scholarly journals Shareholder Oppression as Corporate Conduct Repugnant to Public Policy: Infusing the Concept of Ubuntu in the Interpretation of Section 163 of the Companies Act 71 of 2008

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Aubrey Sibanda
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Corporate Law ◽  
Considerable Influence ◽  
General Application ◽  
Legal Scholarship

The concept of ubuntu continues to exert considerable influence on the development and the general application of post-independence jurisprudence in South Africa. While ubuntu undoubtedly permeates the interpretation of a plethora of contemporary legal disciplines in South Africa, this article contends that the reception of the concept in corporate law remains constrained. Identifying shareholder relationships as an important feature of the corporate firm, the author presents a persuasive case for the infusion of ubuntu and its underlying equity considerations in the interpretation of the oppression remedy which is currently provided under section 163 of the Companies Act 71 of 2008. The article discusses the remedy from different legal perspectives which find synchrony in the concept of ubuntu. The contribution adds to emerging legal scholarship advocating the alignment of South African corporate law with constitutional principles.

scholarly journals The comparability of the constructs of the 16PF in the South African context

1999 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Abrahams ◽  
K. F. Mauer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Statistical Methods ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Considerable Influence ◽  
The South ◽  
African Context ◽  
Labour Legislation

The primary aims of the study were to determine whether the scores of the 16PF (SA92) are comparable in a crosscultural setting in South Africa, and also to investigate the influence of the gender of the research participants on the scores of the 16PF (SA92). The sample consisted of 983 students who were enrolled at different universities at the time of the field work. The statistical methods involved the application of descriptive statistics as well as methods to determine the comparability of the constructs. The results showed that although race exercised a considerable influence on the findings, this was not necessarily the case as far as gender was concerned. The presence of problems relating to the construct comparability of the test were also identified, as significant differences in means were found between the different race groups. Some of the implications of persisting with the use of the 16PF (SA92) in the South African context are outlined against the background of recently promulgated labour legislation. Opsomming Die primere doelstellings met die onderhawige studie was om die toepaslikheid van die 16PF (SA92) in Suid Afrikaanse konteks met sy diversiteit van kultuurgroepe te evalueer. Die invloed van die geslag van die navorsingsdeelnembers op die resultate is ook nagevors. Die deelnemergroep het bestaan uit 983 studente wat ten tye van die veldwerk aan verskillende universiteite gestudeer het. Benewens normale beskrywende statistiek, is daar ook gebruik gemaak van metodes om konstrukvergelykbaarheid te evalueer. Die bevindings het daarop gedui dat alhoewel ras 'n belangrike invloede op die toetsfaktore uitoefen, dit nie die geval is in soverre dit geslag betref nie. Die teenwoordigheid van probleme het ook ten opsigte van konstrukvergelykbaarheid na vore getree, aangesien betekenis voile verskille tussen gemiddeldes gevind is. Sommige van die implikasies van die volgehoue gebruik van die 16PF (SA92) in Suid Afrika word ook in die lig van die resente arbeidswetgewing bespreek.

scholarly journals The restructuring and privatisation trajectory in South Africa: tracing the historical public policy origins, purpose, methods and guidelines in the pre-1994 epoch

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-36
Author(s):  
Nyawo Gumede ◽  
Kwame Asmah-Andoh ◽  
Md Humayun Kabir
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
White Paper ◽  
Operational Performance ◽  
South African Government ◽  
African Government ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Original Definition

Many perspectives have been propounded and written about the restructuring and privatisation reform. However, this paper endeavours to give a South African approach to the reform profoundly delving into its historical approach on the original definition, methods, factors, criteria and goals of the reform. This paper seeks to demonstrate that this reform has its origins in the apartheid government policy which was intended at strengthening and revitalising the apartheid political economy in the 1980s. The thinking that the private sector runs enterprises in a more efficient, effective, competitive and profitable way and that such an approach may be applied to the State Owned Enterprises with success in an effort to reduce government debt and improving the operational performance, attracted the then South African government into adopting this neoliberal trajectory. State Owned Enterprises compared to their private counterparts performed poorly and suffered heavy losses and ultimately drained government financially. The then South African government initiated a white paper on privatisation and deregulation in 1987 which culminated in the implementation of the restructuring and privatisation reform in South Africa. Thus, this paper posits that the privatisation and restructuring reform originated from the then South African government policy initiatives in the 1980s.

scholarly journals RELATIVE BARGAINING STRENGTH AND ILLEGALITY Uniting Reformed Church, De Doorns v President of the Republic of South Africa 2013 (5) SA 205 (WCC)

Obiter ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Sharrock
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Relevant Factor ◽  
The South ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Bargaining Positions

The South African courts have recognized that the relative situation of contracting parties when concluding the contract – the strength of their bargaining positions relative to each other – is a relevant factor when determining whether a particular provision in the contract (or the contract as a whole) is contrary to public policy. However, there are relatively few cases in which the court has actually relied upon inequality of bargaining power as a ground for holding that a contractual provision is illegal. In Uniting Reformed Church, De Doorns v President of the Republic of South Africa (2013 (5) SA 205 (WCC) (the “URC case”)), Zondi J held that one of the reasons why a clause common to certain notarial leases was contrary to public policy was because the contractants had not occupied equal bargaining positions when entering into the leases. Whether or not one fully agrees with the judge’s reasoning, the decision underscores the importance of understanding what is meant by relative bargaining strength and how and when it affects the lawfulness of a contract.

Power to the People? Right of Access to Electricity in South Africa

Politeia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Qasaymeh ◽  
Jo-Ansie Karina Van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
The South ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Socio Economic Development ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access

The provision and distribution of and access to electricity are not only technical and economic matters. Access to electricity is a highly political and ideological issue and has consequences for public policy and human development. Since 2000, South Africa has experienced power outages (euphemistically called load-shedding) and the country has not kept up with increased electricity and socio-economic demands. Globally, access to electricity is increasingly regarded as a basic human right and an important contributor to socio-economic development. However, the position towards and the practice regarding access to electricity by the post-apartheid South African government are contradictory. Although both the South African Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 refer to fundamental human rights, the matter of access to electricity as a human right is not clearly spelled out in these documents. This article outlines international and African norms in respect of the right of access to electricity in the context of the international socio-economic development debate. It proceeds to examine the South African context, policies, legislation and constitutional court judgments in respect of socio-economic development with a special focus on access to electricity—a matter which is closely linked to political, public policy and development issues such as housing and the environment in South Africa. The article calls for the right of access to electricity to be declared a basic human right and to be legislated as such in the South African legal regime.

scholarly journals NON-RECOGNITION OF MUSLIM MARRIAGES: DISCRIMINATION AND SOCIAL INJUSTICE

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Razaana Denson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Legal Reform ◽  
Social Injustice ◽  
Legal Recognition ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Republic

The following issues are discussed in the article, namely the legal status of Muslim marriages, the legal nature of Muslim marriages, the reasons for non-recognition, in particular the concept of “public policy”, as well as the various approaches adopted by the South African courts when dealing with the issue whether Muslim marriages should be granted legal recognition. The effect of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 on the status and consequences of Muslim marriages as well as the proposal for legal reform in the form of a draft Muslim Marriages Bill which was released on the 22 July 2003 is also dealt with.

South Africa and Portugal

1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-20
Author(s):  
Basil Davidson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
United Nations ◽  
South African ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Economic Structure ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
The South ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Military

A central element in the story of southern Africa during the early 1970s is the quietly persistent penetration in to neighboring countries of dominant interests—whether economic, political or even military—of the Republic of South Africa. As the motives for this expansion have become clearer, so too has the crucial nature of the importance to the South African system of the Portuguese colonialist positions in Angola and Mozambique, and, by an inseparable extension, in Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde archipelago.This significance to South Africa of the “Portuguese territories” is now observable in all major fields of public policy and action, and ranges from the military-logistical to the very interstices of the South African economic structure. An understanding of the South African government's relations with these territories, as well as of its relations with the Portuguese regime in Lisbon, must therefore be essential to a realistic estimate of likely developments in the subcontinent, and bears, accordingly, a direct meaning for the policies and intentions of the United Nations.

Hoernlé, Reinhold Friedrich Alfred (1880–1943)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Sweet
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Race Relations ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Systematic Philosophy ◽  
European Philosophy ◽  
Progressive Force

Perhaps the best known of South African philosophers, Hoernlé was a member of the generation of students influenced by the early British idealists, such as Green, Caird, Bradley, and Bosanquet. Like many of his contemporaries, Hoernlé left Britain to pursue his career in some of the universities of the Empire, providing an opportunity for fruitful contact between the main currents of European philosophy and the cultures and traditions of his adopted country. Hoernlé sought to provide a systematic philosophy that could be applied to questions of social and public policy as well as politics. His position responds to trends in continental European philosophy and addresses some of the criticisms of idealism raised in the early twentieth century by Russell, Schiller, and the American ‘new realists’. Hoernlé’s most significant contribution, however, was in the application of liberal political thought to the multiethnic environment of South Africa. Although Hoernlé’s liberalism has been criticized for not providing an effective alternative to the then-current race relations in South Africa, in his time he was seen by many as a strong progressive force, and his analysis of pluralism and cultural diversity in the state bears on contemporary discussions of multiculturalism.

scholarly journals THE ROLE AND DUTIES OF DIRECTORS IN THE PROMOTION OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monray Marsellus Botha
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Corporate Governance ◽  
South African ◽  
Corporate Law ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Fiduciary Duties ◽  
Doing Business ◽  
African Perspective ◽  
The Way

Owing to global changes in the field of corporate governance and corporate law reform in South Africa, corporate governance has become an important aspect of the way in which corporations are doing business. Corporate governance is the collection of law and practices that is grounded in the fiduciary duties of directors. It regulates the conduct of those in control of the corporation. An important aspect of corporate governance is the establishment of structures and processes that enable directors to discharge their legal responsibilities. This article investigates corporate governance principles in South Africa and explores the importance of the role and duties of directors in the promotion of corporate governance principles. 

Reframing Xenophobia in South Africa as Colour-Blind: The Limits of the Afro Phobia Thesis

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-444
Author(s):  
Amanuel Isak Tewolde
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Conflict Theory ◽  
Black African ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Online Newspaper ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Realistic Conflict Theory

Many scholars and South African politicians characterize the widespread anti-foreigner sentiment and violence in South Africa as dislike against migrants and refugees of African origin which they named ‘Afro-phobia’. Drawing on online newspaper reports and academic sources, this paper rejects the Afro-phobia thesis and argues that other non-African migrants such as Asians (Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis and Chinese) are also on the receiving end of xenophobia in post-apartheid South Africa. I contend that any ‘outsider’ (White, Asian or Black African) who lives and trades in South African townships and informal settlements is scapegoated and attacked. I term this phenomenon ‘colour-blind xenophobia’. By proposing this analytical framework and integrating two theoretical perspectives — proximity-based ‘Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT)’ and Neocosmos’ exclusivist citizenship model — I contend that xenophobia in South Africa targets those who are in close proximity to disadvantaged Black South Africans and who are deemed outsiders (e.g., Asian, African even White residents and traders) and reject arguments that describe xenophobia in South Africa as targeting Black African refugees and migrants.

Region of Birth and Child Mortality among Black Migrants to South Africa: Is there a foreign-born advantage?

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany L Green ◽  
Amos C Peters
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Child Mortality ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Black Immigrants ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Region Of Origin ◽  
Child Deaths

Much of the existing evidence for the healthy immigrant advantage comes from developed countries. We investigate whether an immigrant health advantage exists in South Africa, an important emerging economy.  Using the 2001 South African Census, this study examines differences in child mortality between native-born South African and immigrant blacks.  We find that accounting for region of origin is critical: immigrants from southern Africa are more likely to experience higher lifetime child mortality compared to the native-born population.  Further, immigrants from outside of southern Africa are less likely than both groups to experience child deaths.  Finally, in contrast to patterns observed in developed countries, we detect a strong relationship between schooling and child mortality among black immigrants.

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