Deeds Office - Essential Service

The Deeds Office should be deemed an essential service during lockdown.

After the national lockdown was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Department of Cooperative and Government Affairs published regulations covering essential service providers allowed to remain open and provide services during the lockdown. Some of these businesses included banks, pharmacies, grocery stores and hospitals. The Deeds Office was not included in this list.

The real estate industry has adjusted well to working from home with most embracing the wonders of technology all while practicing social distancing. The fact that the Deeds Office is not open is a major stumbling block for the property sector. Added to this is that staff that issue rates clearance certificates at the municipalities, body corporates and/or homeowners associations are on lockdown. The existing bottlenecks have been compounded by the lockdown.

Job Losses

The above delays and the lockdown could have devastating consequences with a knock-on effect for the property sector. In a recent article on the Property Professional website (www.propertyprofessional.co.za) it was mentioned that over 50 000 people in the real estate industry could lose their jobs because property sales cannot be finalised and as a result payment of commissions to estate agents will be stalled. An appeal has been made to the Department of Trade and Industry to look into the matter. In addition to the number of people who might lose their livelihoods, the fiscus will also be losing revenue from delayed property transactions.

The Power of Technology

A call has also been made for municipalities to use existing technology to fast track the issuance of rates clearance certificates and to use skeleton staff to work during the lockdown.

Today estate agents have an array of technological advances at their fingertips. Virtual tours of houses and the use of video conferencing services like Zoom to engage with clients should be used during lockdown. The Deeds Office and municipalities too need to look at ways to embrace technology so as to provide better customer service and quicker response times.

First Step

The first step however would be to get the Deeds Office operational during the lockdown period and any possible extension thereof.

Feedback is awaited from Minister Ebrahim Patel and we trust that this matter will receive urgent consideration.