Business Law Focus

In this edition of Business Law Focus, host Evan Pickworth interviews Jocelyn Katz, an Executive at ENS and Head in the Competition / Anti-Trust practice. They discuss a significant milestone in SA law – the 25th anniversary of the country’s competition law framework. They look at the highs, lows and what lies next, including the impact of new areas like AI.

Fashion can be a taxing business and in this edition of Business Law Focus host Evan Pickworth interviews Carlyn Frittelli Davies and Mansoor Parker from ENS on the industry’s battle between profit, people and planet.

In this edition of Business Law Focus, host Evan Pickworth interviews Liézal Mostert from ENS’s Intellectual Property team. They discuss the role of IP in empowering women in business, as well as how to get more women involved in the fast-developing IP practice area.

In this edition of Business Law Focus, on Mandela Day, host Evan Pickworth interviews Natasha Wagiet, Pro Bono Manager overseeing ENS'CSI portfolio at Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha Township in Cape Town and Alexandra Township in Johannesburg.

They delve into the urgent need to protect and deliver access to justice in SA and globally as wars, poverty, and corruption continue to rage. Improving socio-economic rights and the social aspects of ESG is a pressing concern that still needs to be addressed in many areas.

Nelson Mandela, on the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (21 September 1998), offered this sage advice on how to bring about change: "The challenge posed by the next 50 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by the next century whose character it must help to fashion, consists in whether humanity, and especially those who will occupy positions of leadership, will have the courage to ensure that, at last, we build a human world consistent with the provisions of that historic Declaration and other human rights instruments that have been adopted since 1948."

In this edition of Business Law Focus host, Evan Pickworth, interviews Mihlali Sitefane, founder of Sitef & Co. They discuss the future of junior mining against the backdrop of weak economic growth and regulatory complexity.

Sitefane explains that while junior miners in South Africa face challenges such as navigating complex regulatory frameworks, securing investment, and meeting ESG requirements, there are also significant opportunities, particularly with the increasing demand for critical metals and ongoing efforts to create a more conducive environment for exploration.

While the University of Fort Hare buckles under the weight of corruption allegations and ongoing criminal investigations, Business Law Focus host Evan Pickworth looks into the recent arrests of two prominent attorneys working on uncovering fraud and corruption at the university.

The arrests came despite their trove of evidence, measuring in the terabytes and dating back to 2018, which they say lifts the lid on extensive layers of corruption at the university. 

In this episode, labour lawyer Bradley Conradie and forensic lawyer Sarah Burger explain how they were recently arrested by the police national task team investigating criminality at the university.

With SA’s youth unemployment rate not far off those in war zones, Business Law Focus host Evan Pickworth interviews Natasha Wagiet, a Pro Bono Manager overseeing ENS'CSI portfolio, to find solutions. They discuss the pursuit of access to justice for all, matters involving socio-economic rights issues, as well as the foregrounding of the social aspect of ESG.  

The Context

 Natasha Wagiet is a Pro Bono Manager overseeing ENS'CSI portfolio at Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha Township in Cape Town and Alexandra Township in Johannesburg.

Her experience includes working with vulnerable individuals and groups, impact litigation experience as well as training and advocacy. 

On youth day, a key focus must be for corporate SA to do more to arrest an unemployment rate for the youth hovering close to 50%.

In the latest edition of Business Law Focus, host Evan Pickworth interviews Thabang Hleza, the Head of Investments at Masisizane, a non-profit funding entity that provides enterprise development to small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs). Thabang provides valuable insights into the intricate balance between legal compliance and SMMEs' growth objectives.

In this edition of Business Law Focus, host Evan Pickworth interviews a multijurisdictional panel of employment law experts from Baker McKenzie offices in five different jurisdictions around the world.

The panel of Mirjam de Blécourt (Partner and Head of Employment, Amsterdam), Monica Kurnatowska (Senior Employment Partner, London), Johan Botes (Partner and Head of Employment, Johannesburg), Fermin Guardiola (Partner and Regional head of Employment, Madrid), and Joanna Matthews-Taylor (Partner and Head of Employment, Dubai) discuss how organisations face growing pressure to address complaints about inappropriate behaviour in the workplace.

Many mineral and upstream petroleum law developments have occurred in the past year, with the sector dealing with change on many fronts.

In this edition of Business Law Focus, host Evan Pickworth interviews Ntsiki Adonisi, Executive and Head of ENS' Natural Resources and Environment practice and Otsile Matlou, ENSafrica's Chief Operating Officer, about the sector's future. We also dig into the impact of SA's Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.