Compliance is a mandatory requirement of the Companies Act of South Africa (“Act”) and all companies and close corporations (“companies”) need to adhere. In terms of Section 33 of the Act and Regulation 30 of the Companies Regulations of 2011, all companies are required to complete and submit an annual return (with the required additional information) within 30 business days after each anniversary of the company’s date of Incorporation, or date of registration in the Republic. Late filing of Annual Returns will result in penalties.
Compliance is done via the submission of the Annual Return that is a yearly “renewal”. Failure to do so will result in CIPC assuming that the company is not trading or is not intending on trading in the near future. Non-compliance with annual returns may lead to deregistration,