Since the advent of the Companies Act, 71 of 2008 ("New Act"), two related questions have confounded legal practitioners and this confusion has been compounded by conflicting high court decisions. These questions are: (a) whether or not an interested person may apply to court for reinstatement of a company (or close corporation) deregistered because of failure to file annual returns and (b) whether or not a court may, when reinstating a company (or close corporation), make an order that such reinstatement shall have retrospective effect. Under the Companies Act, 61 of 1973 ("Old Act"), these questions did not require the wisdom of interpretation high priests; the genesis of the confusion is the New Act.

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Written by Siyabonga Shandu, Director, Tony Tshivhase Inc.