{"id":846612,"date":"2025-12-18T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=846612"},"modified":"2025-12-18T15:23:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T13:23:17","slug":"end-of-the-line-for-126-more-businesses-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/846612\/end-of-the-line-for-126-more-businesses-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"End of the line for 126 more businesses in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The latest data from Stats SA on liquidations in South Africa shows that another 126 businesses were liquidated in November, taking the total to 1,434 for the year so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of liquidations in November was down two cases from October, and down 1.6% from November 2024 (also 128 cases).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between January and November 2025, South Africa recorded 1,434 liquidations, down 1.8% from the same period last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rolling three-month tracking of the data also shows a drop, with liquidations between September and November 2025 running 9.5% lower than the same period in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, 2025 is now firmly on track to continue the trend of declining liquidation numbers, which began with a peak in closures during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will depend on liquidations in December, which, historically, have been lower than in other months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were 1,551 liquidations in 2024; therefore, December 2025 would need to register fewer than 117 liquidations to maintain the trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, while fewer liquidations seem like good news, this isn’t necessarily the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business experts have warned that liquidation data is not only limited but also needs to be considered within the broader context of the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fewer liquidations could indicate an improved business environment, or it could suggest that there are fewer businesses to liquidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the South African context, despite recent months indicating a shift in sentiment, economic growth remains anaemic, with most projections pointing to a modest 1% growth in GDP this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This does not allude to a growing and prosperous environment for businesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another factor to consider is unemployment, where the latest data shows a rate of 31.9%\u2014almost a third of South Africa’s workforce doesn’t have a job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the trade credit insurance group, Coface, despite recent developments, businesses in South Africa have been battered by a “toxic mix” of factors affecting trading conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes years of high interest rates, weak consumer demand, and rising operational costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Logistical bottlenecks and escalating transport costs further squeeze margins, while global trade tensions and regulatory burdens compound the crisis,” the group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Changes incoming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The liquidation data in and of itself doesn’t tell the whole picture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are considerations such as voluntary versus compulsory liquidations, liquidations as part of operations, and other processes, like business rescue, at play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compulsory liquidations are a key factor, often pointing to insolvency and an economic downturn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most liquidations recorded by Stats SA are voluntary (85+%). However, year-to-date, there have been 182 compulsory liquidations, which is 3.4% higher than the same time in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, there were 183 compulsory liquidations total in 2024\u2014one fewer than the running total for 2025, which is likely to exceed it easily once December’s data is compiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Stats SA, it is currently working on a revised version of the liquidation stats, following discussions with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s liquidation statistics have undergone significant changes in the past. Previously, the data tracked both liquidations and insolvencies; however, the latter was dropped following disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the data only covers liquidations, which gives a limited picture of the South African business landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stats SA collects administrative information on liquidations from CIPC and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data is sourced from the Master\u2019s Office, which has suffered delays and its own processing hiccups in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, since 2011, companies have been able to enter into business rescue proceedings, complicating the data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While business rescue can still result in a company being wound up, this information may not necessarily be reflected in the liquidation data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, data for business rescue is also provided by CIPC, which may factor into the discussions with Stats SA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest data from Stats SA on liquidations in South Africa shows that another 126 businesses were liquidated in November, taking the total to 1,434 for the year so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":818533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[22135,1809],"class_list":["post-846612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-liquidations","tag-stats-sa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":846619,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846612\/revisions\/846619"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}