The government-enforced 21-day lockdown of the country has seen thousands of businesses across SA hemorrhaging money, while many risk going under completely. Some companies have applied for a CIPC Certificate in order to be declared an essential services provider and continue trading.
“These employers should note that the certificate in itself isn’t a licence to continue trading. Only employers who’re designated as essential services in the regulations may continue trading,” notes the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI).
Trading illicitly or obtaining a CIPC Certificate under false pretenses, it warns, will have dire consequences for offenders.
“Employers who fraudulently registered themselves as an essential service, in order to obtain a certificate and continue operating, have committed criminal offences which carry a penalty of either a fine or imprisonment,” says the department.
Concessions have been made for companies which are genuinely performing essential services to arrange transport for staff members who’ve been impacted by the new rules regarding limited public transportation, in order to help them commute to and from work each day.
“Essential services employers may arrange for transportation of their employees in accordance with their shift patterns or working hours. Time sheets or shift rosters must be stamped and signed by an authorised person. There doesn’t seem to be a limitation on the number of employees who may be transported, subject to the maximum licensed passenger capacity of the vehicle,” explains the DTI.
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