General

Kroongrond Nederzettingswet

Before I register the General Plan of a new Township, I prefer to clean up the existing title deed as far as possible.

Some of the older deeds contain a condition imposed in terms of the Kroongrond Nederzettingswet, 1912 which reads as follows: “ONDERWORPE aan die regte van die Staatspresident soos in Artikel 34 van die Kroongrond Nederzettingswet, 1912 bepaal, wat betref sekere werke op die grond”.

Some years ago I did the research with the assistance of an advocate and found that the Act had been repealed and then had the condition removed from the TD supported by a Conveyancer’s Certificate setting out the facts and the legislation whereby the Act was repealed.

The last Township where this method of removal of the condition was accepted by the Deeds Office in Pretoria was registered in November 2012.

I now have a similar situation and upon enquiry was advised that I now need a consent letter from a government department to have the condition removed and to me this is a bit of an anomaly because I am reasoning that if the Act was repealed why should a consent letter be required.

If I do not remove this condition it will not obstruct the opening of the Township Register and removal of the condition is also not required by the Local Authority in terms of the Conditions of Establishment but since a Sectional Title Scheme is to be established on the land I would prefer not to have the condition in my Section 11(3)(b) Schedule.

My problem remains that I cannot understand why a consent letter is required if it is clear that the Act was repealed and therefore the condition can no longer be relevant or applicable.

Annette Fyfer
Fyfers Inc

Reader Comments:

Abbey Naidoo 10/05/2014:

I can't agree with you more. Not only is the law an ass but those who are charged with its implementation. The fora that serve the law are filled with officials, including magistrates, who sometimes make astonishing rulings not out of any deep insight into the law, but from a slavish adherence to precedence long abrogated with no basis in law, leave alone reason.

Leave a comment:

Security Picture (click to change)
Word shown in picture:
advert
menu close

Search Articles