Co-operatives Act (No. 23 of 1996).

The Act consists of 112 sections divided intro 17 Parts: Administration of Act (I); Categories and types of, and persons who may form, cooperatives (II); Provisions relating to by-laws of cooperatives (III); Registration of cooperatives (IV); Membership and liabilities of members of cooperatives (V); Administration of cooperatives (VI); Boards and supervisory committees (VII); Meetings of members of cooperatives (VIII); Financial matters of cooperatives (IX); Accounting records, annual financial accounts and auditing (X); Amalgamation, transfer, division and conversion of cooperatives; (XI); Winding-up of cooperatives (XII); Cooperatives Advisory Board (XIII); Cooperatives Tribunal (XIV); Disputes between cooperatives or members of co-operatives and Registrar or such cooperatives or members and persons other than Registrar (XV); Offences and penalties (XVI); Miscellaneous provisions (XVII).
The Registration Office for Cooperatives shall continue to exist for purposes of registration of cooperatives (sect. 2). The Registrar, appointed by the Minister, shall keep a register on cooperatives in accordance with section 5. Section 8 specifies the categories and types of cooperatives that may be constituted, whereas section 9 defines objectives of a cooperative. Section11 prescribes contents of by-laws of cooperatives. Upon registration a cooperative becomes corporate body (sect. 17). Section 84 provides for the constitution of the Co-operatives Advisory Board. The Board shall advise the Minister on matters set out in section 85. The Cooperatives Tribunal, established under section 93, shall decide on disputes between a cooperative, the board of a cooperative or member of a co-operative or between cooperatives