South Africa's deeds offices have been battling with the unpredictability of the Covid-19 pandemic, as office closures and scaled down staff regiments under very "trying conditions" have only served to exacerbate the issues facing this important part of the Property Industry value chain.
The 11 Deeds Offices around the country are still experiencing backlogs, with Cape Town suffering severe backlogs during June specifically.
As a result of the pandemic, the deeds offices have had to implement system restructuring in order to adhere to hygiene and safety protocol requirements within the work place, with "additional space secured for Cape Town examiners in Mowbray to have more staff available for examination of deeds", the Office of the Chief Registrar of Deeds confirmed to Property24.
The turnaround time for a completed registration is usually 7 working days, however under the current circumstances it is not possible to meet this normal turnaround time due to "reduced number of staff as well as decontamination exercises", the Deeds Office has noted.
A Year-on-Year comparisons for South Africa's transfers registered for the period between 2019 and 2020 during 24 March and 21 July shows an estimated 32 910 transfers in 2020, in comparison to 122 302 transfers during the same period in 2019.
According to the data, the total registrations for the period is 304 213 in 2019 as opposed to 81 630 in 2020.
While there are a number of variables impacting the full purchase price and bond values, there is a marked decline for 2020 as detailed in the table below, attributed specifically to impact of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.
| Financial Year Range | Transfers Registered | Total Purchase Prices |
Bonds Registered |
Total Bond Amounts | Other Endorsements Registered |
| 20190324-20190721 | 122 302 | R152 250 852 486,32 | 58 319 | R337 973 640 531,63 | 123 592 |
| 20200324-20200721 | 32 910 | R31 040 059 944,14 | 17 046 | R126 998 026 743,02 | 31 674 |
(Source: Office of the Chief Registrar of Deeds)
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