This presentations gives a brief overview of the legal process of conveyancing/transfer of property ownership in South Africa; and the role played by the conveyancer and the registrar of deeds.

1. HOWTOTRANSFER LAND OWNERSHIP IN SOUTH AFRICA
By WISEMAN BHUQA
Former Law Lecturer: Deeds Registration Law (DeedsTraining Directorate
Office of the Chief Registrar of Deeds/Justice College
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2. • The Registration of land ownership is a very complex legal
matter; therefore the law prescribes that a deed of transfer
must only be prepared by a Conveyancer, i.e. a property
lawyer who specializes in deeds registration. Transfer may
arise from sale, donation, inheritance, Court Order, etc.
• South African Law requires ownership of land to be
registered in the DeedsOffice whereupon a title deed
will be issued as proof of ownership
• The Conveyancer possesses applied knowledge of
hundreds of property laws as well as practices and
procedures of the Deeds Office.
• The owner who wants to register transfer, cancellation of
a mortgage bond or to register a new bond must
therefore sign a Power of Attorney authorising a
Conveyancer to effect the registration in the Deeds
Office.
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3. Checks and verifies personal details of the transferor and transferee ,the property details and also verifies the
holding title. He/she also checks all the legal restrictions against the parties and the property in question.
Collects the transferor’s title deed; if lost/destroyed, applies for its duplicate from the deeds office. Arranges
for payment of outstanding mortgage bond amounts against the transferor, if any
Collects money from the transferor and pays all outstanding property rates, taxes and levies.
collects money from the purchaser to pay transfer duty if the purchase price is above R1000 000,00;
Obtains relevant consents of interested third parties and institutions e.g. holders of restrictive conditions and relevant
Ministers in respect of statutory conditions;
Drafts the relevant deed of transfer, the consent to cancellation of the bond, the new bond over the buyer’s title
where applicable and lodges (presents) the deeds in the correct Deeds Office (where the property is situated);
The Deeds Examiners over three days examine the deed on three different levels; if there are no queries the
conveyancer executes/signs the deed in the presence of the Registrar of Deeds, usually on day 7 if there were no
discrepancies on the part of the drafter. Once signed by the Registrar the deed of transfer becomes a title deed;
Delivers the new title to the transferee or to the bond holder (e.g. bank) if the purchaser took a home loan;
The Deeds Office updates its data base regarding the new ownership, and informs the municipality to update its own;
BRIEF OVERVIEW OFTHE STEPS TO BE FOLLOWED BY A CONVEYANCER INTHE TRANSFER OF LAND
OWNERSHIP
The processes takes 2-3 weeks unless there are emerging issues that need to be addressed.
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4. The End
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For more interesting information on the land ownership issues in South Africa contact WisemanBhuqa
(Wiz1Title Solutions), Email address : mazolinb@mail.com