Management

Access to finance remains one of the most significant barriers facing South Africa's Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). While many entrepreneurs need additional capital to grow, securing funding can be challenging, particularly for businesses operating outside major economic centres.

When a senior advisor or executive walks out the door, especially to join a competitor, your restraint of trade clause is often the only thing standing between you and serious commercial damage. Here is what recent South African case law tells us about what works, what does not and what you need to do now.

The Golden Thirteen were the first African American men commissioned as officers in the United States Navy. Their story is more than a historical milestone. It is a powerful example of how teams can perform under pressure, overcome systemic barriers and create lasting change.

In June, Meta experienced a global outage that disrupted Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp services for users worldwide. The outage left many businesses temporarily unable to connect with customers through some of their most important digital channels. While the disruption was temporary, it highlighted the risks associated with relying too heavily on a single digital platform.

For years, one question has dominated the conversation around women ascending into leadership positions - how do we enable more women to reach the top?

If there is one compliment South Africans hear more than any other, it is this: "South Africans are so resilient". We wear it almost as a badge of honour. We have endured economic uncertainty, political shifts, load shedding, global disruption and constant change. Furthermore, we adapt because we have to. But I often wonder whether we've misunderstood resilience.

A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) creates a protected space in which parties can exchange commercially sensitive information. Yet a few apparently innocuous words dealing with information retained in “unaided memory” may materially reduce that protection. In extreme cases, they may undermine the commercial purpose of the NDA itself.

From hot flushes in the boardroom to violence at home, some of the experiences affecting women’s working lives remain difficult to say out loud. We believe employers need to create workplaces where those conversations can happen without embarrassment, judgement or fear. I have seen how easily a woman can sit in a meeting when a hot flush begins.

King V reframes corporate governance as a competitive necessity. It embeds Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors and integrated thinking at the heart of board decision-making. The question boardrooms across South Africa are now facing is what this framework demands in practice when it comes to overseeing Artificial Intelligence (AI).

White-collar crime in Africa is no longer a predominantly domestic concern. It has expanded onto an international stage, and so has the corporate exposure that comes with it. As capital crosses borders, data moves at the speed of light, and corporate structures become more complex, economic crime has kept pace. It has become more sophisticated, more multinational and increasingly difficult to investigate and prosecute within the confines of a single legal system.