How much does it cost to register a company with CIPC?

In terms of the Companies Act, 2008, a company may be registered with or without a company name. When a company is registered without a reserved name, its registration number automatically becomes the company name. This is the quickest way to register a company.

Such a company may transact with a trading (business) name, or may apply to add a reserved name at a later stage. In this case, the company will need to first reserve a name and then apply for a name change, which constitutes a change to its Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI) (refer to  Maintain a Business).

If your initial name reservation application is not approved, you will need to apply for new names. You may apply for between 1 and 4 names during each application process. Each name reservation application costs R50. A company registration may vary between R125 and R475 (R125 for a private company, R475 for a non-profit company registered without members).

There are five types of companies that you can register.  If you wish to run a franchise business, you would register a private company.  If you wish to register a church, you would register a non-profit company.  A private school could be registered as a private company or non-profit company, depending on its objectives.  An association of professionals such as lawyers, doctors, civil engineers etc, may be registered as a personal liability company. 

Defensive names

To view information on defensive names, click here.


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