CIPC is rolling out an official developer portal (APIVerse) with OAuth-secured read-only endpoints for registry, beneficial ownership and XBRL data. Onboarding requires application and approval, pricing is not published, and several endpoints are still marked as coming soon. Historically, system-to-system feeds were reserved for contracted partners such as banks and bureaus.
South African registry data, ready today
CIPC API - South African Business Registry Data
CIPC's developer portal requires application and approval, key endpoints are still unreleased, and there is no free bulk data. CompanyData delivers 6.6M+ South African business records with enterprise numbers, registry details, industry codes and contact data in one REST API you can use today.
6.6M+ South African businesses
Registry details & director data
SIC & NACE codes on every record
What Is the CIPC API?
The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) is South Africa's registrar, identifying every business with an enterprise number in the YYYY/NNNNNN/NN format.
CIPC is building an official developer portal (APIVerse) with OAuth-secured read-only endpoints, but onboarding requires application and approval, pricing is undisclosed, and several APIs are still marked coming soon. The free enterprise search was discontinued in 2021; disclosure certificates cost R30 each, and chronic eServices downtime pushes developers to resellers.
CompanyData gives you South African registry data without the queue: 6.6M+ records with enterprise number, legal form, status, registration date, addresses and industry classification, enriched with contact data where available, through the same REST API that covers 200+ countries.
Compare Data Points
CIPC discloses registry facts per certificate. CompanyData delivers 50+ data points per South African business in a single call.
| Data point | CIPC | CompanyData API |
|---|---|---|
| Legal name | ✓ | ✓ |
| Enterprise number | ✓ | ✓ |
| Registered address | ✓ | ✓ |
| Legal form & status | ✓ | ✓ |
| Directors / members | ✓ R30 certificate | ✓ |
| Industry classification | ✗ captured, not exposed | ✓ SIC + NACE |
| Financials as structured data | ✗ iXBRL per filing | ✓ |
| Employee count | ✗ | ✓ |
| Email, phone & website | ✗ | ✓ |
| International records | ✗ | ✓ 365M+ worldwide |
Compare Access & Filters
CIPC access means applications, approvals and per-certificate fees. CompanyData is one endpoint with filters.
| Access / Search | CIPC | CompanyData API |
|---|---|---|
| Instant self-service API | ✗ application + approval | ✓ |
| Lookup by enterprise number | ✓ | ✓ |
| Search by name | ✓ paid since 2021 | ✓ |
| Filter by industry | ✗ | ✓ |
| Filter by province or city | ✗ | ✓ |
| Filter by size or revenue | ✗ | ✓ |
| Bulk export | ✗ no free bulk | ✓ |
| Guaranteed uptime | ✗ chronic downtime | ✓ |
Compare Price
CIPC charges per disclosure and keeps API pricing undisclosed. CompanyData is credit-based with a free trial.
| Price comparison | CIPC | CompanyData API |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per lookup | R30 per certificate | From $0.02 per credit |
| API pricing | Undisclosed | Public credit pricing |
| Free trial | ✗ | ✓ free credits included |
| Enriched data included | ✗ | ✓ |
| One API for 200+ countries | ✗ | ✓ |
Try It Live
Search any South African business and see the API response in real time.
CIPC API Use Cases
KYB & Onboarding
Verify South African counterparties by enterprise number. Check legal form, status and registry details automatically.
Lead Generation
Build prospect lists filtered by industry, province, revenue or business size across South Africa.
CRM Enrichment
Append enterprise numbers, registry details and industry codes to your South African accounts in bulk.
Risk & Compliance
Screen vendors and monitor deregistrations across your South African supplier base.
CIPC API Pricing
Transparent, credit-based pricing. Start with a free trial.
Integration
Plug official register data into your stack in minutes.
REST APIJSONPython SDKJavaScriptSalesforceWebhooksZapier
Real-time responses with an average latency of <200ms. GDPR compliant with transparent data sourcing. Full documentation at companydata.com/api-docs.
More local trade register APIs
CompanyData covers official trade register data in 200+ countries through one API. Explore the register pages per country:
- CVR API (Denmark)
- Companies House API (UK)
- Sirene API (France)
- CNPJ API (Brazil)
- KRS API (Poland)
- SEC EDGAR API (USA)
- Handelsregister API (Germany)
- ABN Lookup API (Australia)
- MCA API (India)
- Bolagsverket API (Sweden)
- ARES API (Czechia)
- Zefix API (Switzerland)
- KBO API (Belgium)
- Brreg API (Norway)
- BORME API (Spain)
- KVK API (Netherlands)
Frequently Asked Questions
The South African registration number in the format YYYY/NNNNNN/NN, where the suffix encodes the entity type (07 for private, 06 for public, 23 for close corporations, 08 for non-profits). CompanyData records carry the enterprise number for one-to-one matching.
The free enterprise search was discontinued in 2021. Disclosure certificates cost R30 each via eServices. CompanyData includes South African lookups in its standard credit pricing, with a free trial to start.
CIPC captures SIC codes at registration but does not reliably expose them. Every CompanyData record carries SIC and NACE industry codes as structured, filterable fields, so South African businesses fit directly into the same industry filters you use for every other country.
CompanyData covers 6.6M+ South African businesses with registry details, industry codes and contact data in one self-service REST API, with no approval process and the same integration covering 200+ other countries.
6.6M+ South African business records, from Pty Ltd entities to close corporations and sole proprietors, updated continuously.