Ferreira v Levin NO and Others; Vryenhoek v Powell NO and Others

In the winding‑up of insolvent companies, the applicants were summoned to examinations under section 417 of the Companies Act 61 of 1973. Section 417(2)(b) compelled examinees to answer questions even if the answers were self‑incriminating and allowed such answers to be used against them in subsequent proceedings. The applicants objected, claiming a violation of the constitutional privilege against self‑incrimination. They sought interim interdicts in the Witwatersrand Local Division to halt the examinations pending a constitutional challenge. Although the interdicts were dismissed, the High Court referred various constitutional issues to the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court had to determine which issues were properly before it and, ultimately, the constitutionality of section 417(2)(b).

The challenge to the constitutionality of section 417(2)(b) failed; the provision was not declared invalid. Most of the referred issues were struck off as incompetently referred.

This was one of the earliest Constitutional Court decisions clarifying the scope of the privilege against self‑incrimination under the interim Constitution and the procedural limits of constitutional referrals. It affirmed the importance of insolvency inquiries while emphasising that constitutional protections are enforced primarily through trial courts rather than abstract or advisory rulings.