Table of Contents
1. Overview
The Registering Property indicator looks one company selling a warehouse to another company at the City of Johannesburg. It measures the number of steps taken to sell the property once a purchase and sale agreement has been signed. It also measures the associated costs. This indicator has an added dimension which measures the quality aspects when buying and selling property.
South Africa ranks number 108 out of 190 countries (Doing Business 2019 survey).
Sample templates for Purchase and Sale agreements for Commercial Property and Residential Property can be found here.
These templates are free of charge and can be modified to suit the details of the transaction.
Source: Doing Business Database
2. Methodology
The Doing Business Methodology for Registering Property looks at one company selling a property to another company. It counts all the procedures, costs and time taken. It also quality of the land administration.
The details of the methodology can be found here.
3. Reforms
South Africa has made reforms over the past two years by:
1. Creating a new website to inform the public about the land administration – http://deeds.drdlr.gov.za/index.php. This website has information about the procedures, costs, laws, contact information and much more.
2. City of Joburg has update their eClearance Portal whereby a Conveyancer can apply for a Rates Clearance Certificate.
3. The City of Johannesburg Deeds Office has requested their employees to voluntarily work harder on examining files in the transfer process. This has resulted in faster turnaround times.
4. The Technical Working Group and City of Joburg has engaged with the Conveyancers on their turnaround times for preparation of the transfer documentation. The Conveyancers have understood the methodology better and therefore have responded to the average turnaround times of just 2 days.
5. The Electronic Deeds Registration System (EDRS) Bill was passed in late 2019. The National Deeds Office is undergoing a tender process to implement a national EDRS.
South Africa will be making more reforms for 2020/2021.
1. Communicating the eClearance Portal. Currently, there are approximately 850 conveyancers that are registered on the eClearance Portal. COJ and the Law Society are have monthly engagements to increase the number of conveyancers to register onto the Portal.
The benefits are:
a. Increase number of users
b. Improve the turnaround times for issuance of figures and issuance of eClearance Certificates
c. High number of eClearance Certificates
d. Lesser foot traffic at Thuso House
2. The Deeds Office will continuously improve efficiencies by measuring their turnaround times.
The benefits are:
a. 3 to 5 days turnaround times
3.The National Deeds Office will provide updates to the website.
4. The National Deeds Office will continue their tender process for EDRS.
4. Technical Working Group
A National Technical Working Group (TWG) has been running since 2018. The stakeholders involved in the Group are the Chief Registrar of Deeds, InvestSA, National Treasury, City of Joburg, and IFC/World Bank Group.
The Technical Working Group’s purpose is to identify reforms and to follow up on them. The Group has been responsible for setting up a new website that provides information on registering property, statistics, contact information, documents, resources, tariffs, etc.
The TWG has also been responsible for providing good practices.
5. Useful Links
6. Performance Statistics
The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform has developed a website that showcases property statistics.
