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Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance (DA) has accused officials of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of "playing fast and loose" with corporate legislation in trying to pressure Parliament into passing the companies amendment bill before April 1.
The bill, currently being debated before Parliament, will transform the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro) into a commission that will give it legal teeth.
This change is supposed to take effect from the beginning of next month.
Cipro, described by some as the "Home Affairs of South African companies", is where all South African firms have to register their business names, directors and other information.
However, a number of corporate "hijackings" - where directors have been illegally removed and replaced with others - have highlighted the security breaches at the organisation.
"There will be no benefit to muscling this law through Parliament, and doing so may impose serious costs on the business sector. The bill is a vast improvement from the draft on the table when we began this process, but it still requires work in several key areas," said DA trade and industry spokesperson Tim Harris.
Harris said that on Thursday his party would present to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry several amendments that would: allow companies enough time to understand the legislation; ensure that the public was properly protected from convicted frauds; clarify the distinction between a company that was technically insolvent from one that was commercially insolvent; and clear up the fact that the "Solvency and Liquidity Test" should only apply to an individual company as distinct from a group of companies.
Harris said that, as the bill stands, it was almost impossible that Parliament would be able to process it in a proper and prudent way before the end of the month.
"Even if the portfolio committee were to rush through the voting on and debating of the bill next week, it would still need to go to the National Council of Provinces for consideration, and the president would have to apply his mind before signing it," he said.
The bill, currently being debated before Parliament, will transform the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro) into a commission that will give it legal teeth.
This change is supposed to take effect from the beginning of next month.
Cipro, described by some as the "Home Affairs of South African companies", is where all South African firms have to register their business names, directors and other information.
However, a number of corporate "hijackings" - where directors have been illegally removed and replaced with others - have highlighted the security breaches at the organisation.
"There will be no benefit to muscling this law through Parliament, and doing so may impose serious costs on the business sector. The bill is a vast improvement from the draft on the table when we began this process, but it still requires work in several key areas," said DA trade and industry spokesperson Tim Harris.
Harris said that on Thursday his party would present to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry several amendments that would: allow companies enough time to understand the legislation; ensure that the public was properly protected from convicted frauds; clarify the distinction between a company that was technically insolvent from one that was commercially insolvent; and clear up the fact that the "Solvency and Liquidity Test" should only apply to an individual company as distinct from a group of companies.
Harris said that, as the bill stands, it was almost impossible that Parliament would be able to process it in a proper and prudent way before the end of the month.
"Even if the portfolio committee were to rush through the voting on and debating of the bill next week, it would still need to go to the National Council of Provinces for consideration, and the president would have to apply his mind before signing it," he said.
