It is highly problematic that the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro) did not appear before Parliament this week, as scheduled, given that this office has been involved in serious allegations of corruption at the highest levels. Worse still, the expenditure budget of Cipro has now suddenly doubled - from R 243 million in 2009/10 to R 561 million in the 2010/11 financial year - and Parliament needs an explanation for this.

We need to establish the reasons for the doubling of the budget, to determine whether there are legitimate new items of expenditure, or whether there are further budgetary shenanigans going on, similar to what we saw from Labour Director General Jimmy Manyi earlier this week.

Cipro's failure to pitch to this meeting raises a red flag. This is the second postponement in two months. Cipro was previously scheduled to appear before the portfolio committee on 9 February 2010. The programme was then also changed at the last moment. Additionally, the portfolio committee on trade and industry submitted written questions to Cipro that were to be responded to before that meeting. Members of the portfolio committee were this week still looking for the answers to these questions.

The DA has revealed that Cipro is in dire straights with regards to their Electronic Content Management (ECM) contract - Parliament is still waiting for the report from the Auditor General on the matter. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has also launched a private forensic investigation. This investigation has in fact been terminated before many of the reported cases of alleged corruption could be investigated.

I will write to the minister of trade and industry, who launched this investigation following a DA request for it, to ascertain why the opportunity was not used to get to the bottom of the alleged corruption at Cipro.

The opportunity for Cipro to turn over a new leaf appears to have now been squandered. We still, however, believe that not all hope has been lost, and the DA is calling on the chairperson of the portfolio committee for trade and industry to reschedule a presentation by Cipro as a matter of urgency, so that these matters can be addressed.

The downward spiral at Cipro continues and is in need of serious intervention. With less than half the Cipro Executive Team in place and at work, this remains a serious challenge. These problems are clearly not the result of a lack of money. While service levels have hit an all-time low, Cipro is sitting on R600 million in cash. It is expecting an operating revenue for 2009/2010 of R363 million, with an expenditure of only R198 million. South African business is clearly not getting service for the levies that they so diligently pay to Cipro.

Statement issued by Andricus van der Westhuizen, MP, Democratic Alliance deputy shadow minister of trade and industry, April 16 2010

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