No, a shareholders' agreement is not required but it can be very useful.
A shareholders agreement in South Africa is not mandatory under the Companies Act, but it is legally binding once signed. It supplements the MOI and can override certain provisions, provided it does not conflict with the law.
Unless you have a shareholders' agreement, any of your shareholders can sell to someone else, even someone you don't know. While your Articles may give you rights of pre-emption, you may need to tweak these so that you've got maximum control over who gets to share in your company.
An unresolvable dispute might occur, or there could be conflicts about how to resolve it (such as a reluctance to go to court, but without an agreement to arbitrate) Shareholders could leave the company to set up a competing business.
Even if your company is not planning to raise capital immediately, it is important that a shareholders agreement be implemented as soon as it appears that there may be more than one shareholder. outline how potential disputes between shareholders can be settled.
Consent is an essential prerequisite of a contract but whether someone has consented to a contract is often the subject of dispute. Contractual consent differs from consent in other contexts. For example, the consent required to enter into a contract is not the same as the consent required for a medical procedure.
For a contract to be valid, there needs to be an offer, an acceptance of that offer, and consideration. Generally, a Court will not enforce a contract where there's been no exchange of one thing for another. However, there may be exceptions when dealing overseas with international contracts.
How to write a contract agreement in 7 steps. Determine the type of contract required. Confirm the necessary parties. Choose someone to draft the contract. Write the contract with the proper formatting. Review the written contract with a lawyer. Send the contract agreement for review or revisions.
The transfer of a right from one party to another. For example, a party to a contract (the assignor) may, as a general rule and subject to the express terms of a contract, assign its rights under the contract to a third party (the assignee) without the consent of the party against whom those rights are held.
Usually, contractual provisions that restrict assignment of the contract without the consent of the obligor are valid and enforceable, even when there is statutory authorization for the assignment. The restriction of the power to assign is often ineffective unless the restriction is expressly and precisely stated.