President Zuma is not delaying the implementation of Companies Act

President Jacob Zuma has not yet received the Companies Amendment Bill for processing and a Business Day newspaper report today, 1 April 2011, that the President is delaying the implementation of the Bill is incorrect and misleading.

The parliamentary process in regard to the adoption of the Companies Amendment Bill was finalised on 24 March 2011, following a rigorous and inclusive consultative process that resulted in the incorporation of recommendations from stakeholders.  The Bill then went back to the Department of Trade and Industry for legal and technical refinement before sending to the Presidency.

The Business Day was informed before publication, on 31st of March, that the President had not yet received the Bill, and that it would be attended to as soon as it landed on his desk. The newspaper chose not to publish this information and instead ran an unbalanced story that portrays the President as being negligent and in dereliction of his duty, thereby causing an unnecessary delay in the processing of the law. We have asked the newspaper to publish a correction and an apology in this regard.

We are also approaching the Press Ombudsman for redress.

Statement issued by Zizi Kodwa, The Presidency, April 1 2011

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