AIPSA - the first 25 Years
It all started in 1984 when the Pretoria Master of the Supreme Court (as it was then known), sent out a directive to his panel of liquidators that would have placed an unnecessary burden on practitioners. At a series of meetings of various liquidators to discuss the matter, it was decided that an association should be formed to represent the profession.
Finally in 1986 after a number of challenges, and thanks to the commitment and efforts of a number of pioneers, the Association of Insolvency Practitioners of Southern Africa (AIPSA) was officially registered as a Section 21 company.
As early as 1992 AIPSA approached government with a request for legislation to regulate the profession. The response was that such legislation would not be considered until there was a diploma course in place. AIPSA approached various tertiary institutions to offer such a diploma course but none were willing to do so at that stage. A year later AIPSA itself commenced offering its own diploma course. Later both RAU and TUKS were persuaded to offer the course on behalf of AIPSA. To date the University of Pretoria continues to offer the association's Programme in Insolvency Law and Practice.
AIPSA as an association was chaired by a number of distinguished practitioners. The first chairman was Henry Gunn, followed by David Rennie, Les Cohen, Laurie Pereira, Mark Lynne, Bessie Bester and Juanito Damons from 2005 to 2018.
Evolution to SARIPA
In time AIPSA broadened the scope of its activities to include Business Rescue and Restructuring, and renamed itself SARIPA - the South African Restructuring and Insolvency Practitioners Association. This followed a decision taken at the AGM in 2009 when members agreed that AIPSA should broaden the scope of its activities to include Business Rescue and Restructuring. The decision was ratified at an AIPSA board meeting during 2011 when they decided to implement the ’09 decision. The name change was registered and a new logo adopted in 2012.
SARIPA - a New Dawn
2018 was a landmark year for SARIPA. The association was accredited as a professional organisation by SAQA (South African Qualifications Authority) and, as a result, spring-boarded itself into a new era... a new dawn! The future looks bright and, as a national influencer, SARIPA continually strives to provide all its members with greater support and insight into insolvency and business rescue in the South African market. Never before has professional development, recognition, networking and representation been more important to SARIPA members.