“The purpose of the legislature in enacting s 34(1) is to protect creditors by preventing traders who are in financial difficulty from disposing of their business assets to third parties who are not liable for the debts of the business, without due advertisement to all the creditors of the business.” (Extract from judgement below) With our economy in trouble and the ongoing pandemic and lockdown damaging more and more businesses by the day, sales by distressed companies and traders are likely
“…it must be asked whether, but for the Covid-19 outbreak, the interruption or interference to the Applicant’s business would have occurred when the Lockdown Regulations were promulgated” (extract from the judgment below) It’s no surprise that our media has been awash with reports on the recent High Court judgment around a restaurant’s business interruption cover claims. The restaurant in question, like many other businesses of all types and sizes, has been suffering severe losses from being forced to close (and latterly trade
Our law (in the form of the Protected Disclosures Act) encourages employees to disclose unlawful or irregular conduct in their workplaces without fear of reprisal. Why encourage it? “3 Reasons Why Whistleblowing is Important for Public and Private Companies” on the Compliance Line website here suggests that employers should actively encourage their employees to “whistleblow” because – “The majority of fraud is captured through Whistleblowing”. It should be one of your frontline protections against financial loss from criminal activity.“Whistleblowers are often close to the
“A stitch in time saves nine” (wise old proverb) The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown have opened up new avenues of profit for some businesses, but they have also subjected many others to the spectre of business failure. Unfortunately we can expect the level of bankruptcies to surge for some time to come, and the domino effect will multiply the numbers until our economy turns the corner. If financial distress looms for your own company, bear in mind the very onerous duties
At long last the main provisions of POPIA (the Protection of Personal Information Act) have been gazetted, and they will commence on 1 July 2020. That means that the one year transitional period will expire on 30 June 2021. Don’t panic just yet, and ignore the many “fake headlines” in the media implying that you are at immediate risk of non-compliance, but at the same time don’t leave this to the last minute! Preparing for compliance is going to be a time-consuming
“This Too Shall Pass. It might pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass” (Unknown) Entrepreneurs and the small businesses they run are bearing much of the brunt of our deepening economic woes. Some SMEs have prospered, others have sunk – most of us have just battled on, preparing for and dreaming of happier times to come. In “The mental battle of running a small business” on Daily Maverick Nic Haralambous shares his thoughts on how to stay mentally fit in these
“The scale of the national COVID-19 lockdown is unprecedented in living memory. The repercussions – personal, professional, national and international – will reverberate for years to come. As entrepreneurs, we need to be making the right decisions for right now to ensure that our businesses and our people’s livelihoods do not become another casualty of the virus.” At date of writing it is still unclear to what extent the Lockdown will be relaxed in each Province, but regardless of timelines the
“The secret of crisis management is not good vs. bad, it’s preventing the bad from getting worse” (Andy Gilman) We can only guess at how the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak will end, but let’s all take whatever concrete steps we can right now to lessen its impact on our personal lives, on our businesses, and on our country. One of those steps is for businesses to find ways of continuing to operate as normally as possible, given of course the exceptional times we
“Never let a good crisis go to waste” (Winston Churchill) The COVID-19 coronavirus crisis will, like all crises, eventually give way to economic and societal recovery. Even before that inevitable upturn actually sets in, entrepreneurs should remember that times of great risk and challenge are also times of great opportunity. So get your team together now and brainstorm what new needs and new niches you can fill. Witness for example the “remote destination” businesses like game lodges now offering safe and luxurious havens
Will the main provisions of POPIA (the Protection of Personal Information Act) really commence on 1 April 2020 as media reports suggest, or is this just another case of Crying Wolf? This time it seems it may be the real thing, with the Information Regulator having formally requested the President to declare the commencement date. If that does indeed happen (still unclear at date of writing), any organisation that needs to comply with POPIA will have a one year transitional period
