deeds office closures hit sa market
12 November 2007

South African real estate community is holding its collective breath to see whether the government will act to halt a public servant's strike that has already lead to the closure of two deeds offices. Jeanne van Jaarsveldt, Marketing and Finance Director of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, called on the South African government to act soon to prevent massive damage to the country's economy. RE/MAX International is the world largest real estate organisation and the Southern African region is one of more than 65 around the world.

"It is quite clear that the situation is already dire and that the property sector, including all estate agents, home buyers and sellers, as well as people in the banking and legal sectors, are going to have to deal with the consequences if government does not act soon."

The ongoing public servants strike has already led to the closure of the Johannesburg and Pretoria deeds offices.

In Johannesburg, according to Glenn Norton, owner of the RE/MAX Masters franchise, the Department of Public Works had apparently failed to pay rent and also did not renew the lease of the office.  "This is a shocking state of affairs. This is going to cost the country millions. We approached the deeds office who said that, apart from the closure, many important documents can go missing if computer systems are not up and running," Norton said.

Van Jaarsveldt added that the only way to prevent a crippling effect on the property industry, which is already experiencing a slow-down due to six consecutive interest rate hikes and more stringent regulations imposed by the National Credit Act, was for government to step in.

"The situation is going to impact on everyone on the country. It is imperative that further closures of deeds offices around the country are prevented and that the offices in Johannesburg and Pretoria are up and running as soon as possible.  "Naturally RE/MAX of Southern Africa will do everything possible to assist government in addressing the situation. We have already appointed a team to look at ways to ensure that deeds registration can continue as normally as possible."

www.property24.com