How to register your NPO

If you are looking to establish and register a non-profit organisation, that is not part of government, you can simply apply for registration, by submitting your non-profit organisation (NPO) application at your nearest provincial social development office.

NPOs include trusts, companies or other associations of persons established for a public purpose.

Registering your NPO is beneficial because of its certificate:

• improves your credibility and funding opportunities
• allows your organisation to open a bank account
• helps your organisation with tax incentives.

To register, you must be one of the following:

• non-governmental organisation (NGO)
• community-based organisation (CBO)
• faith-based organisation (FBO).

What you should do:

1 Submit the completed NPO application form at your nearest provincial social development office, together with two copies of the organisation’s founding documents:

• Trust – Deeds of trust and letter of authorisation from the courts
• Section 21 – Certificate of incorporation and memorandum and articles of association
• Voluntary Association – Constitution
• The founding documents of the NPO must meet the provisions of Section 12 (A-O) of the Nonprofit Organisations Act, 1997 (Act 71 of 1997).  If you fail to do that, your application will be rejected.
• You can submit your application at your nearest provincial Social Development office, post it to The Directorate, Non-profit organisations, Department of Social Development, Private Bag X901, Pretoria, 0001 or deliver it by hand to the Department of Social Development, 134 Pretorius Street, HSRC Building, Pretoria.

2 If you are dissatisfied with the rejection or cancellation of your organisation’s certificate, you may launch an appeal to the panel arbitrators.

3 Once it is registered, you must submit the organisation’s annual report nine months after its financial year-end. The annual report should consist of a narrative report and a financial report.

READ: What to do when you’ve lost your ID

Note:
It is a criminal offence for an organisation to operate under the pretence of a registered NPO. Various government departments offer to fund for various services.

Timeframe:

• It may take approximately two months to process the entire registration.
• Once your application has been received, the department will send you an acknowledgement letter. A registration certificate will be issued if your application meets the requirements of the Nonprofit Organisations Act, 1997.

How much does it cost:

The service is free.

Forms to complete

(Forms are provided in PDF format. To open PDF documents, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader 4 or higher installed on your computer.)

(Source: South African Government)

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