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Companies Act, 2008 (Act No. 71 of 2008)

Chapter 2 : Formation, Administration and Dissolution of Companies

Part F : Governance of companies

63. Conduct of meetings

 

(1) Before any person may attend or participate in a shareholders meeting
(a) that person must present reasonably satisfactory identification; and
(b) the person presiding at the meeting must be reasonably satisfied that the right of that person to participate and vote, either as a shareholder, or as a proxy for a shareholder, has been reasonably verified.

 

(2) Unless prohibited by its Memorandum of Incorporation, a company may provide for—
(a) a shareholders meeting to be conducted entirely by electronic communication; or
(b) one or more shareholders, or proxies for shareholders, to participate by electronic communication in all or part of a shareholders meeting that is being held in person,

as long as the electronic communication employed ordinarily enables all persons participating in that meeting to communicate concurrently with each other without an intermediary, and to participate reasonably effectively in the meeting.

 

(3) If a company provides for participation in a meeting by electronic communication, as contemplated in subsection (2)—
(a) the notice of that meeting must inform shareholders of the availability of that form of participation, and provide any necessary information to enable shareholders or their proxies to access the available medium or means of electronic communication; and
(b) access to the medium or means of electronic communication is at the expense of the shareholder or proxy, except to the extent that the company determines otherwise.

 

(4) At meeting of shareholders, voting may either be by show of hands, or by polling.

 

(5) If voting is by show of hands, any person who is present at the meeting, whether as a shareholder or as proxy for a shareholder and entitled to exercise voting rights has one vote, irrespective of the number of voting rights that person would otherwise be entitled to exercise.

 

(6) If voting on a particular matter is by polling, any person who is present at the meeting, whether as a shareholder or as proxy for a shareholder, has the number of votes determined in accordance with the voting rights associated with the securities held by that shareholder.

 

(7) Despite any provision of a company's Memorandum of Incorporation or agreement to the contrary, a polled vote must be held on any particular matter to be voted on at a meeting if a demand for such a vote is made by-
(a) at least five persons having the right to vote on that matter, either as a shareholder or a proxy representing a shareholder; or
(b) a person who is, or persons who together are, entitled, as a shareholder or proxy representing a shareholder, to exercise at least 10% of the voting rights entitled to be voted on that matter.