ENSafrica (Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs) is Africa's largest law firm. ENSafrica currently has over 620 practitioners and was established over 100 years ago. The firm specialises in all commercial areas of Law, Tax, Forensics and IP. The firm is a Level 2

Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a policy of the South African government which aims to facilitate broader participation in the economy by black people. A form of affirmative action, it is intended especially to redress the inequalities creat ...

(BBBEE) contributor. ENSafrica is one of the traditional " Big Five" law firms in South Africa.

History

Edward Nathan & Friedland

Edward Nathan & Friedland was formed in 1905. In 1999, Edward Nathan & Friedland was bought by

Nedbank Nedbank Group is a financial services group in South Africa offering wholesale and retail banking services as well as insurance, asset management, and wealth management. Nedbank Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nedbank Group. Nedbank's ...

for R400 million. After an exodus of clients and lawyers, as well as deeming the investment non-core, in 2004, Nedbank sold Edward Nathan & Friedland back to 47 directors for R50 million. In addition to the purchase price, R33 million in available cash in Edward Nathan & Friedland was transferred to Nedbank. In total, Nedbank suffered a loss of R20 million on the sale.

Sonnenberg Hoffmann & Galombik

Sonnenberg Hoffmann & Galombik was formed in 1936.

Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs

The firm was formed after a 2006 merger between Cape Town-based law firm Sonnenberg Hoffmann Galombik (SHG) and the Johannesburg-based law firm Edward Nathan & Friedland.

Divisions

Its specialist divisions include Africa regulatory and business intelligence, Asia-Africa trade (including China, India, and Japan), and structuring of investments through Mauritius.

Offices

In August 2012, ENSafrica became the first African headquartered law firm with integrated offices across different African jurisdictions, with the opening of offices in Rwanda and Burundi, which office was closed in 2015. This was shortly followed by another office opening in the Ugandan capital of Kampala in December 2012. In December 2013, ENSafrica announced a merger with Mauritius' largest and oldest firm, De Comarmond & Koenig. On 1 November 2014, the firm announced the opening of two offices in the Namibian capital Windhoek and Swakopmund respectively, with a third Namibian office, in Walvis Bay, opening soon thereafter. This was done through a merger with local Namibian law firm Lorentz Angula. Former CEO, Piet Faber, is quoted (31 March 2014) as saying that ENSafrica will open offices in at least six other African jurisdictions over the next two years. On 1 May 2015, the firm announced the opening of its 13th office on the African continent, following a merger with local Tanzanian law firm, Rex Attorneys. In 2015, ENSafrica closed its Burundi office. The most recent office to be opened was formed through a merger with local Ghanaian firm Oxford & Beaumont Solicitors, and formally opened as ENSafrica Ghana on 1 December 2015. Oxford & Beaumont Solicitors was the first Ghanaian firm to open representative offices in London. The company has offices in several countries and cities: * Ghana: Accra *Kenya:

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

* Mauritius:

Port Louis Port Louis (french: Port-Louis; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Polwi or , ) is the capital city of Mauritius. It is mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's e ...

* Namibia:

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...

Swakopmund Swakopmund (german: Mouth of the Swakop) is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. The town has 44,725 inhabitants and covers ...

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The ci ...

* Rwanda: Kigali * South Africa: Alexandra (Pro Bono Office),

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

Mitchells Plain Mitchells Plain is a large township located within the City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa and situated about from the Cape Town city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains multiple smaller suburbs ...

(Pro Bono Office),

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

* Tanzania: Dar es Salaam * Uganda:

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

Controversies

Julius Malema

In 2010 and 2011, ENSafrica acted for

Julius Malema Julius Sello Malema (born 3 March 1981) is a South African politician and activist who is a Member of Parliament and the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a left-wing party which he founded in 2013. He was formerly the President of ...

in a court case brought against him by

Afriforum AfriForum is a South African non-governmental organisation focused mainly on the interests of Afrikaners, a subgroup of the country's white population. AfriForum has been frequently described as a white nationalist, alt-right, and Afrikaner natio ...

in relation to his singing of the song "shoot the boer" (shoot the farmer / white person). The firm subsequently withdrew from the case, resulting in Malema accusing the firm of racism. Ultimately, on 12 September 2011, Malema was convicted of hate speech.

Tax Evasion

In a court action brought in the

Western Cape High Court The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over th ...

in 2018, the

South African Revenue Service The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the revenue service of the South African government. It administers the country's tax system and customs service, and enforces compliance with related legislation. It is governed by the SARS Act 34 of ...

claimed that ENSafrica created a R3.5 billion

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

scheme involving Christo Wiese and

Tullow Oil Tullow Oil plc is a multinational oil and gas exploration company founded in Tullow, Ireland, with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. His ...

. In addition to pursuing Christo Wiese and

, the South African Revenue Service is also pursuing a former ENSafrica executive.

References

{{Witwatersrand companies Law firms of South Africa Companies based in Johannesburg Law firms established in 1905 1905 establishments in South Africa