The role of the independent director is not clearly defined in most legislation around the globe. Hence, a company, through its Articles of Association or Memorandum of Incorporation, may attach any role it wishes the director to carry out. Most companies seem to entrust the independent director with three roles, which are the monitoring of managerial activities, strategy development, and ensuring that the company complies with the various companies' legislation. However, Dixion et al assert that, the independent director has largely emerged, amongst other factors, due to the need to monitor managerial activities.

This dissertation assesses the impact of the narrow interpretation and application of the oppression remedy in the South African Companies Act 71 of 2008, s 163 on the inclusion of stakeholders and compares it with the Canadian experience. It reviews the historical development of the oppression remedy in South Africa and focuses on how the interpretation and application of s 163 continues to exclude various stakeholders in the locus standi of the remedy. The comparative exposition of the interpretation and application of the South African and Canadian oppression remedy provided in this dissertation brings out fundamental differences between the two, highlights the need to extend the South African interpretation to include various stakeholders and elaborates on the benefits of a broader approach to the remedy. By outlining the impact and benefits of the inclusion of various stakeholders in the remedy as opposed to their exclusion, the study advocates for a broadened and inclusive interpretation of s 163 by the courts to create a platform for various stakeholders to seek relief through the remedy. Furthermore, to minimize ambiguity in application of the remedy, the dissertation proposes a modification of the interpretation and application of s 163 to explicitly include all stakeholders in the description of oppression remedy building on the Canadian experience through judicial transplantation.

Includes bibliographical references.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-79). / This paper deals with how Tanzania Mainland industiral relations have evolved during the said different periods since independence up to now. The main focus will be to discuss the current legislation and how it seeks to improve industrial relations as compared to its predecessors. Also it will discuss in a nutshell whether the new legislation has met the International Law Organisation (ILO) standards. It further discusses the challenges facing Tanzania and its working class in the globalised labour market.

This research paper provides an address and analysis of the challenges commonly faced under Chinese investments in Africa and seeks to address the question on what regulatory mechanism can be used to maximise the benefits of Chinese Investments in Africa. In doing so, this study seeks to clarify the nature activities that transpire under Chinese investment, this is because over the past decades there have been serious accusations of human rights violations, illegal practices and lack of technology and skills transfers amongst many other problems. In conducting this examination, this study, I consider the dynamic legal and policy framework that regulates the Chinese investments. This provides a vehicle through which the legality of Chinese investments actors can be tested. Secondly, an outline and discussion of two selected challenges namely, Labour relations and employment practices; lack of skill and technology transfers. These issues are analysed in depth from different perspectives and potential solutions will be provided. In addressing the challenges, I draw from the experience of South Africa in terms of employment practices and Huawei in Zimbabwe and South Africa case studies. The research ultimately concludes that the challenges faced under Chinese investments are not as described by critics but rather they are complex and differ from business to business. Therefore, the best solution may be to ensure effective enforcement and implementation of local laws to ensure compliance with the law. The study recommends that there is a need for Africa to have a uniform China policy and to take advantage of the FOCAC process to prioritise the areas critical to their national and continental development goals.

There is a global trend in the international community, within countries, and within corporate organizations for the promotion of good corporate governance practices. The aim is to foster sustainable development in countries and particularly within corporations at local, national, regional and international levels. This is because emerging reports and research seem to suggest that the effective implementation and practice of good corporate governance principles in a country promotes sustainable development and foreign direct investment, thus boosting the economy of that country. By implication it is only corporations which adopt good corporate governance practices that will achieve sustainable growth and development domestically and internationally in the competitive business environment. In Nigeria, given the fact that the practice of good governance by most corporate organizations is still a challenge, there is therefore a need for a corporate governance regulation that will serve as a baseline standard applicable to all companies registered, whether public or private. Accordingly, this thesis will be examining the existing corporate governance regulations and the newly released draft national corporate governance code in Nigeria to ascertain whether or not they address current corporate governance challenges and their compliance with international best practices.

Includes bibliographical references / The first part of this minor dissertation will examine the historical development of the common law doctrine of piercing the corporate veil, its status and the concerns raised against the rule. In light of the fact that veil piercing erodes the limited liability of a company, it is necessary to appreciate both the relevance and the significance of separate legal personality and the historical development of the doctrine that carves out exceptions to limited liability in this context. The concept of separate legal personality goes hand in hand with the doctrine of veil piercing. This part will further illustrate the various approaches that courts have taken in deciding whether or not to pierce the corporate veil. A criticism of the doctrine is that it comes with no clear guidelines directing courts to the appropriate circumstances for piercing the corporate veil. It will be argued that the courts have relied invariably on a number of discrete, unrelated categories of conduct upon which to base decisions to disregard the corporate personality of a company, but this approach in the end is unsatisfactory. The concept of corporate personality will be discussed in this part in order to achieve a better understanding of the concept itself and to shed some light on the legal nature of the corporate personality. Furthermore, this part will examine recent trends in foreign law in regard to the doctrine of piercing the corporate veil that may serve as guidelines to the interpretation and the application of the doctrine in South African law. Particularly, the English judicial approach to piercing the corporate veil will be discussed. This in turn will lead to a consideration of the question whether further development is necessary, and if so, which direction is best suited for South African company law. The second part of this dissertation will discuss the rules of interpretation, the basic approaches to statutory interpretation followed by our courts and which approach has enjoyed preference in recent judgments. These approaches will assist in the discussion on the interpretation of section 20 (9) of the Companies Act. Section 20(9) will be examined, and the concerns that writers have raised will be discussed. This part will further examine the judgment delivered in Gore with specific reference to the theories of statutory interpretation used, and the final interpretation applied by the court and what effect this has on the existing rules of piercing the corporate veil. It will be contended that courts must interpret and apply section 20(9) in a way that gives effect to the purport and spirit of the Constitution and results in clarity and simplicity in the statutory doctrine of piercing the corporate veil. The fourth and final part of this research will summarize the discussion, where the research will be considered and recommendations made as to how section 20 (9) should be best interpreted. Given the lack of a unified approach to the scope and conditions of application of the doctrine of veil piercing, which allegedly leads to confusion and frequent misuse, this study aims at clarifying the scope of the doctrine and conditions under which it can be applied. It will attempt to clear up some of the mist enveloping the concept of corporate veil piercing.

Includes bibliographical references. / One of the first times the controversy of director remuneration reared its head was during the financial crisis of 2008 which was described as the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations body United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) both cited failures in corporate governance, the practices of director remuneration and inadequate regulation and control thereof, as specific causes of the financial crises of 2008. The reason for this is that remuneration systems employed by companies failed to sufficiently align remuneration packages of directors with the strategy, risk appetite and long-terms interests of the company and shareholders4 The controversy arose when even though many companies failed or showed great losses, directors were still paid out excessive bonuses and were considered to be rewarded for failure. This controversy was caused by the failure of corporate governance systems to effectively regulate and enforce company remuneration practices, the adequate disclosure of information regarding director remuneration, and the lack of shareholder input in the determination of director remuneration and bonuses. In addition is the fact that most corporate governance systems are based on a ‘comply or explain’ or ‘apply or explain’ approach which, despite its advantages, renders the application of corporate governance structures voluntary, or at a minimum, non-compliance could be explained away. This dissertation examines a weakness in the corporate governance structures of South Africa regarding the disclosure director remuneration in the context of mergers and acquisitions. The submission is that directors act in their own interests; that they benefit more from mergers and acquisitions than the company and its shareholders vis-à-vis short and long term incentives, contrary to the fiduciary duty owed to the latter; and posits that the current corporate governance system in South Africa, its disclosure requirements, and its application are insufficient.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Seven (SDG 7) promotes access to 'affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all’. Sub-Saharan Africa is however characterised by high levels of energy insecurity. Regional integration is a way in which energy security in the region can be achieved through the sharing of resources, infrastructure and expertise. Electricity trade in Sub-Saharan takes place primarily through the Southern African Power Pool. The Power Pool consists of 13 member countries that import and export electricity across transmission infrastructure. Regional integration is however hampered by unreliable state-owned centralised grids. Many grids in sub-Saharan Africa do not have sufficient energy generation capacity for regional trade. Independent Power Producers (IPPs) promote regional integration and energy security by increasing a country’s energy generation capacity and diversifying its energy mix through renewable energy sources. Sub-Saharan Africa currently lacks a harmonised policy framework on the participation of IPPs in national energy markets. This thesis argues that a harmonised policy framework on IPP participation on a national level can increase electricity trade and energy security regionally.

Includes bibliographical references. / This paper will first analyse the relevant Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) provisions regarding the protection of GIs and a concept of generic terms under TRIPS. Second, different regional and national systems on the protection of GIs and the respective concepts of genericness will be analysed. The intention is to determine the criteria of when a term is considered generic. Once these criteria are established they could prove useful if considered in a dispute before a WTO Panel. Finally, this paper shall briefly look into alternatives how future disputes on genericness could be avoided under the auspices of the WTO.