Abstract:
The new Companies Act 71 of 2008 came into effect on 1 May 2011 repealing the Companies Act of 1973. The 2008 Companies Act retained provisions relating to the winding-up of insolvent companies, in particular Chapter 14. It is submitted that even though the 1973 Companies Act has been repealed and only Chapter 14 has been retained for the winding-up of insolvent companies, Chapter 14 cannot be applied in isolation without considering the provisions relating to the winding-up of insolvent companies that fall outside the ambit of Chapter 14 of the 1973 Companies Act. This research proposes a unification of provisions relating the winding-up of both solvent and insolvent companies in a single piece of legislation.
Chapter 1 introduces the dissertation. Chapter 2 consists of a brief overview of the development of corporate law in South Africa. Chapter 3 will focus on a descriptive and comparative approach illustrating between single and dual systems, specifically those in between the USA and England, as well as discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the systems. Chapter 4 contains a discussion on the relationship between the 1973 and 2008 Companies Acts in view of their respective liquidation proceedings of insolvent companies. Chapter 5 consists of an analysis of the Draft Bill Proposals in context of a unified bill and corporate legislation. Lastly, Chapter 6 will draw conclusions.
