Conveyancing Law for Paralegals and Law Students

The importance of paralegals spread and working across Southern Africa cannot be overstated. They bring legal advice and assistance to the poor and empowering communities to act for their rights. They also reach out to poor communities, where they are often the only access people have to information about their rights, and how to enforce those rights. The past two to three decades has borne witness to an increased drive by public institutions of higher learning to provide the requisite paralegal training, coupled with a noticeable proliferation of private sector training centres all of which has indeed seen over 5,000 paralegals trained and working or volunteering in advice centres, attorneys offices, legal aid clinics and specialised service organisations dealing, for example, with workers’ or women’s rights.

The purpose of this book is to act as a basic guide and thereby equipping paralegals and law students with practical skills in the law and procedures relating to conveyancing: that is, the drafting, evaluation and registration of deeds required for the lawful creation and transfer of ownership and other real rights in land in South Africa. The opening chapter will present a history and overview of the South African Land registration system. In the second chapter, a discussion of the various rights relating to immovable property will be dealt with. The third chapter focuses on the office of the conveyancer and/or notary, particularly the practices and procedures involved therein. The fourth chapter will continue with the same theme albeit from the point of view of the Deeds office. In other words the emphasis will be on the Deeds office practice and procedures. Chapters five and six will respectively deal with the two processes of transferring and mortgaging immovable property as well as zooming in on the relevant instruments of implementing same. Lastly, servitudes and notarial deeds are the subject matter of discussion for chapter seven.

Finally a word of thanks to the following people who contributed in one way or the other to ensure the appearance of this book:

1. Both my deceased parents Diapo Gregory and Moloko Agnes Ratiba whose parental nurture, guidance and wisdom will be sorely missed

2. My wife Lavia Matome Ratiba and family who were very patient and who were the silent inspiration for this work.

3. Bookboon.com for the valuable opportunity afforded to this author and consequently placing the author’s name on the intellectual map

4. My employer the University of South Africa and co employees who shaped both the template and the skeletal framework from which this book could arise

5. Lastly My Creator and Forefathers who gave me strength, perseverance and magnanimous health to be able to complete this work

MM Ratiba

PRETORIA

JUNE 2013

• Preface

1. The Historical Overview of the South African Land registration system
   1. Chapter introduction
   2. The period before the Dutch Settlement (Pre 1652)
   3. The period after the Dutch settlement (Post 1652)
2. The distinction between real and personal rights
   1. Chapter introduction
   2. Real and Personal rights
   3. Registration of rights
3. Conveyancing and Notarial practice
   1. Chapter introduction
   2. The Conveyancer
   3. The notary
4. Deeds office practice
   1. Chapter introduction
   2. The deeds office
   3. Functions of the deeds office
   4. The deeds office staff
   5. The duties of a registrar of deeds
   6. Powers of registrar
   7. The registration process in detail
5. Transfer of immovable property (Deeds of transfer and Supporting documents)
   1. Chapter introduction
   2. The analysis of deed of transfer
   3. Supporting documents
6. The Mortgaging of immovable property and Mortgage bonds
   1. Chapter introduction
   2. Definition of a mortgage bond
   3. Analysis of a mortgage bond
7. Servitudes and Notarial deeds
   1. Chapter introduction
   2. The distinction between personal and praedial servitudes
   3. Personal servitudes
   4. The creation and registration of personal servitudes
   5. Procedural requirements for the registration of servitudes
   6. Cession, assignment, mortgaging and lapsing of personal servitudes
   7. Format and content of notarial deed of personal servitude
   8. Praedial servitudes
   9. Creation of praedial servitudes
   10. Registration of praedial servitudes
   11. Duration of praedial servitudes
   12. Transferability of praedial servitudes
   13. Termination of praedial servitude
   14. Format and content of a notarial deed of a praedial servitude
   15. Transfer duty implications of a praedial servitude
   16. Servitude diagram
8. Appendix: Document Examples
9. Table of statutes/proclamations/ordinances
10. Table of cases
11. Vocabulary