ABSTRACT
The creation of the ‘limited liability company’ was an important historical development, enabling people to hold shares in a company without risking any of their wealth beyond the shares themselves: if the company failed, they would not be liable to pay the company’s debts from their personal wealth – their liability was limited to the shares and nothing further. The question of how to address the power of South Africa’s conglomerates and their role in the creation and intensification of racial and other forms of inequality was long a part of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa –with most resistance forces recognising the interconnections between the apartheid system and business. Amendments to the Companies Act of 2008 – especially those passed in 2018 – relate mainly to changes in disclosure and governance requirements, in line with global trends. Such employee ownership would be equally relevant across the global south.
