The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) has been overwhelmed by requests from companies applying for the necessary certification to trade during the Covid-19 lockdown period.
During stage five of the lockdown in South Africa, essential services certificates were issued to 270 000 companies.
At present, 440 000 applications have been received and 360 000 certificates have been issued.
CIPC commissioner Rory Voller reportedly said that the reaction to the start of stage five, when companies had to apply for permission to operate, was so extreme that the commission’s Bizportal site had crashed on the first day.
This was after the CIPC had adapted the site to cope with the issuing of certificates for operating under the lockdown.
Moreover, the tally of companies applying for business rescue has reached 140.
This figure is for the current book year and, compared to year-on-year figures, is said to represent a steep upward curve of South African companies falling on hard times.
Voller also reportedly said that 1300 of the certificates required to trade during the lockdown had been repealed because of irregular application execution.
