Business Rescue, Restructuring & Insolvency Newsletter

“Get busy living, or get busy dying”

This is one of my favourite quotes from the movie, The Shawshank Redemption.

I was recently reminded of Andy Dufresne (or even William Wallace) when I went out running on 1 May 2020. For a second, I considered replicating that iconic scene…but it wasn’t raining, and I didn’t escape from prison… or did I? 

Everyone was out on the streets (and on the promenade in Cape Town) and I probably ended up getting more exercise from waving to my neighbours than from running. Simply put, it warmed my heart to see so many people with a smile on their face. Even the cyclists were greeting the runners.

How great is it to see that people are slowly but surely getting back to life before lockdown. I am taking it one day at a time and with our nanny being allowed to return to work and the luxury of being able to order food from restaurants - it looks like my marriage will survive.

The last five weeks have really zoomed by. Unfortunately, it came with more casualties being reported. COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has seen many giants stumble and fall. The closing of Associated Media Publishing is the end of an area. We also saw that SA Express was placed in liquidation and that Edcon has decided to place itself under business rescue. Has it become a game of who will be next and where is that much needed amendments to our insolvency legislation?

Since our last edition, we presented a follow-up webinar. Thank you to those who attended. Our guest speaker, Sifiso Skenjana, was incredible. Sifiso is the chief economist at IQ Business. Trust me, he is able to make economics fun. A recording of this second session can be downloaded here.

As promised, please see below, an article dealing with the interplay between insolvency and employment arrangements. In this edition we also include an overview of the various sectors which were hit by the Coronavirus pandemic as well as a discussion on a number of mechanisms available to directors and stakeholders to minimise harm to their businesses and reduce insolvency risks.

We received various requests for copies of the previous editions of our newsletter. Copies can be downloaded here.

We have all realised that getting a haircut has now become life’s next somewhat seemingly insurmountable challenge. I tried myself and failed. Luckily, the picture that you see on the newsletter was taken before lockdown. All I can say is not only was I recently reminded of Andy Dufresne, but we now also have similar hairstyles.

To all the mothers out there, happy Mother’s Day on Sunday.