Page 9 - Nexia SAB&T Business in South Africa Guide 2024

■ Business Trust.
■ Profit company.
[includes public company, private company and personal liability company].
■ Non-Profit company.
■ External company (branch of a foreign company).
Tax and other considerations affect the choice of business vehicle. The most
commonly adopted forms of doing business by foreign investors are private
companies and branches of foreign companies.

South African law used to provide for a business entity type called Close
Corporations (CC’s) until the Companies Act, 71 of 2008 came into force on
1 May 2011. While CC’s may no longer be created, existing CC’s continue to
operate.
All companies must register with the Companies and Intellectual Property
Commission in SA (CIPC).

COMPANIES ACT, 71 OF 2008

The Companies Act, 71 of 2008 (hereinafter referred to as “the Companies
Act” or “the Act”) regulates the formation and registration, governance, winding
up, deregistration and liquidation of all companies, and makes no distinction
between locally owned or foreign-owned companies. On the 26 July 2024 the
South African President signed the long-awaited First and Second Companies
Amendment Bills into law. The most material changes introduced by the Bills
relate to remuneration disclosures, the closing of certain "gaps" in the Act with
a view to curbing money laundering, and to enhance shareholder powers in a
company by clarifying the responsibilities of directors and senior management on
the one hand, and shareholders on the other.

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