The Companies and Intellectual Property Office's (Cipro's) affairs are “in a chaotic state” and the organisation should be audited, says the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The office came under fire last year after its database was abused, resulting in fraudulent tax refunds worth at least R51 million being paid out by the South African Receiver of Revenue, because companies' details were illicitly changed on the Cipro database.
The registrar was also lambasted after at least 11 companies were reportedly hijacked, as fraudsters logged into Cipro's database and removed legitimate directors, replacing them with others.
The DA's deputy shadow minister of trade and industry, Jacques Smalle, is concerned about the “deterioration” of Cipro. He says an increasing number of companies are being hijacked, and the measures the office put into place last October to stop this practice are not good enough.
Elsab'e Conradie, Cipro's head of communication, marketing and stakeholder relations, previously said the new measures have stopped hijackings.
“Cipro's affairs are, by all accounts, in a chaotic state and, as such, the DA will renew its call for a forensic audit of Cipro,” says Smalle.
He notes that South African businesses need Cipro to function effectively. “As the registrar of private businesses in SA, the integrity of its system is paramount.”
Smalle will write to trade and industry minister Rob Davies to request a forensic audit, as well as ask him why “the state of affairs at Cipro has been allowed to continue for so long”.
“We cannot continue down this path of inefficiency and failure by Cipro - it is costing our businesses money and our economy jobs,” he points out.
Neither the Department of Trade and Industry, nor Cipro, responded to a request for comment.
Share
