whether these measures, having contravened one of the GATT substantive provisions, may be justified under Article XX of the GATT (the exceptions provision). Chapter III concludes that, although well-crafted, the EU Regulations may still not be justifiable under the Article XX Chapeau in the particular circumstances of the herring dispute, based on principles in previous WTO cases. Chapter IV considers the relationship between multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) relevant to IUU fishing and WTO agreements, to determine whether the EU Regulations could be considered GATT-consistent by reference to these MEAs or whether the MEAs could override WTO law. Chapter V concludes.

The patent problems experienced in Nigeria's tax dispute resolution processes inspired this thesis. The disbanding of specialist tax tribunals by the Nigerian higher courts epitomised the disorder. The South African tax dispute resolution regime was reviewed primarily to identify practices that could be recommended to improve the Nigerian regime. The research questions in respect of improving the tax dispute resolution system in Nigeria are the following: How has the current tax dispute resolution system in Nigeria evolved? How should it evolve further? Can South Africa provide insights about the direction it should take? To answer the research questions, the tax dispute resolution environments in Nigeria and South Africa were assessed based on the convergent norms of good dispute resolution common to both. In this assessment of the two jurisdictions, emphasis was placed on judicial independence, access to justice, procedural fairness, administrative or judicial discretion, and timeousness. A combination of empirical and doctrinal methods was used. The key findings were as follows: (a) some current shortcomings can be explained by the historical evolution of the Nigerian tax environment, chiefly because taxation was introduced at different periods in the different regions of Nigeria and laws were not amended in a uniform manner; (b) there is no uniform centralised in-house dispute resolution process in the Nigerian federal tax authority; (c) the federal tax authority prefers to settle disputes out of court; (d) taxpayers comply better when a diplomatic approach to settling disputes is used by the tax authority; (e) Lagos was the most tax-compliant and litigious state in Nigeria; (f) conflicting decisions by courts of commensurate rank did not change the pre-existing practices of the tax authority as the authority will continue with the practice until it is vacated by a higher court; and (g) litigation was possibly a form of tax planning for some taxpayers. Recommendations were formulated based on the notion that convergent norms of good dispute resolution require the improvement of existing frameworks and practices. The reform of legislation and operational aspects of the Nigerian regime was also recommended. Key recommendations include (i) the retention of the TAT as a venue for the resolution of tax disputes; and (ii) the introduction of an in-house mediation process.

The importance of the role of a non-executive director (‘NED') within a given company has steadily been increasing in recent years particularly as a result of a number of high profile corporate collapses having taken place in many developed countries. In the advent of such collapses, industry observers are often interested in knowing what the NEDs were doing during their time at the company and whether they failed in preventing the demise of the company. The reasons for having NEDs on the board of directors are many and varied but include reducing the power of the executive directors, adhering to principles of good corporate governance, bringing an outside and independent perspective, acting as a boundary spanner between the board and the stakeholders' of the company, acting as internal advisors and monitoring the actions of the board etc. In light of the many corporate collapses and in recognising that the Companies Act makes no distinction between executive and NEDs, it is deemed essential to consider the standard of liability applicable to NEDs and to critically engage with the question of whether there is a legitimate basis for departing from the current globular standard of liability applicable to all types of directors. If there is to a distinction between the standard of liability as between executive and NEDs, the distinction should be in relation to the duty to exercise reasonable care and skill. The purpose of this research is, therefore, to investigate and clearly demonstrate the distinction between the role of a NED within a company as compared to their executive counterparts in order to support the conclusion that, indeed, an objective/uniform standard of liability applicable to all types of directors as regards the duty to exercise reasonable care and skill should be rejected.

Civil society organisations (CSOs) in South Africa, as citizen representatives, have been involved in challenging the ongoing poor corporate governance of state-owned enterprises that has caused tensions between citizens and the government. In doing so, civil society organisations demand accountability, transparency and citizen participation in state-owned enterprises governance. The problem is that their role in challenging state-owned enterprises is undefined in both law and literature and this uncertainty has resulted in an unsatisfying legal environment for them and in a strained relationship between themselves and government. The purpose of this research is to examine the legal provisions used by civil society organisations to advance good corporate governance in state-owned enterprises in South Africa by means of literature review, case studies and interviews. Existing provisions used by civil society organisations are explained in the study, loopholes in such provisions identified and measures that CSOs use to hold those responsible for poor governance in stateowned enterprises accountable for their actions discussed, consequently closing the existing gap on the undefined role of CSOs in the corporate governance of SOEs. The research demonstrates that there is need for an enabling legal environment through the speedy and effective amendment of existing laws and the introduction of legal provisions that give express authority to CSOs to challenge poor governance on the part of SOEs. Also critical is an enforcement of laws so that those responsible for poor corporate governance in SOEs are held accountable.

This thesis investigates how an appropriate theoretical framework for equal partnerships between universities in divergent contexts could be formulated, based on the principle of substantive equality. Literature has to date not addressed whether equality should be a principle underlying higher education partnerships, and the concept of equality in higher education partnerships has not yet been defined. This thesis explores present practices and conceptualisations of equality, specifically in partnerships between higher education institutions of divergent strengths, through a literature study, a survey of university stakeholders responsible for the management of bilateral international university partnerships, four minicase studies and a doctrinal review of the South African Constitutional Court's equality jurisprudence. An interpretivist paradigm is applied; Fredman's four-dimensional understanding of substantive equality serves as its theoretical framework. The internet-based survey tool ‘SurveyMonkey' was used to collect data for the survey. Data evaluation was undertaken using the analytical tools embedded in SurveyMonkey, the Statistical Programme for the Social Sciences (SPSS), and qualitative data was thematically analysed. The mini-case studies applied present practices and conceptualisations of equality in higher education partnerships, specifically in those between higher education institutions of divergent strengths, as the primary unit of reference. The substantive equality jurisprudence of the South African Constitutional Court was evaluated using Fredman's four-dimensional model of substantive equality. The most notable insight from the empirical research is that there is no uniform understanding of equality in higher education partnerships. Based on the empirical and doctrinal research, a theoretical framework was formulated. For partnerships to be considered equal, certain criteria from an open-ended list should be met, which include a value-foundation in mutuality, transparency and accountability, trust, equity and fairness, academic freedom, promotion of education, research and development, and ubuntu. Partners should make contributions that are equally meaningful, considering their context. They should be able to achieve their priorities to an equal extent through the partnership. The partners should recognise and affirm their equal worth, as well as the equal worth of all those who participate in partnership activities in all spheres of the collaboration. Open and transparent communication should be practised, and partnership decision-making processes should equally weigh all partners' voices and ensure that minority views are considered. The partnership as a whole should affirm the diversity of partner universities.

The regulatory and supervisory framework of financial co-operatives in South Africa consists of the Cooperatives Act (No. 14 of 2005), the Co-operatives Bank Act (No. 40 of 2007), Banks Act Exemption (Notice 620 of 2014) and the Financial Sector Regulation Act (No. 9 of 2017). In Malawi, the regulatory and supervisory framework of financial co-operatives consists of the Financial Services Act (No. 26 of 2010) and the Financial Co-operatives Act (No. 8 of 2011). This thesis proposes that the regulatory and supervisory frameworks provided by these pieces of legislation in both South Africa and Malawi do not adequately regulate the sector and that this in turn, one of the main contributing factors to the slow growth of financial co-operatives in the respective countries. On the one hand, the frameworks over-regulate some aspects of the financial co-operatives sector. This overregulation has created a harsh regulatory environment for some financial co-operatives. On the other hand, some aspects of the financial co-operatives sector are underregulated. Under-regulation has resulted in regulatory arbitrage and oversight of the fact that financial co-operatives have economic objectives, ownership structures, risks, and challenges unique to them. Interestingly, although such gaps and overcompensations in the frameworks have hindered the growth of formal and semi-formal financial co-operatives, they have fostered the growth of informal financial cooperatives. Accordingly, in both countries, there is an overwhelmingly large sector of informal financial co-operatives. Informal financial co-operatives are not governed by formal pieces of legislation. Rather, they are governed by indigenous law, or as otherwise termed, the law of the people. This thesis postulates that the overregulation and under-regulation embedded in the current regulatory and supervisory frameworks have been birthed from a misunderstanding of what financial co-operatives are and how they ought to function; an infusion of unfavourable historical and political influences and practices into the current regulatory and supervisory frameworks; overdependence of external aid; and lastly, an underestimation of the competencies of the citizens in both countries. The aim of this thesis is not to suggest supplanting of the current formal frameworks in South Africa and Malawi, or an adoption of informal governance structures. Instead, this thesis aims to provide recommendations for legal reform within the current framework. It aims to propose how, if possible, or required, the relevant laws in South Africa and Malawi might be changed, reformed or developed within their existing frame of reference.