Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-151).

South African small to medium sized entities are the bread and butter of our economy. Providing much-needed employment and developing skills both formally and informally to historically disadvantaged persons are some of the most significant benefits of small to medium sized entities in a developing country such as South Africa. Unfortunately, despite these highly celebrated significant contributions to the socio-economic development of the country, South African small to medium sized entities have the lowest survival rates in the world, resulting in high rates of business failure and job losses created by these entities. The Companies Act 71 of 2008 provides for a corporate rescue system in the form of business rescue and a compromise between a company and its creditors which replaces judicial management as a corporate rescue procedure for South African companies. Business rescue provides companies in financial distress with opportunities to reorganise, strategize and come up with useful corporate reorganisation measures which are useful and efficient in saving the financially distressed company and possibly yielding a better return for the creditors than would have been the case if the company was liquidated. This study analyses whether the overall South African corporate rescue systems, past and present, have developed in line with the needs and interests of South African Small to medium-sized entities, in a manner that is efficient and sensitive to the inherent weakness of our economy as well as the distinctive needs of small to medium sized entities. A comparative study with similar procedures in the United Kingdom and the United States of America is undertaken to determine whether the evolution of South African corporate rescue laws meets the needs and interests of small- to medium-sized entities in the modern South African economy. Several inherent weakness are identified in the new business rescue regime as well as in compromises between a company and its creditors and a number of recommendations are made to improve the current provisions in the Act, for the purpose of making access and use of these corporate rescue procedures less burdensome and accessible for small- to medium- sized entities. This is done with the purpose of assisting the South African legislature in developing a corporate rescue procedure tailor-made for South African companies and not a mere cut and paste corporate rescue system unfitting to the needs and interests of South African small- to medium-sized entities.

As broadband infrastructure investments in developing nations intensify and barriers to accessing the internet diminish, the more they increasingly become the quintessential destination for cybercrime. For their lax cyber laws and general cybercrime illiteracy, developing nations such as South Africa, Kenya, and India have become the destination of choice for cybercriminal enterprises. The focus of this dissertation is to comparatively analyse South Africa’s ICT regulatory framework against those of developing and developed nations and to determine its effectiveness in addressing the threat posed by cybercrime. This dissertation hopes to contribute towards establishing a greater understanding and appreciation of the scourge of cybercrime by studying the frameworks, structures, and arrangements, installed to safeguard against the threat of cybercrime in both developing nations, namely Kenya and India, and developed nations, namely the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Some of the key challenges identified in the dissertation, arising from the analysis of South Africa’s cyber laws and policy framework, point to legislation that is out of date and in desperate need of revision, a lack of definitional clarity for cybercrime related terminology, jurisdiction limitations to investigate international cybercrimes, no harmonisation with international laws, standards, and a poor record of implementing strategy and policies. The dissertation concludes that the battle against cybercrime cannot be won without first understanding what cybercrime is. Developing a common understanding of cybercrime and related terminology, and recommends the revision of the necessary ICT strategies, policies, and regulatory frameworks. Concluding international cooperation and mutual assistance agreements to assist with transnational cybercrime investigations and prosecutions is paramount. Establishing cross-sector, intra-ministerial, public-private, and multinational partnerships is also vital to managing the threat of cybecrime. Lastly, this dissertation recommends the development of dedicated cybersecurity and cybercrime mechanisms for the prosecution and safeguarding of the nation’s critical information infrastructure, the mission critical information of corporates and the personal information of citizens against cybercrime.

Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Includes bibliographical references.

Swaziland recently established a framework for enforcing competition law when it passed the Competition, Act 8 of 2007 (Swazi Competition Act). The Act provides for the establishment of the Swaziland Competition Commission (Swazi Commission), a statutory body responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Competition Act. One of its major objectives is to promote a secure and robust economic competition and consumer protection. Following its inception in 2007, the Swazi Commission has dealt with mergers and the question on the legality and enforcement of exclusionary clauses in contracts. These clauses are most prevalent in contracts for lease on property seeking to establish large shopping malls, as we shall see later from the case of Pick 'n Pay (Pty) Ltd v The Gables (Pty) Ltd. The adoption of a comprehensive competition law framework by Swaziland is relatively a new phenomenon and like other developing countries, the Swaziland competition regime presents some institutional challenges. Some of these challenges relate to the institutional structure of the Commission and its independence. Whether the independence of the Commission can be guaranteed in view of the manner it is constructed as well as the relationship between the Swazi Commission and the courts and finally, the jurisdictional powers of the Commission in the execution of its duties and functions in terms of the Act. These challenges taken together have a potential of undermining the independence and effectiveness of the only institution that has the mandate to create and ensure free and transparent markets in the country. This treatise seeks to analyse these challenges as presented by the Swaziland competition regime. A comparative analysis between Swaziland and the South African competition regime will be carried out in order to provide somewhat practical solutions to the challenges that Swaziland is confronted with. It is also aimed at setting out proposal for the reform of the competition framework of Swaziland to incorporate the bifurcated agency model as opposed to the integrated agency model it is currently structured on. Under the bifurcated agency model the Commission investigates all competition violations and then hand over the cases to a specialised tribunal for adjudication and enforcement. In the contrary the integrated agency model entails that the Commission investigates and make the first -level adjudication. The decision of the Commission can then be reviewed or appealed by the courts. This is the model adopted by Swaziland according to the Act.

As our lives become more and more regulated by the powers that be, it is pertinent that there be acknowledgement of the people that are subject to these rules. When government attempts to regulate aspects of human lives, these regulations exist alongside the embedded mores of communities and the resulting social constructs.1 For this reason, one cannot dismiss the relevance of informal practices when discussing the formal sector and the prospect of regulation of such. With the gradual ‘financialising’ of those previously thought of as ‘unbanked’, there is a steady move toward increased interaction with credit, savings and financial transactions in general.2 Elizabeth Hull notes that as this trajectory continues, there has been a shift in efforts to provide financial services to those who fall outside of the formal sector. 3 The enthusiasm of such efforts has however differed between the informal and formal sector. Formal financial service provision for the poor is still severely lacking, due to the systemic flaws in financial institutions, which include high transaction costs, the need for collateral and stringent regulations.4 As a result of these inadequacies, informal financial services have flourished as they aim to mitigate the flaws associated with the formal sectors, in the hopes of fostering inclusion and pursuing economic sustainability.5 The Village Bank is one such informal financial service. The term ‘Village Bank’ is one widely used in the economic and anthropological literature to describe a member-based bank, usually operating at the intersection of the formal and informal sectors. I will use this terminology throughout my dissertation to reflect the concept as framed in the social science literature. In part 1.4 below, I give further details as to a possible definition of the Village Banks concept.

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.