Attorneys up in arms over indefinite closure of Pretoria Deeds Office

The indefinite closure of the Pretoria Deeds Office has resulted in the Pretoria Attorneys Association (PAA) giving the director general of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development until 10am today to communicate with it on the closure or face legal action.

This follows the Chief Registrar of Deeds, Advocate Audrey Gwangwa, on 5 April 2023 advising that “the Pretoria Deeds Office will be closed indefinitely with effect from 6 April 2023 until further notice”.

Read: Bigger rate hike brings more gloom for home and vehicle owners

This notification is contrary to the arrangements previously communicated to conveyancers by the department on the relocation of the Pretoria Deeds Office to new offices.

The department previously advised conveyancers that the Pretoria Deeds Office would be closed from 5 April 2023 until 14 April 2023, with the lodgement of deeds scheduled to resume on 17 April 2023.

A list of questions about this issue has been emailed to the department by Moneyweb but a response has not yet been received.

Read:
The impact of higher interest rates
Sarb hikes repo rate by 50bps
Gen Zs and the property market

Donald Mokgehle, the chairperson of the Pretoria Attorneys Association (PAA) property committee, said on Thursday said: “All along, we were under the impression that the move would start today [6 April 2023] and then out of nowhere we received a notice yesterday from the Registrar of Deeds advising that the Deeds Office will be closed indefinitely from today until further notice.”

In the dark

“So we are all in the dark,” he said.

Mokgehle said the PAA subsequently sent a letter to the Director-General of the Department of Agriculture and Land Reform yesterday asking for further particulars and details about the reason for the closure of the deeds office and when the services will resume.

“We gave the Director-General until 10am this [Thursday] morning to reply to our letter because of the urgency and seriousness of this matter,” added Mokgehle.

He said that if the PAA did not get a response from the department by this time or it received an unsatisfactory response, it would have to discuss the matter and “the steps to be taken forward”.

Court action?

“We will probably have to brief a law firm or an attorney specialising in these types of matters to maybe get an urgent court application to compel the resumption of services,” he said.

Mokgehle confirmed that the Pretoria Deeds Office is one of the biggest deeds offices in the country and it “easily registers property transactions weekly valued at millions of rand”.

He also confirmed that the indefinite closure of the Pretoria Deeds Office will have a knock-on effect on the collection of revenue by the SA Revenue Services, especially the Value Added Tax (Vat) component of property transactions.

Read:
Sars takes R60bn load shedding hit
Tshwane taking steps to tighten controls, following AG report – speaker
Delayed payment of Vat refunds continues to frustrate taxpayers

However, Mokgehle said it would not impact on the payment of property transaction transfer duties, which are payable before registration of the transaction at the deeds office.

The indefinite closure of the Pretoria Deeds Office will also disrupt and delay the registration of property transactions and have an impact on people who have bought houses, particularly the planned date of their occupation of their new homes and their liability to pay occupational rental until the registration of the transaction has been completed.

Monthly meetings

In the letter sent to the Director-General by PAA chairperson Tiaan Joubert, a copy of which is in Moneyweb’s possession, stated that the PAA holds monthly meetings with the management of the Pretoria Deeds Office to discuss matters affecting its members and their clients and to ensure the efficient operation of the deeds registration services at key facility.

The PAA said the relocation of the Pretoria Deeds Office has been raised and discussed at its monthly meetings with the Management of the Pretoria Deeds Office and, as per a notice, the PAA members were under the impression that the relocation would take place from 6 April 2023 until 14 April 2023.

The letter added that the notice about the planned closure of the office for its relocation said the last day for lodgements was 31 March 2023 and the last for execution of deeds 5 April 2023.

“From the 31st of March 2023 until the 5th of April 2023, our members have been hard at work to ensure that matters get finalised in anticipation of the planned relocation.”

“Earlier today, the Management at Pretoria Deeds Office called a meeting with all the staff members and we understand that it was conveyed during the meeting that the relocation has been placed on hold.

“Subsequent to the meeting, a notice was issued by the Registrar of Deeds at Pretoria advising that the Pretoria Deeds Office will be closed indefinitely with effect from the 6th of April 2023 until further notice,” it said.

Anxiety and panic

The letter said the latest notice from the Registrar of Deeds at Pretoria continues to fuel anxiety and panic to the conveyancing fraternity due to its lack of detail regarding, among other things:

• The cause of the deeds office closure.

• The expected resumption date.

• The status of the relocation.

• Most importantly, how service delivery to its members and their clients, being members of the public, shall be addressed.

It further stressed that the Pretoria Deeds Office performs a very important economic function to various stakeholders, including but not limited to conveyancers, commercial and private property owners, the banks and the general public.

“We therefore require transparent communication in all matters that might hinder the execution of this important function.”

“We kindly urge you to provide us with detailed information pertaining to the notice that was issued by the Registrar of Deeds at Pretoria today [5 April 2023] and the planned course of action to ensure that there is no disruption to service delivery,” it said.

“Due to the urgency of this matter, we shall appreciate receiving your response before 10h00 on the 6th of April 2023 failing which, we shall proceed to obtain legal assistance on the matter,” it said.

Listen/Read: