SOME GOOD NEWS FOR THE PROPERTY INDUSTRY - A LIGHT ON THE HORIZON
The ESI Attorneys team have been made aware that the Chief Register of Deeds has confirmed that various high-level discussions have been held with the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services to reopen the country's Deeds Offices. This would be classified as an essential service and we await further information on the outcome. We will keep you informed.
The following has been confirmed:
1. DEEDS OFFICE AND MASTER' S OFICE
The computer system that manages the Deed Offices in South Africa is designed to automatically reject any deed that has been in the system for 12 + days. Thus, regrettably, any transaction lodged prior to lockdown will likely already have been rejected, albeit there may be some leniency by the various Registrars of Deeds here. Once the Deeds Office re-opens, it is expected that the Director-General will issue operational guidelines to be implemented by the various Registrars of Deeds. Further, as of next week, the Director General will issue a directive requesting all designated staff to return to work on a skeleton and roster basis. The office will remain closed to all members of the public, including practitioners. This is great news as, in both cases, the ability to lodge estates and new transfers and bonds will mean the property and legal industry can restart.
2. RATES CLEARANCES
The City of Cape Town is currently engaging the Chief Registrar of Deeds in order to negotiate some leniency in respect of expired rates clearance certificates for matters already lodged at the Deeds Office. Other measures, such as extensions of lapsed rates clearances and automatic extensions, are being debated. Please be advised however that the City of Cape Town and presumably other larger municipalities are working on a skeleton staff basis, so it is expected that turnaround times will be longer.
3. TRANSFER durbanvilleDUTY
The Transfer Duty section is operating on skeleton staff and currently turnaround times of 9 working days are observed.