STATEMENT

CIPRO EXTENDS DATE FOR ANNUAL RETURNS SUBMISSIONS

Pretoria, Friday, 28 January 2011. Following the media release on extension of office hours, the Companies and Intellectual Property Office (CIPRO) has announced that it will be extending the deadline for submission of annual returns for business entities in deregistration until 21 February 2011.

Each company and close corporation has a statutory duty to lodge and pay annual returns with CIPRO every year, failure of which will result in the company or close corporation incurring a penalty for late lodgement and finally deregistration.  CIPRO uses annual returns to confirm whether a company or close corporation is still doing business and to update its records of the latest information.

Due to the large volumes of calls and enquiries that CIPRO is experiencing, it has been decided to pro-actively extend the deadline for submissions allowing more time for customers to lodge company and close corporation annual returns. The extended office hours of the CIPRO Cape Town (1st floor, NBS building, Waldorf Arcade, 80 St. George's Mall) and Pretoria offices until 18:00 on weekdays will also continue until 21 February 2011 only for submission of annual returns.

Mr Lungile Dukwana, Acting Chief Executive Officer of CIPRO said: "We would like all business entities to have an opportunity to lodge their annual returns before we implement final deregistration. Hence, the implementation of the extended deadline and extra hours for lodging of annual returns".

However, Dukwana reiterated: "Although CIPRO would like to extend its services to accommodate the public; customers should not wait until the last moment to lodge annual returns as this may be unpleasant due to high volumes. Between November 2010 and January 2011 we have seen an average increase of about 3 000 in our daily transactions".

Dukwana further indicated it is in the interest of the business entities themselves and the economy that these entities remain in business by complying with the Companies Act and Close Corporations Act in this regard. Updated and accurate business information is also important in the process of preparing for the commission as per the new Companies Act.

Customers are further requested to put their contact details in the annual return e.g email address, fax number and cell number to facilitate improved communication.

To assist in confirming a company's or close corporation's status, CIPRO has published the lists of non compliant companies and close corporations on its website under

News and Events/Information Library/CIPRO Publications:

http://www.cipro.gov.za/info_library/cip_pub.asp

This list may be saved locally to a customer's PC and searched through by using the "CTRL F" function.

Customers are advised to confirm the status of their companies and close corporations, and if necessary, bring all outstanding annual returns up to date in order to avoid unnecessary deregistration.

Any queries regarding annual returns or restorations can be addressed to [email protected] or the call centre at 0861 843 384.

Statement issued by Dr Elsabé Conradie, CIPRO, January 28 2011

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