andre boraine

In administering a bankrupt estate, the insolvency representative will examine transactions in which the debtor was involved before the onset of bankruptcy, to ascertain whether any of the debtor's property or assets that should be available for distribution among all creditors were disposed of improperly. These transactions may usually be contested with the aim of reclaiming those assets from the recipient or beneficiary for the benefit of the creditors as a group - hence the notion of claw-back provisions or the swelling of the assets of the estate.

There seems no better time than the present to consider the protection of a debtor's home against execution by creditors, whether within or outside of the insolvency system. The sub-prime mortgage crisis and current global economic distress have focused attention on the need to find ways to avoid the adverse consequences of mortgage foreclosures for both debtors and creditors. Unemployment and the rising cost of living have already burdened the social security systems of various countries. It may be difficult for governments that have already directed funds towards saving financial and business sectors of the economy also to address the needs of individual debtors facing possible homelessness as a result of home mortgage foreclosures.

This article discusses how foreign companies doing business in South Africa during periods of financial distress and registered locally as external companies are, as a recent High Court decision confirms, denied the formal debt-relief measures of business rescue and therefore a compromise with creditors because of being excluded by the definition of “company” in the Companies Act 71 of 2008. Nor, for the same reason, may these companies, if solvent, rely on the current liquidation procedures. But they may possibly use the procedure preserved in the otherwise repealed Companies Act 61 of 1973 for liquidation as far as the transitional arrangements in the Companies Act 71 of 2008 allow. The purposive solution suggested in this article for the interplay between the two Acts may need legislative attention. This article surveys other possibilities relevant to these companies such as informal voluntary arrangements, applications for winding-up, ordinary debt collection, and perhaps compul...

Section 129(1)(a) of the National Credit Act1 plays a pivotal role in the enforcement of credit agreements. Section 129(1)(b), read together with ss 130(1) and 130(3)(a) of the Act, essentially compels a credit provider to deliver a notice in terms of s 129(1)(a) to the consumer prior to enforcement of a credit agreement to which the NCA applies. These provisions are cast in mandatory terms.

Although some legal systems provide some protection of the homestead or family home for the debtor when his or her estate is insolvent, such direct protective measures are absent in South African insolvency law. Such protection during insolvency can be provided by means of some level of exemption of the family home or homestead of the insolvent like in the insolvency laws of the USA, or by providing protection of occupancy to the insolvents and his or her dependants as is the case in England and Wales.In view of the developments in light of the right to housing as provided for in section 26 of the Constitution concerning the protection of the primary residence of a debtor in South African individual debt collecting and execution procedures, the question will be posed in Part 1 of this article if the same principles should apply in the case of a court hearing an application for compulsory sequestration, especially if the debtor raises the point that the sequestration order may render...

The package of amendments to the Insolvency Act 24 of 1936 (IA), the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA) and the basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA) is probably the most significant manifestation of pressure exerted by the labour movement on the insolvency law fraternity ever experienced in South African legal history. On 2nd August 1999 the Congress of the South African Trade Unions (COSATU) gave notice to the National Economic Development and Labour Court (NEDLAC) that it intended to commence with protest action inter alia on the ground that insolvency laws must be amended to alleviate the adverse effects of liquidtions upon workers and their financial security.

It is a well-known fact that the legal systems of South Africa and Namibia, or rather the former South West Africa, were rather identical until the advent of independence of the latter on 21 March 1990. This note thus deals with aspects of the development of insolvency law in South Africa and Namibia since Namibia became independent. What is also important is the fact that both Namibia and South Africa adopted a constitution that is based on a Bill of Rights (see the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia of 1990 and the South African Constitution of 1996). Some developments in insolvency law based on these features are therefore also considered in this note. As indicated, upon independence Namibia retained significant portions of South African law including its legislation. Owing to the shared background of Roman-Dutch-law and English-law influences, both Namibia and South Africa can still be classified as having mixed legal systems. Like South Africa, Namibian insolvency law is n...

This report deals with the civil procedural system in the High Courts of the Republic of South Africa. The South African law of civil procedure in the High Courts is adversarial in nature. It owes its origin to and is essentially that of England. In this regard the South African law is sui generis: its substantive law is of civil law (i e Roman-Dutch) origin whereas its civil procedural law is mainly of common law origin. In other words, it is a mixed legal system. The civil practice of the High Courts is, in essence, regulated by the Supreme Court Act 59 of 1959 and the Uniform Rules of Court. The respective High Courts also have local rules and practice directives issued in terms of their inherent jurisdiction to regulate their own process. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, contains a Bill of Rights which includes, in section 34 thereof, the right to a fair trial. This provides the benchmark for civil procedure in the High Courts.

OPSOMMING Enkele praktiese en vergelykende aspekte van die kansellasie van afbetalingsooreenkomste ingevolge die Nasionale Kredietwet 34 van 2005 Teen die agtergrond van die toepassingsgebied van die Nasionale Kredietwet 34 van 2005 behandel hierdie artikel sekere praktiese aspekte met betrekking tot die kansellasie van 'n afbetalingsooreenkoms ingevolge dié Wet deur die proses onder andere met die voormalige Wet op Kredietooreenkomste se kansellasiebepalings rakende 'n afbetalingsverkooptransaksie ingevolge daardie Wet kortliks te kontrasteer. Verder word die proses, insluitende sommige probleemaspekte rakende die 2005 Wet, behandel. Die skrywers maak sekere aanbevelings rakende die praktiese hantering van 'n kansellasie van 'n afbetalingsooreenkoms in die lig van bepaalde uitlegprobleme en waarskynlike leemtes ingevolge laasgenoemde Wet. 4 Debt Enforcement Measures in Terms of the Act 4 1 General The features of the instalment agreement 127 render it one of the mor...

But, as Professor Goode observes, adroitly, it is respectfully submitted,`[t]he pari passu principle, though of fundamental importance, is not absolute. For reasons of policy insolvency law provides certain deviations'3 And the most signi¢cant devia-tion is caused by ...

... in fact some authorities indicate that such a composition can only be effective if all the creditors accept the offer, see Prinsloo v Van Zyl ... Since creditors run a risk when accepting liability for administration costs, it is submitted that most cases, where the o¡er of composition is not ...

Owing to the complexities involved, there is often a need for formal cooperation between different jurisdictions, and practical legal rules to govern matters flowing from cross-border insolvencies. This article will examine the nature of the legal rules applicable to cross-border insolvencies against the backdrop of South African rules and norms in this regard, and specifically look into the role international law may play in the development of local legal principles regulating insolvencies with an international character.

Die geld of die boks : perspektiewe op roekelose krediet ingevolge die Nasionale Kredietwet 34 van 2005 Die Nasionale Kredietwet 34 van 2005 (hierna die NKW) lei die konsep van roekelose krediet vir die eerste keer In Suid-Afrikaanse kredietwetgewing in. Die NKW poog om roekelose kredietverlening te voorkom deur voorooreenkoms-assessering ingevolge artikel 81 daarvan verpligtend te maak en maak verder voorsiening vir verskeie remedies ten opsigte van roekelose krediet. Daar word aan die howe verskeie magte verleen afhangende van die soort roekelose krediet wat toegestaan is. Aansienlike onduidelikheid bestaan egter oor die basis waarop die magte van die hof om te beveel dat 'n totale of gedeeltelike tersydestelling van die regte en verpligtinge van die verbruiker, aan wie roekelose krediet soos beoog in artikel 80(1)(a) en 80(1)(b)(ii) toegestaan is, uitgeoefen moet word. Dit is voorts ook nie duidelik op watter basis 'n hof ten aansien van voormelde soorte roekelose krediet...

The article focuses on the function and role of real security within bankruptcy by taking the South African distribution rules in insolvency as the point of departure to examine some aspects of the functioning of secured claims in a bankruptcy system. The purpose of the first part of the article is to provide a background against which the practical effect of the relative rankings of creditors as secured, unsecured priority and concurrent creditors respectively may be dealt with. The explorative research question is whether the secured creditor should under all circumstances enjoy extensive coverage of his or her claim and, more importantly, whether and under what circumstances an argument can be put forward for unsecured creditors to share in at least a percentage of the proceeds of a security. It is also a point of departure that there are existing exceptions where some creditors do receive special treatment despite the fact that they do not have a right of real security in their ...

In terms of Section 74 of the Magistrate's Courts Act 32 of 1944 a debtor who is unable to pay his debts may apply for an administration order, provided that his debts do not exceed an amount of R50 000. Where such an application is granted, the debtor must make regular payments to an administrator. The administrator is obliged to draw up a list of creditors and must pay them from the amounts received from the debtor.

Section 129(1)(a) of the National Credit Act1 plays a pivotal role in the enforcement of credit agreements. Section 129(1)(b), read together with ss 130(1) and 130(3)(a) of the Act, essentially compels a credit provider to deliver a notice in terms of s 129(1)(a) to the consumer prior to enforcement of a credit agreement to which the NCA applies. These provisions are cast in mandatory terms.

The purpose of this contribution is to establish the effect of compliance or non-compliance with the peremptory statutory pre-enforcement notice in terms of section 129(1)(a) of the National Credit Act in the context of prescription of credit agreement debt. Pertinent issues that need to be considered is whether a section 129(1)(a) notice qualifies as a "process" and, further, whether it qualifies as a process whereby payment of a debt is claimed as contemplated in section 15 of the Prescription Act. This will provide an answer to the question whether delivery of a section 129(1)(a) notice may serve to interrupt prescription.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) motto in their coat of arms reads "Towards a Common Future" Article 5 of the SADC Treaty spells out one of the main objectives of the SADC namely to promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development through deeper cooperation and integration.

As a general rule any creditor who wishes to share in the distribution of the proceeds of the assets in an insolvent estate must prove a claim against the estate at a meeting of creditors ("creditors" in this context refers to creditors in respect of debts incurred prior to sequestration - cf Vather v Dhavraj 1973 2 SA 232 (N)). South African insolvency law proceeds from the premise that once a sequestration order is granted, a concursus creditorum comes into being and the interests of the creditors as a group enjoy preference over the interests of individual creditors (cf Walker v Syfret 1911 AD 141 166, where the court explained the key concept of concursus creditorum; Richter NO v Riverside Estates (Pty) Ltd 1946 OPD 209 223; Sharrock et al Hockly's Insolvency Law (2006) 5). The concursus creditorum is regarded as one of the key concepts of the South African law of insolvency, and the object of the Insolvency Act 24 of 1936 is to ensure a due distribution of assets ...

Section 81(3) of the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 clearly provides that a credit provider must not enter into a reckless credit agreement with a prospective consumer. Section 3(c)(ii) of the NCA also states that it is one of the purposes of this Act to discourage reckless credit. The NCA, however, does not state that credit agreements that give rise to reckless credit are ab initio null and void as is the case with unlawful credit agreements in terms of section 89 of the NCA. (S 89 deals with unlawful credit agreements but the section does not indicate reckless credit agreements as being unlawful – see para 3 1 below.) Courts may, however, declare credit agreements in terms of the NCA to be reckless and may then, depending on the type of reckless credit, inter alia set aside all or part of the consumer’s rights and duties in terms thereof or suspend its operation.

There seems no better time than the present to consider the protection of a debtor's home against execution by creditors, whether within or outside of the insolvency system. The sub-prime mortgage crisis and current global economic distress have focused attention on the need to find ways to avoid the adverse consequences of mortgage foreclosures for both debtors and creditors. Unemployment and the rising cost of living have already burdened the social security systems of various countries. It may be difficult for governments that have already directed funds towards saving financial and business sectors of the economy also to address the needs of individual debtors facing possible homelessness as a result of home mortgage foreclosures.

The general principle regarding the effect of liquidation on contracts entered into before liquidation is presently based on our common law. The rule entails that in the absence of any statutory provisions or common law principles to the contrary, contractual rights and obligations are not automatically terminated by the sequestration or liquidation of either one of the contracting parties.

Mars The Law of Insolvency in South Africa is a household name in all walks of insolvency life in South Africa. Since its very first edition in 1917, based on the then 1916 Insolvency Act (the first uniform insolvency legislation for the former Union of South Africa), it has established itself as a prime reference source on South African insolvency law. Over the years, the work has been enriched by the contributions and insights of various authors who have carried the work forward by updating and expanding it in view of new developments in this area of the law.

Abstract: <b>Rol van die meester in 'n veranderende insolvensie-omgewing</b> <br>Die rol van die meester van die hoè hof as reguleerder in die Suid-Afrikaanse insolvensiereg is 'n kontroversièle besprekingspunt in die Suid-Afrikaanse reg. Bewys hiervan kan gevind word in die ...

Section  129(1)(a)  of  the  National  Credit Act1plays  a  pivotal  role  in  theenforcement  of  credit  agreements.  Section  129(1)(b),  read  together  withss 130(1)  and  130(3)(a)  of  the Act,  essentially  compels  a  credit  provider  todeliver a notice in terms of s 129(1)(a) to the consumer prior to enforcementof a credit agreement to which the NCA applies. These provisions are cast inmandatory terms

In administering a bankrupt estate, the insolvency representative willexamine transactions in which the debtor was involved before the onset ofbankruptcy, to ascertain whether any of the debtor’s property or assets thatshould be available for distribution among all creditors were disposed ofimproperly. These transactions may usually be contested with the aimof reclaiming those assets from the recipient or beneficiary for the benefitofthe creditors as a group – hence the notion of claw-back provisions or theswelling of the assets of the estate

Onlangse regspraak 457 toepassing van artikel 13 moet die howe dus waak teen judisiële aktivisme waardeur trustdokumente ingrypend verander word in die naam van die openbare belang, maar die beginsels van testeer-en kontrakteervryheid en die belange van bestaande bevoordeeldes verontagsaam word. PDEW VAN DER SPUY Universiteit van Pretoria Badenhorst v Bekker NO en Andere (Ongerapporteerde Saaknr 3259/92 (N)) Gevolge van sekwestrasie van gemeenskaplike boedel op testamentêre uitgeslote bates 1 Inleiding 'n Besonder aktuele vraagstuk wat betref die familie-, erf-en insolvensiereg, is die vraag of 'n testateur op so 'n wyse oor 'n legaat of erfstelling kan beskik dat laasgenoemde onder die uitsluitlike beheer van 'n gade getroud binne gemeenskap van goed val en dat dit uitgesluit word van die gemeenskaplike boedel van gades wat aldus getroud is. 'n Tipiese geval waar die onderhawige aangeleentheid van besondere belang kan wees, is waar byvoorbeeld die eggenote (vrou) sekere bates erf en die testateur uitdruklik 'n klousule met die onderhawige strekking in sy testament opgeneem het, en die testateur na sekwestrasie van die gemeenskaplike boedel (op grond van skulde deur die eggenoot (man) geïnisieer) te sterwe kom. 2 Feite In die onderhawige beslissing het die dispuut gehandel oor die vraag of die eerste en tweede respondente geregtig was om die erfenis wat aan die applikant bemaak is kragtens die testament van die oorledene, in hul hoedanigheid as kuratore van die gemeenskaplike boedel van die applikant en haar eggenoot met wie sy binne gemeenskap van goed getroud is, tot voordeel van die skuldeisers van die insolvente boedel te gelde te maak. Die oorledene het naamlik sy bates aan die applikant bemaak onderhewig aan die volgende voorwaarde (klousule 3 van die testament): "Enige begunstigde wat kragtens hierdie my testament erf sal sy of haar erfenis ontvang as sy of haar vrye en uitsluitlike eiendom, vry van die skulde van, en uitgesluit van enige gemeenskap van goed met, enige eggenote of eggenoot met wie hy of sy in die huwelik getree het of nog mag tree en, in die geval van 'n vroulike begunstigde, vry van die beheer en maritale mag van enige eggenoot met wie sy in die huwelik getree het of nog mag tree en haar kwitansie alleen sal 'n voldoende kwytskelding wees vir enige betaling aan haar.'

This case deals with an appeal against the refusal of the court a quo to refer the application of the appellant for the hearing of oral evidence. In the course of the judgement interesting points in respect of the ownership of the moneys, the actio Pauliana as well as certain banking practices, which deserve further attention, were raised.

In this Article I shall recommend that the project committee of the South African Law Commission which has the task of making proposals for the reform of the South African insolvency law should take another look at the actio Pauliana in order to codify this common-law remedy. This action is the backbone of that part of the doctrine of impeachable transactions or voidable dispositions in our law which is better known in common-law jurisdictions as 'fraudulent conveyance law'.

A trustee in bankruptcy will, when administering a bankrupt estate, examine any transactions in which the bankrupt was involved before the onset of the bankruptcy to ascertain whether any of the bankrupt's property, which should be available for the distribution amongst all the creditors ,was disposed of improperly.