The Democratic Alliance (DA) yesterday met with the Chief Registrar of Deeds in Pretoria to conclude weeks of oversight visits and public pressure regarding the dreadful regulation that forces South Africans to disclose their race when registering property transfers. The recently implemented “Form LLL” compels South African citizens to declare their race and gender, in writing, when buying and selling property.
Not only does our legal framework contain no definition of what “race” means in South Africa today, but this new requirement – which flies in the face of our democracy’s commitment to non-racialism – raises fears of citizens undergoing an apartheid-style race classification for something as simple as selling a house
In a meeting that included the Deeds office senior staff, the Chief Registrar conceded on the following:
1. Acknowledgement of widespread criticism – the Chief Registrar admitted the regulation is deeply unpopular since gazetting.
2. Admitted that the regulation was originally meant to be voluntary.
3. Also, conceded that this method would take far longer to produce a proper and credible land audit, as property transfers are not frequent.
The DA highlighted the uneven implementation of the regulation. While the Cape Town office applies it only to individual transfers, the Pietermaritzburg office extends it to trusts and juristic persons. This lack of uniformity undermines both fairness and credibility.
Crucially, the DA’s Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application revealed minutes of the Deeds Registries Regulations Board, coincidentally chaired by the Chief Registrar in October 2018. In this meeting, it was agreed that the LLL form will be voluntary.
The Chief Registrar then confirmed that the decision to make the form mandatory was taken at a later stage, and in her absence. This confirms the DA’s long-standing warning: the regulation was imposed without transparency, proper consultation, or consensus.
The DA will write to the Board to reconsider Regulation 18. We will also separately write to the Law Society of South Africa, which has two members on the Board.
The Chief Registrar undertook to prepare a memorandum to the Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development, reflecting the DA’s objections and possible alternatives to ensure that data-gathering for land audits is credible, constitutional, and non-coercive.
The DA has been clear: we support the need for a land audit, but it must be done accurately and without reviving apartheid-style racial classification.
This is a significant step forward in the DA’s campaign to end racial classification in property transactions. We will closely monitor the Minister’s response and continue to fight for a system that upholds the dignity of all South Africans while delivering credible information for land reform.