Covid-19 crisis: Deeds offices reopen

Today’s reopening of deeds office branches countrywide under Covid-19 lockdown level four was confirmed yesterday in a Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development media statement. However, although ‘all services will be available and all lodgements … accepted’, ‘only conveyancers’ will be allowed to enter the buildings concerned, notes Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch. In that context, the statement refers to ‘big offices’ but makes no mention of how the size of an office is determined or what measures are likely to apply to those considered small. ‘Consultations will be controlled through appointments’; notices on applications for copies of lost deeds will be published on the DeedsWeb for public inspection; and ‘no deeds trading account debt will incur any interest during the lockdown’.

Deeds registration was declared an essential service in the 29 April disaster management regulations – among other things requiring due attention to ‘the necessary health measures’ before services resume. According to Norton Rose Fulbright’s Elizabeth McCaul, in the context of the State of Disaster the ‘personalised verification’ of the identities of parties linked to a conveyancing transaction ‘may’ require amendments to the 1937 Deeds Registries Act. The 2019 Electronic Deeds Registration Systems Act has yet to come into effect.