Pioneer Foods pays settlement after misstating turnover to CIPC

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JOHANNESBURG, October 13 (ANA) – Pioneer Foods on Thursday said it had already initiated a payment process and was engaging with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) after it was reported to have misrepresented its annual turnover.

This comes after the CIPC on Tuesday released the names of 20 listed companies that breached the Companies Act by misstating their annual turnover and paying the incorrect fees to the CIPC.

The CIPC said that, during a “surveillance sweep”, it had identified certain public companies that were under disclosing or not disclosing the proper annual turnover values and hence not paying the correct annual return fees.

Pioneer Foods – the owners of food brands such as Sasko bread, White Star maize meal and Spekko rice – was also implicated and named as one of the companies that under-disclosed certain turnover values in its annual return submissions to the CIPC.

“Pioneer Foods wishes to confirm and state that the amount due to the CIPC was R3,000 together with penalties of R1,000. The payment process was already initiated on 28 September 2016,” the company said in a statement.

“Pioneer Foods has been engaging the CIPC since receipt of the initial communication from them in August 2016.”

The food producer also said that it was committed to complying with all relevant Companies Act statutory obligations.

The 20 companies implicated in this under-disclosing scandal are: Adcock Ingram, Astral Foods, Astrapak, Aveng, Bell Equipment, Clicks, DRDGold, Gold Fields, Group Five, Impala Platinum, Kumba Iron Ore, Murray and Roberts, Pioneer Foods, Rhodes Foods, Sasol, Sun International, Super Group, Torre Industries, Wesizwe Platinum and York Timbers.

The companies implicated in the surveillance operation advised the CIPC that due to a bona fide error in the manner in which they have stated their annual turnover for purposes of calculating their annual return fees, incorrect payments were made to CIPC.

The CIPC said the companies have undertaken to remedy the breach, which it views as material in terms of the Companies Act, and that payment of the corrected fees were in progress.

– African News Agency (ANA)