Before 2015, South Africa did not have a uniform law on foreign investments and foreign investments was mainly subject to international treaties it signed and domestic laws on certain industries, such as Companies Act, Tax Administration Act, Credits Agreements Act, and Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act. In November 2013, DTI issued the Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill, which was passed by the National Assembly in 2015 and renamed as Protection of Investment Act to come into force. Since then, South Africa has established a legal framework on foreign investments, centering on Protection of Investment Act and accompanied by international treaties and domestic laws on certain industries.
(I) Protection of Investment Act
It aims to include foreign investments and domestic investments into the same management framework to ensure South Africa's open mind to foreign direct investments (FDI), provide enough protection to FDI, and, more importantly, to ensure balance between the aforementioned objectives and government regulation and public interest. The act’s provisions cover security of foreign investors, national treatment, nationalization and levy. It also provides diversified solutions such as mediation to disputes.
(II) Bilateral investment protection treaties
South Africa now has 13 bilateral investment protection treaties, including the Agreement Between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments that was signed with China in 1997. According to Section 15 of Protection of Investment Act, existing investments that were made under Bilateral Investment Treaties will continue to be protected for the period and terms stipulated in the treaties, and any investments made after the termination of such treaties will be governed by Protection of Investment Act.
(III) Companies Act
According to Companies Act 2008, a foreign-funded enterprise must register with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission within 20 business days after it first begins to conduct business, or non-profit activities, as the case may be.