245 more companies shut down in South Africa

South Africa has seen 245 more liquidations in 2026, with June figures accelerating from May. Year-to-date, 1,361 businesses have been shuttered.

According to the latest liquidation statistics from Stats SA, the total number of liquidations for June 2026 was flat compared to June 2025, where 246 were recorded.

The total closures between January and June 2026 are also flat compared to the same period last year, declining slightly by 0.9%.

Stats SA’s liquidations data show that businesses in the finance, insurance, real estate, and business services sectors continue to be hardest hit by liquidations.

This is followed by trade, catering and accommodation, which is also frequently hit.

Notably, the number of compulsory liquidations—typically court-ordered and more broadly reflective of business stress—increased year-on-year, pointing to continued strain in 2026.

21 companies were forced to close in June, compared with 16 ordered to liquidate in June 2025.

As is the wider trend in South Africa, most (91%) liquidations are voluntary, which could be for a myriad of reasons.

However, when weighed against Stats SA’s reinstated insolvency data, published last week, it is clear that solvency problems remain a significant challenge.

Insolvencies are fundamentally different from liquidation.

Liquidation refers to the winding-up of the affairs of a company or close corporation when liabilities exceed assets. This can be done on a voluntary basis or by court order.

While liquidation can result from insolvency, it is not necessarily reflective of such.

Legal experts in the field have noted that voluntary liquidations, especially, could reflect standard business activity.

Insolvency, however, refers to an individual or partnership which is unable to pay its debts and is placed under final sequestration.

Stats SA stopped tracking insolvencies in April 2023, when the data releases at the time were split from tracking both liquidations and insolvencies into two separate reports.

While data on liquidations continued, data on insolvencies were delayed following a cyber incident at the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in 2021.

As a result, South Africa has had no data on insolvencies for several years. However, these reports have now been reinstated.

Looking at the latest data, Stats SA recorded 61 insolvencies in June. For the first half of the year, the country recorded 753 insolvencies.

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