The South African government established the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) to handle company registration under the Companies Act of 2008. The CIPC is the main source for conducting a company registry search in South Africa.
The CIPC maintains a portal known as BizPortal where you can search for a registered entity. However, a CIPC company search by name or enterprise number may be restricted depending on your location and nationality. You must create an account to get a CIPC customer code to use on the BizPortal. You will then log in to conduct your South African company registry search.
The South African company registry is among the few registries that offer information on company directors. However, if you are doing due diligence on a company or its principals, you need additional sources to supplement the data from the government registry.
Afridiligence is a trusted investigative research company with local presence in over 40 countries, including South Africa and we offer enhanced due diligence that goes beyond what the CIPC provides. Our researchers compile data from public and non-public resources, conduct additional investigations to identify information about a company not available from a standard company registry search in South Africa.
Such enhanced due diligence beyond a simple company registry search in South Africa, may involve visits to the registered physical address and verifying the entity’s existence. We report any variations from the registered operations and the activities at the physical location. We will also inform you if the company owns other undisclosed businesses in the same or other physical addresses.
While a South African company registry search will reveal the names of directors,our enhanced due diligence service goes a step further to investigate any reputational issues involving the entity and its directors. We will also report on the shareholders and leaders’ personal data and involvement with the entity under investigation.
Talk to us today if you need a comprehensive investigation and enhanced due diligence in South Africa beyond what a company registry search can provide.
