Register A Co Operative if you and a group of people get together voluntarily to address a common need.
A co operative is a distinct form of enterprise that provides services and/or products to its members. Profits, known as surpluses in a co operative, are divided among members in relation to the amount of business each member did with the co operative.
By registering a co operative, you are creating a legal entity with certain powers to act on its own and certain responsibilities.
Before you decide to register, you need to have a formation meeting to decide on common purpose and agree to register as such. At the formation meeting, the members have to decide on the form and type of co operative. There must be at least five natural persons, two juristic persons, or a combination of any five persons in order to form a primary co operative. Co operatives have certain principles, and are expected to include certain values in all work that it undertakes.
The name must always indicate what the main business objective of the co operative is. For example, a co operative that does catering must have a word like “Catering” in the name.
If the co operative has multiple objectives, the main objective must still appear as part of the name. Words like “Multi-purpose” or “Other Projects” could also form part of the name.
The words “Primary/Secondary/Tertiary Co operative Limited” must always appear at the end of the name.
It is compulsory to appoint an auditor unless an exemption for an initial period of three years has been obtained.
A constitution must be submitted as part of the application. Select a relevant model constitution from the CIPC website. Download the constitution and complete all the blank spaces. The last page of the constitution must be signed by all the founding members of the co operative. You need to keep the original constitution.
Contact us to Register A Co Operative.
