The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Rob Davies said the implementation of the new Companies Act is progressing and that entrepreneurs and businesses have benefited from it.
Davies was speaking at the two-day Company Law Symposium hosted by the Department of Trade and Industry, (the dti) together with the Specialist Committee on Company Law (SCCL) in Kempton Park, today.
Davies said the new Companies Act has allowed the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) to improve their online registration processes and made it possible for several companies to avoid liquidation since 2011, through the process of business rescue.
He added that the partnership with banks to register businesses has also assisted in reducing some of the load from the commission.
Business rescue
According to Davies the simplification of registration is one of the few benefits of the Companies Act. He said business rescue models that were introduced have allowed companies to build capacity around the regulation.
“Business rescue models have allowed for many companies with real capacity, capital, and skills to survive and save jobs. Since 2011, 1338 business rescue notices were filed and only 73 resulted in liquidations,” said Davies.
He added that these statistics show that there are processes that are still in continuation and that there are other solutions other than bankruptcy and liquidation.
The symposium is attended by more than three hundred stakeholders comprising of business, law practitioners and government officials.
