Companies and the Constitutional ‘Right to Life’: A Critical Analysis of the Companies Act 71 of 2008

Corporate law is founded on the fictitious principle of the separate legal personality of a company. This principle entails that a company is a juristic person, separate and distinct from any persons involved with the company. Because of their juristic nature, companies can acquire rights and incur liabilities in their own capacity. This corporate-law principle is rooted in section 8(4) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996...