Drawing on its experience in administering thousands of arbitration matters, AFSA offers South African companies and individuals an optimal process to resolve business and related disputes confidentially, quickly and fairly under the supervision of AFSA’s National Registrar, Isabel Terk, and her team of six case handlers.

The AFSA Domestic Panel of Arbitrators includes retired Judges, Senior and Junior advocates, attorneys, accountants and experts from various related professions. Parties are free to select their arbitrator, but if they are unable to do so, AFSA will hand-select an appropriate Panel member.

If you need more information please contact the AFSA National Registrar Isabel Terk (contact number: +27 11 3200600) or any of her team of case handlers.

The Domestic Division is chaired by Advocate Michael Kuper SC, chairman of AFSA and CAJAC

International arbitrations (i.e., between parties whose places of business are in different states when the arbitration agreement is concluded and in certain other cases) are governed in South Africa by the provisions of the International Arbitration Act, 15 of 2017, which Act incorporates the UNCITRAL Model Law of International Commercial Arbitration.

The SADC Division is a joint initiative between AFSA and the SADC Lawyers Association to develop, strengthen and enhance commercial alternative dispute resolution practices in countries in the South African Development Community (SADC).

The SADC Division has a board comprised of three AFSA representatives and three SADC-LA representatives. The SADC Division is chaired by Des Williams, while Stanley Nyamanhindi, the CEO of SADC-LA, is the vice-chair of the SADC Division.

The confidentiality and flexibility of arbitration makes arbitration well-suited for maintaining long term business relationships between parties in infrastructure and construction contracts.

The very nature of infrastructure and construction disputes presupposes the appointment of knowledgeable experts to facilitate the efficiency of the arbitral proceedings and to reduce the time and costs involved in resolving disputes.

The parties are able to choose trustworthy experts in a particular field and parties of different nationalities and jurisdictions can choose a convenient and neutral location to meet their particular needs.

The AFSA Construction division is chaired by Advocate Azhar Bham SC, and AFSA Construction has overseen many of this country’s largest construction disputes, whether in the adjudication or arbitration phase.

The Mediation division offers a confidential mediation process where an independent mediator facilitates communication and open discussion to assist the parties in reaching a settlement in private.

Mediation is not a binding process, but once consensus is reached, a written agreement is drawn up which commits the parties to their agreement and is legally binding.

AFSA has published a set of Mediation Rules which apply in the event of a dispute referred to AFSA for mediation. Depending on the nature of the dispute, AFSA will appoint a suitable mediator and professionally administer the process.

The AFSA Mediation Division is chaired by Advocate Duncan Turner.

AFSA offers an Advanced Certificate in Dispute Resolution. This course is accredited by the University of Pretoria and is aimed at building a genuine body of expertise in Alternative Dispute Resolution in South Africa and further afield.

The introduction of Business Rescue under Chapter 6 of the 2008 Companies Act created a new framework for dealing with companies in financial distress. The focus moved to attempting to save companies experiencing financial distress, and if this could not be achieved then to achieving a better return for creditors than would be the case if the company was placed into liquidation. The focus was on a process which would be dealt with relatively speedily.

Invariably, the process was also one in which disputes could arise. The history of Business Rescue proceedings since inception has illustrated that in the course of Business Rescue, disputes arise. In general, legal disputes do take a considerable time for resolution. Such time periods for resolution of disputes are often inimical to the time processes envisaged in Business Rescue proceedings.

Consequently, in recent years there has been an increasing tendency to deal with such disputes through a speedy arbitration process in order to ensure that Business Rescue proceedings are able to come to finalisation without inordinate delays. At the forefront of promoting such arbitration proceedings has been SARIPA. SARIPA recognised the importance of the role AFSA plays in administering arbitrations in the South African context. This was followed by intensive discussions between leading practitioners and academics to craft a set of rules and procedures which would optimise a dispute resolution process specifically for Business Rescue disputes.


AFSA and SARIPA then took a decision to form a Business Rescue Arbitration Division under the auspices of AFSA. The Division has been formed with joint and equal representation by nominees of AFSA and nominees of SARIPA. The initiative is an exciting one in the context of arbitration in general and arbitration in Business Rescue proceedings in particular.

The AFSA Municipal division provides dispute resolution services to municipalities in South Africa. AFSA has entered into an agreement with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), the voice of local municipalities in South Africa, to provide dispute resolution services to municipalities.