Cape Town — The Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro) is planning to spend R157m over the next three years to upgrade its information technology system and to fund a decentralised organisational structure.

Details of Cipro's plans were presented to a recent meeting of Parliament's trade and industry committee by CEO Keith Sendwe, who took over in August last year, and chief finance officer Renier du Toit.

The long-term goal was to have a totally electronic-based operation in which registrations and applications could be made online, Cipro said.

"Cipro has achieved a number of milestones since its establishment in 2002 but challenges remain," Sendwe said. "These include poor service, an unclear organisation structure, unreliable IT systems and the establishment of Cipro as a commission.

Cipro's strategic plan for the next three years noted that "without a radical change the entrenched bureaucracy will drive it back and service levels will continue to decline".

Though service levels have significantly improved, external perspectives are still that service levels are "pathetic".

"Fraud and corruption are known to exist and there is poor data security and integrity," the document noted.

"Queue jumping and fast-tracking of applications, coupled with totally inadequate and unreliable IT systems, slow the processes and result in lengthy delays. The organisational structure is unclear and staff are demoralised and frustrated."

It said the "generally weak" internal controls highlighted in the past in auditor-general reports would also have to be addressed.

It found that the organisation was generally seen as "user- unfriendly", evidenced by the fact that it was accessed largely through intermediaries, which added to users' costs.

The strategic thrusts to take the organisation forward included its conversion from paper to digital processing and storage.

Cipro also wants to make services accessible using web-based technology, 24 hours a day, every day.

The strategy calls for services to be available countrywide and for an improvement is organisational efficiency.

Du Toit told the committee a new fee structure was also necessary to bring the registration office into line with international norms.

Cipro relies on its fee income, deriving no financial support from the state. It has a projected total fee income of R242m in the 2007-08 fiscal year.

Du Toit said R113m of the R157m required to fund special projects would be provided for in Cipro's medium-term budget framework.

The trade and industry department and the treasury would be asked if Cipro could retain the projected surplus of R45m for the 2006-07 fiscal year.

At least R38m has been allocated for the special project in this fiscal year.

Another issue highlighted was the drive to create a new organisational structure which would integrate more closely the company registration and intellectual property activities of Cipro.

These units have continued to operate in silos despite their amalgamation into one organisation in 2002.

Sendwe told the committee that decentralisation would bring Cipro's service delivery to "the doorstep of every economic citizen".