The Minister for Rural Development and Land Reform has approved the publication of the Deeds Registries Amendment Bill, 2009 in the Government Gazette for general comment.
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To amend the Deeds Registries Act, 1937, so as to provide for the substitution for the expression of "Supreme Court" of the expression of "High Court"; to delete the reference to a registrar of mining titles or a mining commissioner acting as a registration officer; to provide for the extension of the duties of a registrar; to provide for the appointment of alternate members to the deeds registries regulations board; to provide for the disclosure of the full names and marital status of persons in all deeds and documents to be executed or lodged for registration or record in a deeds registry; to provide for the issuing of a certificate of registered title in respect of a fraction of an undivided share in land; to amend the definition of "Master"; and to provide for matters connected therewith.
No. 32497 GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 17 AUGUST 2009 1. Section 3 of the Deeds Registries Act, 1937 (Act No.
"(z) give effect to practice and procedure directives issued from time to time by the chief registrar of deeds.".
Amendment of section 9 of Act 47 of 1937, as amended by section 3 of Act 3 of 1972, section 17 of Act 71 of 1972, section 8 of Act 62 of 1973, section 9 of Act 57 of 1975, section 4 of Act 270f 1982, section 4 of Act 14 of 1993 and section 10 of Act 11 of 1996 2.
STAATSKOERANT, 17 AUGUSTUS 2009 NO.32497 been appointed as alternate member, during such member's absence or inability to act as a member of the regulation board.
Act 9 of 2003 and section 53 of Act 24 of 2003 3.
87 of 1965 4.
"(1A) The provisions of subsection (1) shall apply, with the necessary changes, to any person who is the owner of a piece of land and who wishes to obtain a certificate of registered title of any fraction of his or her undivided share in such land.".
Act 14 of 1993, section 74 of Act 120 of 1993, section 68 of Act 67 of 1995, section 9 of Act 11 of 1996, section 10 of Act 11 of 1996, Proclamation R9 of 31 January 1997, section 10 of Act 93 of 1998, section 2 of Act 9 of 2003, section 53 of Act 24 of 2003 and section 46 of Act 11 of 2004 5.
"'Master' means the Master or Assistant Master of any provincial or local division of the [Supreme] High Court and when used in relation to any particular matter means the Master or Assistant Master who has jurisdiction in respect thereof;".
This Act is called the Deeds Registries Amendment Act, 2009.
The Deeds Registries Amendment Bill, 2009 (hereinafter referred to as "the Bill"), proposes certain amendments to the Deeds Registries Act, 1937 (Act No. 47 of 1937) (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"). pertaining to the substitution of certain obsolete expressions and the improvement of the application of the Act as set out in this Memorandum.
The amendment proposed in Clause 1(a) of the Bill is consequential to the promulgation of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (Act No. 28 of 2002). which provides for the discontinuation of the registration of mineral rights in a deeds registry. The substitution for the expression "Supreme Court" of the expression "High Court", seeks to rectify the present legal situation with reference to the High Court.
Registrars of deeds are not obliged to follow the practice and procedure directives that are issued from time to time by the chief registrar of deeds. The result is that different practices and procedures are being followed in the different deeds registries. The amendment proposed in Clause 1 (b) of the Bill seeks to eliminate this problem by obliging registrars to comply with directives and thus promote uniformity in all deeds registries throughout the country.
It often happens that members of the deeds registries regulations board cannot attend meetings due to unforeseen circumstances. The absence of members to a meeting may lead to a quorum not being formed and the meeting to be cancelled. The amendment of section 9, as proposed in Clause 2 of the Bill, to provide for the appointment of alternate members to the board, is a necessary and logical step.
Section 17(2) of the Act provides for the disclosure of the full names and marital status of a person in a deed that needs to be lodged for registration or record or execution in a deeds registry. The proposed amendment of section 17(2), in Clause 3 of the Bill, is necessary to also provide for the disclosure of the full names and marital status of a person in documents, other than deeds, that need to be registered, recorded, or executed by a registrar of deeds.
Section 34 of the Act allows an owner of a piece of land to apply for a certificate of registered title for his/her undivided share in land, only in instances where such land is owned in joint ownership. The proposed amendment of section 34, in Clause 4 of the Bill, caters for the issuing, to any owner, of a certificate of registered title of any fraction of his/her undivided share in such land.
The amendment of the definition of "Master", as proposed in Clause 5 of the Bill, is consequential to the change of name of the High Court, as contemplated in Clause 1(a) of the Bill.
Clause 6 of the Bill contains the short title.
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