NVDB Attorneys

13/10/2026

The first sign a customer's cash flow is collapsing is rarely a board announcement. It's an email from accounts payable saying the invoice is "in process" - a phrase with about the same evidential value as "the cheque is in the post."

By the end of Q2 2025, roughly 95,400 South African government invoices older than 30 days, worth R12.4 billion, remained unpaid. The pattern repeats in the private sector every day.

Once formal business rescue, liquidation or litigation arrives, a creditor's leverage narrows and the evidence starts moving out of reach. Protection has to start earlier, while the contract still has teeth.

Our latest article covers what to actually do when a customer starts sliding.

https://www.nvdbattorneys.com/blog/when-the-contract-starts-cracking---protecting-your-business-before-a-customer-defaults

When the Contract Starts Cracking - Protecting Your Business Before a Customer Defaults

29/09/2026

The company owes you money. The bank account is empty. The director still arrives at meetings in a car that suggests austerity is somebody else's problem.

Can't you just sue the directors?

Sometimes yes. Usually no. The question isn't whether the director looks solvent, it's whether there's a recognised cause of action against them and whether the case has been built on evidence rather than outrage.

Our latest article sets out what creditors can actually do when the corporate debtor has nothing left.

When section 20(9) of the Companies Act genuinely applies, and why common ownership and intercompany loans on their own don't get you there.

Why section 424 of the 1973 Act is the one remedy in this space a creditor can bring in its own name.

Where a personal misrepresentation by a director gives you a direct delictual claim, and what you actually need to prove.

How to read a suretyship properly, and why "for the company" isn't a personal undertaking.

The Insolvency Act's avoidance remedies for suspect transfers to related entities.

https://www.nvdbattorneys.com/blog/the-company-owes-you-money---but-can-you-sue-the-director

16/09/2026

You do the work. You send the invoice. Ninety days later, you've quietly become an unwilling lender to local government.

If your business supplies a distressed municipality, this is increasingly the norm rather than the exception.

Our latest article covers what actually works. The statutory notice rules that trip up most claims. When set-off is safe, and when it gets you disconnected. How to structure a settlement a municipality can pay. And how to choose an enforcement remedy that ends in payment, not just a favourable judgment.

🔗 https://www.nvdbattorneys.com/blog/mitigating-the-fallout-debt-recovery-strategies-for-businesses-exposed-to-failing-municipalities

26/08/2026

A major client enters business rescue. What can you actually do?

For businesses trading on open account, one distressed customer can leave you holding unpaid invoices, undelivered stock, and a set of legal remedies that quietly change the moment the rescue commences.

Our latest article breaks down what suppliers, credit managers and executives need to know.

Practical, plain-language guidance for the open-account supply chain.

https://www.nvdbattorneys.com/blog/how-business-rescue-plansreshape-creditor-claims

03/08/2026

The Western Cape High Court has granted President Ramaphosa an interim interdict pausing Parliament's Section 89 impeachment inquiry into the Phala Phala matter, pending a full review of the independent panel report in September.

But what does "impeachment" actually mean under South African law? How is it different from a motion of no confidence? What does the review court have to decide? And what happens if a President is removed from office?

Our latest article breaks down the constitutional process in plain language - no political commentary, just the law.

Review application Ramaphosa - NVDB Attorneys - Nicholas van den Berg

19/06/2026

The good news: corporate insolvencies in South Africa fell to a historic low last year. The less good news: that trend has run out of road, and failures are expected to rise again in 2026.

We see the fallout every week. One big debtor goes down, and suddenly a healthy business is standing in the queue with everyone else hoping for cents in the rand.

Our new article breaks down trade credit insurance, how subrogation works once the insurer pays out, and how recoveries actually get fought for through business rescue and liquidation.

Have a read.

https://www.nvdbattorneys.com/blog/trade-credit-insurance-in-south-africa---a-corporate-lifeline-in-a-high-default-economy

11/06/2026

Why can't government simply take over a failing municipality and fix it?

It's a reasonable question - and one most business leaders ask when a struggling municipality starts to affect cash flow, development timelines or service delivery. But South Africa's Constitution doesn't allow a swift, top-down rescue.

Municipalities are a protected sphere of government, and intervention is staged, constrained and often slow.

Our newest article walks through section 139, the limits of "placing a municipality under administration", when financial intervention becomes mandatory, and the practical steps businesses should take to protect their commercial exposure.
A future intervention is not a dependable substitute for prudent drafting today.

Read the full piece here 👉

Municipal Intervention in South Africa - Constitutional implications

18/05/2026

Johannesburg owes R25.2 billion to creditors and holds R3.9 billion in cash. You can't liquidate a city. So if you're an unpaid supplier, what can you actually do?

Our latest piece sets out the practical remedies available to creditors of the City of Johannesburg - mandamus, attachment, the section 139 and 216 leverage points, and joint creditor action.

https://www.nvdbattorneys.com/blog/the-golden-city-in-red---creditor-survival-in-a-technically-not-bankrupt-johannesburg

NVDB Attorneys - Creditor Survival in a Technically (Not) Bankrupt Johannesburg

08/04/2026

Legal to grow. Illegal to sell. Fine to have… but don’t let anyone see it.

Yeah 0 cannabis law in SA is a bit of a mess right now.
We unpack what’s actually allowed in 2026 (without the legal jargon).

https://www.nvdbattorneys.com/blog/the-great-green-gauntlet---navigating-south-africas-cannabis-calamity

08/04/2026

If you’ve been feeling like South Africa’s courts are getting… theatrical, you’re not wrong.

2026 is shaping up to be a year of big trials, bigger delays, and some long-overdue legal shifts. From headline-grabbing criminal cases to the recognition of Muslim marriages, there’s a lot happening behind those courtroom doors.

We broke it down (with a bit of honesty and humour):

https://www.nvdbattorneys.com/blog/welcome-to-the-2026-south-african-judiciary-spectacular---a-survival-guide-for-the-optimistic-and-the-indicted

Worth the read if you want to understand what’s actually going on - and why it matters.

Welcome to the 2026 South African Judiciary Spectacular - A Survival Guide for the Optimistic and the Indicted