The Department of Trade and Industry and Competition (dtic) has welcomed a court decision not to grant Sakeliga the relief it sought in a matter involving the lawfulness of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission’s issuance of certificates for companies to render service in the first phase of the COVID-19 lockdown.
“The dtic has welcomed a decision by the Gauteng High Court, which declined to give Sakeliga the relief it sought on the lawfulness of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) certificates issued to companies which were permitted to render essential services during the first phase of the lockdown,” said the department on Wednesday.
The independent, not-for-profit community organisation for business persons in general, approached the court seeking an order declaring that the CIPC had no authority to issue the essential services certificate to companies and close corporations permitted to operate during the lockdown.
The CIPC is an agency of the dtic.
In the judgement, the court remarked that giving such relief would be “inappropriate”.
During the first phase of lockdown, the CIPC established an online registration platform for companies, which were permitted to operate as essential service businesses in terms of the regulations published by the Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
The service was established as a voluntary service for companies who wished to log their details with government over the period.
The platform, managed through the Bizportal (https://bizportal.gov.za/), became popular with companies during the lockdown, with nearly 500 000 company registrations over the period.
“Given that it was a voluntary, self-certification service to build a data-base of companies, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition decided not to issue a direction that would have required companies to register.”
“The lawyers for government pointed out prior to the matter being heard that the service was voluntary but Sakeliga persisted with its application. During the hearing, which took place on the day that the alert level 3 regulations were published, government’s legal representatives pointed out that the issuance of certificates would not continue under alert level 3, as the concept of essential services would no longer apply,” said the department.
The court therefore declined to make an order in favour of Sakeliga, ruling that it would be inappropriate to make any finding in respect of the declaratory relief directed at the CIPC issue.
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