The Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro) is ready to transform into a commission when the new Companies Act comes into effect, it says.
The office is set to merge with the Office of Companies and Intellectual Property Enforcement to form the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission. However, the implementation of the Act has been delayed by a month and is now expected to come into effect in May.
Under the Act, Cipro - in its new guise as a commission - will have new responsibilities and will switch from a manual to an electronic-based system.
Acting CEO Lungile Dukwana says the office has been preparing to transform into a commission for 18 months. He says preparation covered a wide range of functions. He says systems have been “considered, particularly with regard to new processes and requirements, such as name reservations, company registrations, [and] the new Web site”.
Dukwana says the office has been ready for the commission for a “long time now” and has prepared its staff and resources accordingly.
Worrying signs
Concerns have previously been raised about the office's readiness to transform after implementation of a vital system was halted last year, and its database was plagued by abuse.
Cipro was in the process of overhauling its legacy systems by implementing an enterprise content management (ECM) system, which would have moved the office onto an electronic platform and provide greater security.
Implementation stalled when trade and industry minister Rob Davies canned a R153 million deal with Valor IT, because a forensic audit uncovered irregularities around the awarding of the contract.
The ECM system cannot be implemented until an ongoing legal battle between the department and Valor IT is resolved. Valor IT wants DTI to cough up R28 million, but Davies has hinted at potential counteraction against Valor IT.
In the meantime, Cipro has brought in Waymark to upgrade and maintain its current systems in order to be ready, paying the company R11 million over an 18-month period.
In addition, Cipro's database was plagued by abuse last year, as fraudulent tax refunds worth at least R51 million were paid out by the South African Receiver of Revenue, because companies' details were illicitly changed on the Cipro database.
Several companies were hijacked last year, as fraudsters removed legitimate directors and replaced them with others on the agency's database. This year alone, at least three firms have been hijacked, despite improved security measures that were put in place last October.
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