Deeds office moves house, after confusion

The Deeds Office has shut its doors for relocation to the Pretoria CBD.

The new offices at the National Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development building 600, Lilian Ngonyi Street, Pretoria will open on April 16.

“We therefore appeal to our clients to bear with us. Other deeds office across the country remain open.”

Earlier, the department indicated that the Pretoria Deeds Office at 184 Jeff Masemola Street in Pretoria central would be closed indefinitely with effect from April 6 “until further notice”.

This had prompted Pretoria attorneys association chairperson Tiaan Joubert to write a letter to the department in which he said the PAA, which represented a group that used the deeds office most, was filled by “anxiety and panic” over the department’s mixed messages regarding the closure.

Joubert said on March 8 the Registrar of Deeds in Pretoria issued a notice regarding the relocation of the Pretoria deeds office from Merino Building to Berea Park.

“The relocation of the Pretoria deeds office has been raised and discussed at our monthly meetings with the management of the Pretoria deeds office and we were under the impression that the relocation would take place from April 6 to 14, as per a series of notices.

“According to the notice, the last day for lodgments was the March 31, and the last for execution of deeds was April 5.”

He said however a meeting with the management of the office was allegedly called on April 6 to place the relocation on hold.

“Subsequent to the meeting, a notice was issued by the Registrar of Deeds at Pretoria advising that the Pretoria deeds office will be closed indefinitely with effect from April 6 until further notice and that all queries should be directed to your office.”

He said the notice had fueled “anxiety and panic due to its lack of detail regarding, among other things, the expected resumption date, the status of the relocation and how service delivery to members would be addressed”.

“The Pretoria deeds office performs a very important economic function to various stakeholders including but not limited to conveyancers, commercial and private property owners, the banks and the general public. We therefore require transparent communication in all matters that might hinder the execution of this important function.”

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