Company names have been enjoying statutory protection in this country since days prior to the merging of the colonies into the Union of South Africa in 1910. Although, only the Transvaal and the Cape colonies had legislation for protection of company names, upon the attainment of the Union, the Companies Act 46 of 1926, consolidated the corporate laws and applied to all the provinces of the Union. Almost fifty years later, the Companies Act 61 of 1973 replaced the 1926 Companies Act. Recently, in fact, just over two years ago – albeit with a slightly premature birth certificate, so to metaphorically speak with complete deference, the Companies Act 71 of 2008 came into effect in May 2011.
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