Extracts from the Real Estate Register of South Africa

Our company Schmidt & Schmidt provides Extracts from the Real Estate Register of South Africa with translation and Apostille.

Data on real estate in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) is stored in the real estate register consisting of two subregisters: register of actions and cadaster.

Registers are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Development of Agriculture and Land Reforms.

The master real estate register (register of acts) is maintained by the Acts Administration of the Department.

Exercise of the right of ownership in the RSA is governed by section 25 of the 1996 Constitution of the RSA and the 1937 Law on Registers of Acts, and by a number of bylaws.

The following must be registered in the RSA:

• rights of ownership
• encumbrances
• easements
• mortgages
• contracts of long-term lease (for 10 and more years)

Within the Administration there are 11 territorial departments (10 regional and a central one in Pretoria).

The subregister of acts contains information about rights, and the cadaster – description of objects (area, location, geodetic information etc.).

Contents of the register:

• property owners
• terms of rights’ accrual (transaction, receipt of inheritance etc.)
• restrictions and credits
• price
• location of an object
• description of an object

Execution of rights of ownership to property is carried out personally, the remote registration procedure is not available.

The Register of actions is public. It is possible to obtain information from it personally in departments or through a special online service. Information from the register is available after payment of a duty.

The extract may be obtained in electronic or in a paper form with apostille.

Extracts from the Real Estate Register of the RSA may be used for:

• confirmation of title to real estate
• receipt of information about the real estate item
• debt collection
• analysis of prices for real estate
• other commercial and analytical purposes

*some data may be unavailable for certain items, or may be provided for a fee.

The electronic extract may be obtained for 1 – 2 working days. Information about time for obtaining a paper extract shall be specified individually.

Extracts from the Real Estate Registers are provided subject to the laws of RSA and to the Law on personal data protection.

Moreover, you can order certified translation of your documents into any foreign language.

The requests shall be processed within one business day. Courier delivery of the apostilled extract shall be paid additionally according to the courier tariff rates.

Apostilled extracts from South Africa

South Africa joined the Hague Convention on simplified legalization of documents on August 3, 1994. On April 30, 1995 the Convention came into force.
Thus, documents issued in South Africa are subject to legalization based on the apostilling procedure, after certified translation such documents acquire full legal force on the territory of all other Hague Convention Member States.

As a rule of thumb, apostillation of extracts takes about two weeks.