Chairperson, it is a matter of regret that some of the opposition parties have chosen to say that they are going to oppose this piece of legislation. As I understand it from what they've said, there are three issues.
Firstly, there is the length of time of disqualification of people that are convicted of fraud. They have chosen to personalise the issue. I think the reality is that at this time they have chosen to play silly bargains and politics in regard to the issue rather than deal with the substance.
Secondly, they are talking about the issue of intercompany loans. How many companies are going to be involved in this? This is a small matter of interest to a small number of companies. Let me say that if we find anything that leads to unintended consequences, we will be happy to sort it out later on. I think somebody has to make a call, and a call was made in the committee.
The other point they have made relates to time. I think their presumption is that because they have been dealing with this Bill and they've been deeply entrenched in it, nothing else has been happening. As I said in the introductory speech, there have been two full years between the passage of the 2008 Act and the implementation date on 1 April 2011.
It's not that nothing has been happening. We have been doing a lot of preparatory work. I as a Deputy Minister engaged in at least three road shows with companies to explain the provisions of the Companies Act, Act 71 of 2008, and we had a lot of preparatory activities. We have engaged over and above the call of duty, with all of kinds of business practitioners from all sections of society. Eventually the time comes when you have to call a halt to all of this. Eventually the time comes when you start to say, "When, in fact, are we going to implement this? Why are we debating this further and further, ad nauseam?"
Those who were talking about the concerns regarding the 1 April date are overstating the impact that many companies are going to have in regard to that date. In fact, I think many companies are going to benefit significantly from the date. They also are understating the point that Mr Katz made about the fact that we are living in two worlds.
Companies don't know whether to do transactions under the new Act or the old Act. I think there are plenty of people who are sitting around like that. The same is actually quite true of the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office, Cipro. It is not as easy as you think for us to solve all the problems in Cipro when it knows it is going to become a Companies Intellectual Property Commission.
In fact, the transitional process is well under way. I believe that many of the problems in Cipro in regard to all the issues that we know about registration will actually become easier rather than more difficult for us to solve when we move into the new legislation. I don't believe that a compelling argument has been put by the opposition for opposing this Bill.
I have no doubt that for the majority of small businesses there is enough time for the registration procedure. The fact that many companies operating in the informal sector will now have access to limited liability, and the fact that there will be removal of all kinds of bureaucratic requirements on reporting and registration and things of that sort, will be an advantage to many small businesses. At the same time we will have sufficient provisions in place and more administrative action to ensure that malpractices are dealt with much more effectively.
I think that, in fact, what we need to do is to move forward. The business rescue matter is urgently needed; it is very important. I think we need to move forward. Rest assured that if we detect problems as we move ahead we will rectify those as well. We are not coming in to be reckless. We've gone through a process of consultation that I think has been very extensive indeed. The matter has been widely canvassed and I believe we now need to go ahead and implement this piece of legislation. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Bill read a second time (Democratic Alliance, Congress of the People, Freedom Front Plus and Inkatha Freedom Party dissenting).