CONVEYANCING LAW

Conveyancing law in South Africa is the body of law that governs the transfer of ownership of immovable property — primarily the Alienation of Land Act 68 of 1981, which requires every sale of land to be in writing and signed by both parties, and the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937, which governs the registration of those transfers at a Deeds Office. A conveyancing attorney (who must also be a notary public) handles the entire legal side of a property transaction — drafting and signing the deed of transfer, obtaining municipal clearance and (for sectional title) body-corporate levy clearance certificates, calculating and lodging the transfer duty with SARS, lodging the deed at the Deeds Office, and (where there is an existing bond) coordinating its cancellation. Most residential transfers take roughly eight to twelve weeks from the deed of sale being signed to registration taking effect, with the Deeds Office examination period and clearance certificate turnaround usually the rate-limiting steps.

What Conveyancing Law Actually Covers

Conveyancing law is the branch of South African law that governs the transfer of ownership of immovable property — land and buildings — from seller to buyer. It is not a single Act. The substantive law sits in two principal statutes:

• Alienation of Land Act 68 of 1981 — requires every sale of land to be in writing and signed by both parties, with limited exceptions.
• Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937 — governs the registration of title at a Deeds Office and the deeds-registry framework those offices administer.

Several related statutes operate alongside these two:

• Transfer Duty Act 40 of 1949 — transfer duty payable to SARS on acquisition of property.
• Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986 — applies to units in a sectional-title scheme (apartments, townhouses, cluster developments).
• Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011 — body-corporate governance and levy clearance for sectional-title schemes.
• Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 — couples the conveyancing and notary roles, because the same admitted attorney must attest the deed of transfer for lodgement.

Because a conveyancing attorney must also be admitted as a notary public, you will often see the role referred to as “Notary and Conveyancer” on a firm’s website — the two qualifications are administered separately but, in practice, exercised by the same person.

What a Conveyancing Attorney Actually Does

A conveyancing attorney runs the legal side of a property transfer from start to registration. The work breaks down into roughly the following steps:

1. Title search at the Deeds Office to confirm the seller’s ownership and any existing bonds, servitudes, or encumbrances on the property.
2. Review and advice on the deed of sale before the buyer signs — flagging suspensive conditions (typically bond approval and an occupational interest date), occupational rent provisions, and any defects in the title.
3. Drafting and signing the deed of transfer, and, where there is an existing bond, the bond cancellation figures letter and the supporting cancellation documentation.
4. Obtaining clearance certificates — a municipal clearance certificate confirming rates and taxes are paid up to date of transfer, and (for sectional title) a body-corporate levy clearance certificate.
5. Calculating and lodging transfer duty with SARS via eFiling before the transfer deed is registered, and filing the transfer duty receipt with the deed at the Deeds Office.
6. Lodging the deed of transfer, supporting documents, and the transfer duty receipt at the Deeds Office for examination and registration.
7. Coordinating with the bond cancellation attorney (where there is an existing bond) to ensure simultaneous registration of transfer and bond cancellation on the same day, so the seller’s bond is cancelled against the proceeds of the new bond or purchase price.

Burger Huyser Attorneys fields this work end-to-end through Amanda le Roux (Notary & Conveyancer) at the firm’s Bedfordview branch, handling transfers and bond cancellations across Gauteng rather than only within the Bedfordview suburb.

The Two Main Conveyancing Transactions

Transaction	When it applies	Typical timeline
Transfer of ownership (with or without a new bond)	Buying or selling a property — the most common conveyancing matter.	Roughly 8–12 weeks from signed deed of sale to registration.
Bond cancellation only	A property is paid up but the bond is still registered; the bondholder’s attorney cancels the bond at the Deeds Office.	Roughly 6–10 weeks (no transfer deed required).

The Deeds Office Step (Where the Title Actually Changes)

South Africa has multiple deeds offices. Gauteng property transfers are lodged at one of two:

• Pretoria Deeds Office — for properties in the greater Tshwane / northern-Gauteng area.
• Johannesburg Deeds Office — for properties in the greater Johannesburg / Ekurhuleni / southern-Gauteng area.

The deeds office examiner checks the deed for compliance with the Deeds Registries Act regulations, the signatures, the annexures, and the supporting clearances. Once passed, the new title is registered and a new deed of transfer is issued. Lodgement-to-registration typically takes 7–14 working days, but can run longer if the examiner raises queries requiring corrected pages. Until registration takes place at the Deeds Office, legal ownership has not changed — the buyer acquires occupation under the deed of sale, not ownership.

Transfer Duty, Costs, and What You Actually Pay

Cost component	Who pays	Approximate basis
Transfer duty	Buyer	Sliding-scale tax on the purchase price (or fair market value if higher) under the Transfer Duty Act; brackets revised periodically by SARS.
Conveyancing attorney fees (transfer)	Buyer (usually)	Regulated by the Legal Practice Council’s tariff; scales with the purchase price.
Deeds Office fees (registration)	Buyer	Fixed-fee schedule set by the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development.
Bond registration attorney fees	Buyer	Regulated tariff for the bond-registration attorney (often a separate firm appointed by the bank).
Bond cancellation attorney fees	Seller	Regulated tariff; deducted from the proceeds of the sale.
Municipal clearance certificate	Seller	Fixed fee set by the municipality.
Body-corporate levy clearance (sectional title only)	Seller	Fixed fee set by the body corporate.

Transfer duty is lodged with SARS via eFiling before registration can take place — the transfer duty receipt is filed with the deed at the Deeds Office. Conveyancing fees are regulated (not freely negotiable) under the Legal Practice Council tariff, so quotes between attorneys for the same transaction should not vary materially except for complexity-based adjustments. For higher-value properties, transfer duty is typically the largest single cost on the buyer side, not the conveyancing fee.

Common Conveyancing Risks and How They’re Handled

• Bond not approved in time. The deed of sale typically makes the transaction subject to bond approval within a stated period; if approval is not obtained, the buyer can usually withdraw without penalty.
• Municipal rates arrears. A seller who has not paid rates can leave the buyer liable for the seller’s pre-existing arrears; the municipal clearance certificate protects the buyer going forward, but the seller remains personally liable for arrears.
• Body-corporate levy arrears (sectional title). Same risk as municipal rates; the clearance certificate protects the buyer going forward, while the seller’s levy arrears are deducted from the proceeds.
• Occupation before registration. The buyer typically takes occupation before registration, often paying occupational rental interest to the seller; this is contractual, not a transfer of ownership.
• Simultaneous-registration failure. If the transfer deed is registered but the bond cancellation fails (or vice versa), the seller can be left without a cancelled bond or the buyer without a clean title. Experienced conveyancers coordinate both attorneys so registration is simultaneous on the same day.
• Fraud and phishing. Buyers are sometimes tricked into paying deposits into fraudulent “conveyancing” accounts before transfer. The buyer should confirm the conveyancer’s banking details by phone using the attorney’s verified contact details, not details received by email alone.

Burger Huyser Attorneys’ conveyancing practice — through Amanda le Roux at Bedfordview — is set up to manage all six of these risks in routine transfers, with simultaneous-registration coordination built into the file.

Why You Need a Conveyancing Attorney (Not a DIY or Online Substitute)

• A conveyancing attorney must be a notary public admitted by the Legal Practice Council; no online service or non-attorney can sign and lodge a deed of transfer.
• Conveyancing fees are regulated, so a non-attorney doing it “cheap” is almost certainly not legal practice at all — at best an administrative typist, at worst a fraud risk.
• The Deeds Office will not accept a deed that is not signed by an admitted conveyancer; the transfer simply does not register.
• The attorney is also the buyer’s protection against the risks above — title defects, levy arrears, simultaneous-registration failures — which DIY transfers cannot guard against.

For Johannesburg, Bedfordview, and East-Rand clients, having an in-house Notary and Conveyancer at the Bedfordview branch means the drafting, signing, and Deeds Office lodgement all run through one admitted attorney — Amanda le Roux — rather than being split across separate firms.

Conveyancing in Gauteng: Where the File Actually Lodges

Conveyancing is a national process — the substantive law sits in the Alienation of Land Act 68 of 1981 and the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937, and the same transfer-duty regime applies countrywide — but the registration step runs through one of the regional Deeds Offices. Gauteng properties are lodged at either the Pretoria Deeds Office (greater Tshwane and northern Gauteng) or the Johannesburg Deeds Office (greater Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and southern Gauteng), depending on where the property sits.

Transfer and bond-cancellation deeds for Bedfordview, Alberton, Sandton, Randburg, Roodepoort, and Midrand properties normally lodge at the Johannesburg Deeds Office; Centurion and northern-Gauteng properties usually lodge at the Pretoria Deeds Office. The Deeds Office examination period — typically seven to fourteen working days from lodgement — is the rate-limiting step at the end of every transfer.

The Legal Practice Council (lpc.org.za) remains the authoritative reference for any change to the regulated conveyancing fee tariff. Transfer-duty rates are administered by SARS (sars.gov.za). The Johannesburg and Pretoria Deeds Offices are the two registration venues for Gauteng transactions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a property transfer take in South Africa?

Most residential transfers take roughly eight to twelve weeks from the signed deed of sale to registration at the Deeds Office. Bond-cancellation only (without a transfer) is usually quicker at six to ten weeks. Delays are most often caused by clearance certificates, SARS transfer-duty queries, or Deeds Office examination queries on the lodged deed.

How much does a conveyancing attorney cost?

Conveyancing fees are regulated under the Legal Practice Council’s tariff and scale with the purchase price, so quotes between attorneys for the same transaction are broadly comparable. The buyer typically pays the transfer conveyancer and the bond-registration attorney; the seller pays the bond-cancellation attorney. Transfer duty (paid to SARS) is a separate tax charged on a sliding scale and is the largest cost on the buyer side for higher-value properties.

Can I do the conveyancing myself without an attorney?

No. Only an admitted conveyancing attorney (who must also be a notary public) may sign and lodge a deed of transfer at the Deeds Office — the Deeds Office will not accept a deed signed by anyone else. Online services that claim to handle conveyancing without an attorney are either administrative only (and still require an admitted attorney to sign the deed) or are not legitimate conveyancing services.

What is the difference between transfer duty and VAT?

Transfer duty is a tax on the acquisition of property itself, levied under the Transfer Duty Act on a sliding scale and paid by the buyer via SARS eFiling. VAT on a property transaction is separate and arises only when the seller is a VAT vendor and the property is sold as a going concern (or the sale is zero-rated under specific conditions). Most residential sales by private individuals are not subject to VAT.

Do I have to pay transfer duty in cash before transfer?

Transfer duty must be lodged with SARS and the receipt filed with the deed at the Deeds Office before registration can take place. In practice the buyer does not always pay it in cash upfront — many buyers arrange for it to be paid from the bond proceeds or from the funds held in the conveyancer’s trust account — but the obligation remains the buyer’s and it must be lodged before the deed can be registered.

Does Burger Huyser handle conveyancing in the Bedfordview area?

Yes — Burger Huyser Attorneys handles conveyancing through Amanda le Roux (Notary & Conveyancer) at the firm’s Bedfordview branch (45A Florence Avenue, Bedfordview, Johannesburg, 2008, tel 011 201 7190). The firm fields transfers and bond cancellations across Gauteng, drawing on the Pretoria and Johannesburg Deeds Offices for the registration step.

Need a conveyancing attorney in Gauteng? Burger Huyser Attorneys handles residential and commercial transfers, bond cancellations, and the deeds-registration step through Amanda le Roux (Notary & Conveyancer) at the Bedfordview branch — 45A Florence Avenue, Bedfordview, Johannesburg, 2008, tel 011 201 7190. Initial consultations can be booked through the Bedfordview branch directly; bring a copy of the deed of sale, ID, and any bond approval letter so the firm can confirm scope and quote a regulated fee. The firm carries a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews (Trustindex verified “Top Rated Law Firm in South Africa”) and has nine branches across Gauteng to make face-to-face signings straightforward.