Shortly after the commencement of the Act, we made it our business to be one of the first firms in South Africa to place a company under business rescue. Business Rescue in South Africa got off to a rocky start, though, and for the first couple of months after the commencement of the act on 1 May 2011 there were no licensed business rescue practitioners appointed by the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC).
This state of affairs did in no way deter us from placing companies under business rescue. We approached the North Gauteng High Court and obtained one of the first, if not the first, orders in South Africa confirming that business rescue indeed commenced for a company and extended the prescribed time periods for the appointment of a business rescue practitioner.
These applications were to say the least, very audacious in nature as we cited the Minister of Trade and Industry as well as CIPC as Respondents, and we sought court cost orders against these entities should our applications be opposed by them. We succeeded with all 6 applications that were brought of this nature.