By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has back-tracked on the planned indefinite closure of the Pretoria Deeds Office.
This follows a circular on 5 April by the Chief Registrar of Deeds, Advocate Audrey Gwangwa saying that “the Pretoria Deeds Office will be closed indefinitely with effect from 6 April 2023 until further notice”.
On Thursday the department issued a media statement in which it apologises for the confusion.
“Deeds management wish to apologies for the inaccurate communication that went out on the yesterday, we therefore appeal to our clients to bear with us. Other Deeds office across the country remain open,” it said in the statement.
“The Deeds office will be closed for business until the 16th of April due to the movement of operations to the new offices.”
Operations will resume on the 17th of April at the new premises that are located in Pretoria.
The Pretoria Attorneys Association (PAA) held a meeting on Thursday to take a decision on possible legal action related to the indefinite closure of the office.
Donald Mokgehle, the chairperson of the Pretoria Attorneys Association (PAA) property committee, agreed after the meeting that it was a futile exercise because the department had changed its mind about the indefinite closure of the deeds office.
“Now they are saying operations will resume on 17 April 2023, which was the initial arrangement.
“So we just have to keep an eye out and make sure that they do what they have set out to do and there are no surprises on 17 April 2023,” added Mokgehle.
He said he had absolutely no idea why the department changed its mind about the indefinite closure of the deeds office.
It seems like the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing,” he said.
The PAA wrote a letter to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Director-General Mooketsa Ramasodi on Wednesday giving the department until 10am on Thursday to communicate with it on the closure of the deeds office or face legal action.
The department previously advised conveyancers that the Pretoria Deeds Office would be closed from 5 April 2023 until 14 April 2023, with the lodgement of deeds scheduled to resume on 17 April 2023.