The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) has told the public that it will be closed from 10h00 on Thursday 24 December 2026 and will reopen at 08h00 on Monday 4 January 2027, according to its festive season closure notice (Notice 55 of 2026), which we read on 6 November 2026. Its separate closure notice for Friday 4 December 2026 (Notice 59 of 2026) adds a second shutdown that is easy to miss. For any business that needs a company registration, a change of directors, an annual return or a name reservation processed before year end, the dates matter now.
The closure dates in the notices
The festive notice says CIPC offices will close to the public from 10h00 on Thursday 24 December 2026. It names the offices as those at the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition in Sunnyside, Pretoria; Sancardia Building in Arcadia, Pretoria; Bathopele Building in Johannesburg; Riebeek Street in Cape Town; and the kiosk at Pavilion Shopping Centre in Westville. All reopen at 08h00 on Monday 4 January 2027. The notice adds that CIPC intends to move from the Pavilion centre to 214 Dr Pixley Kaseme Street in Durban within the next few months.
The December closure notice says the offices will be closed on Friday 4 December 2026 and will reopen at 08h00 on Monday 7 December. A third notice (Notice 58 of 2026) says the CIPC Self Service Centre in Johannesburg will open to the public only at 11:30 on Monday 9 November 2026 “due to operational reasons”.
What “dies non” means for your filings
Both closure notices say the lost days will be regarded as dies non for purposes of the Acts listed in the schedule. That list includes the Companies Act, the Close Corporations Act, the Co-operatives Act, the Trade Marks Act, the Patents Act, the Design Act and the Copyright Act. CIPC does not publish a list of statutory deadlines affected, so check any specific deadline against the relevant Act or ask CIPC.
The festive notice also says the days from Thursday 24 December 2026 up to and including Friday 1 January 2027 are dies non. Lodgment of documents and service of legal documents will be accepted until 15h30 on Wednesday 23 December 2026. For 4 December, lodgment and service of legal documents will be accepted until 15h30 on Thursday 3 December.
What keeps running and what stops
CIPC says it offers different lodgment and filing methods. During the closures, services processed by automated means will continue to be processed. Services that need back-office intervention or finalisation will not. The notices give examples: services that need scanned documents e-mailed to dedicated addresses, or uploaded through electronic platforms such as New E-Services. Those will resume only on Monday 4 January 2027 after the festive closure, and on Monday 7 December 2026 after the one-day closure.
That split matters for planning. A filing that can be completed fully online may be processed during the break. One that needs a person at CIPC to review documents will wait. The notices give no fuller list, so lodge time-sensitive filings early.
Name reservations are moved forward
The notices make one specific promise on names. All reserved names that would have lapsed during the closure will have their reservation dates moved forward. For the festive closure, names that would have lapsed between 24 December 2026 and 1 January 2027 will now lapse on Monday 4 January 2027. For the one-day closure, names that would have lapsed on Friday 4 December will lapse on Monday 7 December.
Where to go on 9 November
For Johannesburg customers on 9 November, CIPC points to its online platforms: cipc.co.za, bizportal.gov.za, eservices.cipc.co.za and enquiries.cipc.co.za. Its call centre number is 086 100 2472.
What it means for businesses
This applies to businesses of every size, from a one-person company to a listed group, because every company, close corporation and co-operative deals with the same registry. The practical steps follow from the notices. Lodge anything that needs back-office processing before 3 December and before 23 December. Use fully automated services where they exist. If your annual return or beneficial ownership filing is due around year end, our guide to CIPC annual returns and beneficial ownership filing sets out the process. If you are registering a new company or a name, our guide to starting a business explains what registration does and does not cover.
What we could not confirm
The notices carry notice numbers but no publication dates on the pages we read. They do not say which statutory deadlines fall inside the closure windows, and they do not list which online services are fully automated. Whether CIPC will publish further notices, for example for the Durban office move, is not stated. Check the CIPC website before you rely on any date.
