The Democratic Alliance (DA) can reveal that the KwaZulu-Natal Deeds Registry (Pietermaritzburg Deeds Office) is applying the new racial-classification regulation for property transfers, even more broadly than other Deeds Offices. Deeds officials in Cape Town had previously disclosed to the DA a lesser implementation, but Pietermaritzburg has taken the racial classification regulation much further.
This revelation came to light through a DA oversight inspection on Wednesday at the Pietermaritzburg Deeds Office. I was accompanied by DA Members of Parliament Bonginkosi Madikizela and Edwin Bath. View images here and here.
The DA can confirm after our fact-finding that the implementation of racial classification in KwaZulu-Natal’s Deeds Office is worse than originally thought, and the compulsory race, gender, and nationality disclosure form is not limited to individual property transfers. Instead, trusts, companies, and communal land transactions are also being subjected to this intrusive, and unconstitutional requirement.
This is also an example of regulation’s implementation being inconsistent, arbitrary, and open to abuse, from Deeds Office to Deeds Office in places across South Africa.
The DA’s oversight visit also revealed a relatively low number of property transactions being processed annually at the Pietermaritzburg Deeds Office – and this means the collection of any racial or demographic data at this Deeds Office would take a lifetime to consolidate a complete picture of land ownership.
This confirms that this unconstitutional and arbitrary racial classification policy in Deeds Offices is both impractical and a waste of resources. In the meantime, it forces property owners into a crude, outdated racial classification system with no legal definition or verification process opening the door to inaccurate and misleading data.
The DA will intensify a fight to have this draconian regulation scrapped. We need a rights-based, rational, and non-racial approach to land reform and administration.