The following notice was published in Government Gazette Vol. 409, No. 20327 of 6 August 1999.

GENERAL NOTICE 1762 OF 1999

SOUTH AFRICAN COMPANIES AND CLOSE CORPORATION REGULATORY OFFICE

COMPANIES ACT, 1973 (ACT 61 OF 1973)

CLOSE CORPORATIONS ACT, 1984 (ACT 69 OF 1984)

DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN BY THE REGISTRAR OF COMPANIES AND OF CLOSE CORPORATIONS THAT THE REGISTRATION NUMBERS OF ALL COMPANIES AND CLOSE CORPORATIONS WILL BE AMENDED OR CHANGED WITH EFFECT FROM 1 JANUARY 2000, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SCHEDULE.

SCHEDULE 

1. Introduction: Year 2000 compliance.

The numbering convention currently in use when allocating company and close corporation registration numbers is not year 2000 compatible. This convention has evolved over many decades with different systems and conventions being amalgamated into one.

In order to bring the numbering convention in line with requirements necessitated by the year 2000 and also to standardise present numbering conventions, all registration numbers need to be amended or changed.

 2. New Numbers.

The office will from 1 January 2000 issue numbers to all newly incorporated companies and close corporations using a numbering system that complies with the following criteria:

YYYY/NNNNNN/NN

The first portion (YYYY) of the number will reflect the year (in full) in which incorporation was affected.

The middle portion (NNNNNN) is a unique consequential number containing six digits and allocated to the entity in a specific year of incorporation.

The last portion (NN) is a numeric value indicating the type of enterprise which is presently in use.

Thus the first private company incorporated on 2 January 2000 will reflect the following registration number: 2000/000001/07.

 3. Companies incorporated prior to 1951 and certain companies incorporated during 1961

All companies incorporated prior to 1951 and certain companies incorporated during 1961, will be allocated completely new numbers which reflect the new numbering system mentioned above and this will come into effect on 1 January 2000. A list containing these company registration numbers will be published in the Government Gazette. Notification will also be given by directing letters to the latest recorded registered and postal addresses of the companies concerned.

This list is also electronically available here.

Companies affected will be those where the first two digits of their current registration number does not reflect the year of incorporation but reflects a number starting with digits 00/ up to 11/.

 4. Enterprises incorporated from 1951 to the end of 1999 (excluding certain companies incorporated during 1961)

The registration numbers of these enterprises will also change with effect from 1 January 2000.

All registration numbers will be converted from the current numbering format (YY/NNNNN/NN) to the new format (YYYY/NNNNNN/NN) by adding the century "19" in front and inserting a leading zero "0" as part of the unique consequential number. The numeric value indicating the type of entity will remain unchanged. For example an existing registration number 99/12345/07 will change to 1999/012345/07.

 5. Future use of registration numbers

Enterprises affected by changes mentioned in this notice will be allowed to use either the old or the new registration number and the Registrar will recognise both as valid until 31 December 2000. From 1 January 2001 the use of the newly allocated registration number will be compulsory.