The following is a summary of the main items discussed at a meeting between representatives from various bodies, including CSIG, and the Acting Registrar of Companies and senior CIPRO staff on 24 November 2005.
1. CIPRO website and speed access
The slow access to the CIPRO website was due to the current system that required access via the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) proxy server first. Access to the website should improve by December 2005 as approval had been obtained to increase bandwidth. Commitment to this had also been obtained from the DTI. The service provider would change from UUNET to Internet Solutions. Notice of the website shut down to allow for the installation of the increased band width would be noted on the website. A separate project to upgrade the format of the website would be undertaken soon. Committee members and users were encouraged to give input to this process.
2. CIPRO/SARS
The CIPRO/SARS link was currently manually driven. A project to automate this process was underway. However, a decision was required to determine if the link would be on a real-time or batch form basis. Cost factors would influence this decision.
3. Annual Returns
An extension to January 2006 had been granted for private companies to submit their annual returns. 42 000 private companies had submitted annual returns between May and November 2005. There were approximately 4 000 active public companies in South Africa, including external companies.
The submission of annual returns for close corporations would only be rolled out in the next financial year, i.e. April 2006. However, section 21 companies would be able to submit returns by February 2006.
4. CIPRO reorganisation and management
The CIPRO structure would be reorganised into several divisions. Current staff would be allocated to each division soon. The appointment of the new CEO was at cabinet level and would be approved and announced soon. Appointment to the 3 senior positions at CIPRO would be done by the new CEO after discussion with the Reorganisation Monitoring Team.
5. Operational issues
The turnaround time for the registration of new companies and close corporations was 3 days. (This does not take into account the time periods spent in other departments!) Any delay in the information being returned to the customer was unlikely a result of the registration process. If there were any registration delays, this should be brought to the attention of the Acting Registrars.
The e-lodge certification process only provides the current information of the entity and not its history. The historical information could be accessed by sending an M002 request form to the disclosure department of CIPRO. Upgrading of the website to allow for the viewing of the current and historical information would be considered for the future.
6. CIPRO call centre
There were currently 32 persons answering calls at the call centre which had improved customers access to it. However, many employees were new and this had affected the quality of the responses. Effort was being made to train new staff. Calls to the call centre had increased as a result of the difficulties experienced by customers in submitting annual returns. Call centre staff were often asked to submit annual returns for callers and this had resulted in an increase in the duration of calls. The call centre would probably continue in the future. This would allow for permanency of staff.
7. Electronic Certificate
A meeting would be held with the Registrar of Banks to discuss the issue of banks not accepting electronic certificates even though notice of this was issued in the Government Gazette.
8. CIPRO developments
New programme changes would allow for an identification number and an income tax number to be included on electronic certificates.
Auditors and accounting officers would soon be able to download a list of their clients from the CIPRO website.
CM and CK forms were being redesigned to address any shortcomings found in the current forms. Users were encouraged to give input to this process.
Customers would be able to use Post Offices to lodge information with CIPRO as soon as the bandwidth problem was sorted out.
9. General
Auditor and/or accounting officer appointment letters were being sold outside the CIPRO offices. Concern was raised that this would encourage fraudulent activities. CIPRO should obtain copies of these letters and inform the appropriate professional bodies.
Organisations such as SARS and Banks often use information on companies and close corporations obtained from other bodies rather than from CIPRO. This has resulted in incorrect information being used with negative consequences for certain people. CIPRO should inform the public that reliable and up to date information was easily accessible from CIPRO and that other bodies were providing outdated information.
In terms of the Corporate Law Reform project, CIPRO would become a Commission. More information on this would be provided as and when available.
The implementation date of the Co-Operatives Act had not yet been specified. Once this took place, an increase in the number of applications for new Co-Operatives was expected.
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